Thousands gather for tea parties across East Tennessee

A modern-day tea party took over World's Fair Park Wednesday afternoon. A crowd that numbered well over 1,000 filled the park's amphitheater.

It was all part of a nationwide effort, led by the American Family Association. In this case, TEA, stood for Taxed Enough Already.

Rallies popped up in tens of thousands of cities across the country, including downtown Knoxville.

"The majority, according to the polls, were opposed to a number of the bailouts, and yet Congress passed them and pushed them through anyway, so I feel, in a way, we do have taxation without representation," said Sally Absher, who helped to organize Knoxville's Tea Party. "The voice of the people, I'm afraid, is not being heard as much as it could be in Washington."

Many at the rally held signs opposing President Obama's stimulus package. Others talked about Congressional term limits or abortion.

Meanwhile, counter-protesters staged a much smaller rally in the park.

Around 25 people paraded through the park holding signs in support of President Obama.

They said the stimulus package has been helpful to Americans, including the University of Tennessee and its students.

"Let's just call it, stop the insani-tea, 'cause this group simply doesn't have the facts right," said Commissioner Mark Harmon, who walked in the counter-protest. "If you look at it, President Obama and the Democratic Congress just delivered the largest middle-class tax cut in history, so why are we out here talking taxes except maybe to say thank you to President Obama and the Democratic Congress."

Similar tea party rallies were held in Anderson, Cocke, Greene and Sevier counties.

In Sevierville, the owner of The Diner offered free tea to his customers Wednesday.

At the end of the day, protesters planned to dump leftover and stale tea into the Little River as a symbolic message.

"We're interested in the public sector being better stewards with our money, not wasting so much and bringing the budget down," said The Diner owner Howard Kingsbury. "The budget deficit and spending the public sector has gotten beyond the point that we can afford. It's really as simple as that."