Tea Party Carson City: Smiles for now in an otherwise sea of venom, hostility at president

With veiled threats to the governors of Nevada and several other states last month by a far-right militia group, the amount of anti-government fervor may be boiling over nationally, but all is peaceful today in Carson City as more than a thousand have gathered at the Capitol to protest President Barack Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and health care.

Oh, and taxes. But there were far more anti-Obama and Harry Reid signs and a few Hitler ones than anything remotely about the IRS, today being the filing deadline for federal income taxes.

Sign holding and honking horns were all over the capital city as people of all ages joined in the national day of protest and to support the growing Tea Party movement. Though anger could be seen in their signs and in their words, their actions have been peaceful, said Lt. Steve Brummer, with the Legislative Police. Dozens of officers are on hand around the large Tea Party crowd, now having grown to at least a thousand.

"We're monitoring the situation. We've talked to a lot of folks beforehand and, like last year, it appears so far, everything is running without problems. There is no indication of local disruption," Brummer said.

Demonstrator Axel Knutson of Reno said the best protest is a peaceful one and the important thing is that today's event brought out the importance of voicing opinions.

"Sure I'm mad. I'm mad at all of them. Republicans. Democrats. Assembling like this is a good thing. It lets the government know that the power is with the people," Knutson said. "We've got to stop the spending. And that's what we're here for today."

A small counter protest of about 20 people gathered but no problems have been apparent.

Don and Agnes Luark, a retired Carson City couple reported that aside from a couple of rude derogatory comments made to them about the president, they haven't been harassed. In their 60s, the couple said they had to be part of the counter demonstration.

"I'm an American, an Air Force veteran and a union man. What I don't understand is where this hate has come from. Never before have I seen such misguided hatred for a president. It makes you wonder whether if the president was white, would there be this much anger," Don Luark said.

Security in the capital city has been beefed up since Carson City and other state capitals appear to be the battle ground for the militia movement after 30 governors including Gibbons received letters from the group Guardians of the Free Republic saying if they don't leave office they will be removed, according to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Gov. Gibbons was out and about among the Tea Party crowd, posing for pictures and shaking hands. And it was evident among the many campaign buttons the Tea Party crowd wore that they support the governor and his policies.

People who support the Tea Party dismiss the extremism moniker and say they are not affiliated with the militia group.

"There is no need for violence. We have a voting booth," said Orlis Trone, a 71-year-old African American man who described himself as a "proud conservative" adding that he feels "at home and safe" among the mostly white Tea Party crowd.

"This is not a race issue. This is an issue about socialism. We don't want it," he said, though he said he wouldn't be into changing government entitlement programs such as Medicare or Social Security.

Holding a Obama poster that says: "Wanted for Treason" Lona White of Carson City said she is here to oppose the president's "socialist agenda" and the health care plan. While she said she doesn't have a problem with Social Security and Medicare for "the older folks" everyone else is on their own.

""He wants to control us all. Health care leads to death care," she said.

Meanwhile, other protesters said they want to get past Republican and Democrat parties and said they are open to a new paradigm.

Holding a "Don't Tread on Me" flag and a holstered gun strapped to his side, Richard Anderson of Carson City said people on the right and the left are being pidgeonholed into a form of thinking that the mainstream media wants them to believe. Meanwhile, both sides should be fearing that their freedoms are being taken away, he said.

"I'm a political atheist. It is the parties on the right and left that keep us divided. I think there is commonality to both sides. While the Tea Party movement is growing, and their heart is in the right place, the right wing appears to be hijacking it. Again it has got to be about finding common ground, not the whole left/right paradigm that the media is forcing us into thinking," said Anderson. "What people need to do is turn off their television sets and educate themselves about what is really going on."