“Im not afraid of the Tea Party people. I think I’m one of them.” Those were the words of Georgia Senate Majority Whip Mitch Seabaugh as he addressed a gathering of 60 people attending a Nov. 10 meeting of the Southern Crescent Tea Party Patriots at Maguire’s in Senoia.

Throughout his remarks, Seabaugh emphasized that citizens have a responsibility to become informed and stay involved with the activities of the local, state and federal elected officials whose legislation directly impacts the lives of every citizen and every family.

“You need to test what your elected officials believe in,” Seabaugh said.

In relaying what he believed to be the mindset of President Obama and the national Democratic leadership, Seabaugh said Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are so dedicated to their sweeping agenda that they are willing to sacrifice some of their elected foot soldiers to sustain their cause. And they are willing to sacrifice themselves at the ballot box, Seabaugh added.

“What’s scary is that Obama, Pelosi and Reid believe there’s so much wrong with our nation that they’re willing not to get re-elected,” he said.

Broadening the scope of his comments, while simultaneously traversing the history of the United States and bringing those comments back to the current day political warfare on both sides of the aisle, Seabaugh noted that the founders, “Gave us a government, a limited government, of accountability and checks and balances. Today this is a battle of philosophies on both sides. That’s what we’re fighting against. We have to hold our elected officials accountable that this has happened. People back then used to know and be able to talk about what was happening (at the) local, state and national (level) like de Toqueville wrote about. We’ve come along way haven’t we? We know the sitcoms but we don’t know the names of our governors or mayors or legislators.”

So what can concerned people do to take back America and to get back to the intention of the 10th Amendment that upheld and ensured the rights of the states to determine so much of their destiny, Seabaugh asked.

“We need to come up with things we can use that will stand up to the courts,” he said.

As an example of that approach and using a current topic Seabaugh referenced the push for a Constitutional amendment in Georgia to give citizens the right to buy healthcare insurance in the open market.

Continuing on the idea of taking back their country, Seabaugh said citizens should stay informed on the issues and should not neglect to communicate with legislators. Elected officials listen to the people they know, Seabaugh said, adding that people should also get to know those legislators to have the maximum impact. Seabaugh suggested writing concise emails, written in paragraph form and making sure to personalize that correspondence.

Toward the end of the meeting and noting the apparent threat posed by Tea Party groups across the nation to some in political office and the denigration of Tea Party efforts by most in the mainstream media, Seabaugh essentially aligned himself with emerging groups.

“I’m not afraid of the Tea Party people. I think I’m one of them,” Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh fielded a number of questions and comments by those at the meeting. With one of those he was challenged by Peachtree City resident and Southern Crescent Tea Party board member Teresa Clark to take up the fight against the potential use of forced vaccinations and quarantine through Senate Bill 385 passed in 2002 and against the continued use of fluoridation in nearly 100 percent of the state’s drinking water, even in the face of mounting evidence that significant numbers of Americans are ingesting excessive amounts of the toxic chemical.