Tea Party Attendee: 'Scared But Hopeful'

Patch interviewed attendees of the South Bay Tea Party Convention Sunday night in Redondo Beach. Although 500 people were expected, 276 showed up, according to center staff. Patch spoke with Yvonne Haley of Redondo Beach in the lobby before the convention began.

Hermosa Beach Patch: What do you think is wrong with this country?

Yvonne Haley: I think the President might be a Muslim and that frightens me. (Editor's Note: White House officials reiterated on Thursday that President Barack Obama is a Christian, not a Muslim).  

I think right now, it's gotten out of hand. We're focusing on the Mexican border, for instance. We're focusing on the Mexican border and Mexicans, but the people that are causing us harm, they came in with the green card.

The person in New York with the van didn't come over the Mexican border. He came in with a permit, and he stayed in our country and, off of our money, got educated.

I think that's what it is. A lot of the times they want to get out of our focus, just one of them. So these people can do what they want to do, and that's what scares me.

Patch: What will it take to get this country back on the right track?

Haley: I think we have to start small, start in communities, and get good leadership there, and then work that out. Because one human being, even Obama, he can't change it all. It's too big. It's millions and millions of people, with different ideas and different beliefs. You see that in Arizona, with that new law and the border, people gung-ho about it. And meanwhile, the people that are causing issues, once again, aren't those people.

Why would I give more money to someone who couldn't manage money in the first place? The whole idea is to cut waste and how you cut waste is not necessarily cutting jobs. It may be redefining jobs and responsibilities.

I think starting in communities is a good way to start, with good leadership.

Patch: What issues are important to you?

Haley: Education would be one, and feeling safe would be another one.

Patch: Do you feel safe?

Haley: Not really. No, I don't. I got on a flight in Denver, coming back from Los Angeles, and there was some 6-foot-5, looked like Pakistani, who didn't speak English checking my driver's license and my ID. I almost fainted.

I always read a lot of books and they said our destruction would happen from within. And that's what is happening. We've let our enemies in.

I don't have an issue with religion. I think the whole issue with kids today and why there's so much violence is because we took the thing that never changed out of their lives, and that's God. And that God can be whatever God you like, but we've taken out that foundation. And yet we've let another group keep it.

Patch: Are you hopeful about the future?

Haley: I'm hopeful. I'm scared, but I'm hopeful.