Tea Party leader Becky Gerritson during Tuesday’s House Ways and Means committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups offered a passionate and moving account of her experience with political intimidation.
“I’m not here as a serf or a vassal,” said the Wetumpka Tea Party member, at one point tearing up. “I’m not begging my lords for mercy. I’m a born-free American woman, wife, mother, and citizen. And I’m telling my government that you’ve forgotten your place.”
“It’s not your responsibility to look out for my well being and to monitor my speech. It’s not your right to assert an agenda. The post that you occupy exists to preserve American liberty. You’ve sworn to perform that duty and you have faltered.”