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Tea Party open thread: heart-ache! [UPDATED]

To get things started, check out pics and this report from Chicago.

Oh. And have I mentioned what Rachel Maddow and Howard Dean think of all this? Roughly the same as some of our more “pragmatic” conservatives, as it turns out.

Obligatory italicized “nuance” reminder to follow:

Nuance.

****
Zombyboy has a photo spread from the Denver tea party. Send along others and I’ll link them here.

****
Journalism. Squared.

****
From Orange County.

More from Denver.

Madison, Wisconsin.

Lafayette Park, DC.

Oklahoma City.

Lansing, Michigan.

Lisle Il (Chicago ‘burb)

Thanks to Dan and to all of you who sent along links and pics.

****
More, from Valparaiso, Indiana

Tennessee.

And a nice slide show that gives some indication of the size of the Denver protest.

****
From Raleigh.

Richmond.

Cleveland.

And Nashville.

****

Canton.

St. Louis.

Virginia Beach.

203 Replies to “Tea Party open thread: heart-ache! [UPDATED]”

  1. happyfeet says:

    Soros Bought America is what one of the signs says. No. He bought Barack Obama. Not the same thing at all.

  2. zombyboy says:

    Well, they certainly had more sophisticated signs than the Denver event. And, try as I might, I couldn’t find anyone on the other side of the debate to grab a quote from.

    I tried, though.

  3. JHoward says:

    I only briefly grazed at the tea party near me, fifteen minutes after the start, and in a town of fewer than 17,000, I’d estimate already 1,500 had arrived, with a thousand cars packing the riverside park for a half mile and every street for three blocks deep to the south. The event was superbly organized and a series of speakers were already lined up to deliver the good word.

    Folks were not happy. In fact, folks were downright fed up and the speeches were as much about losing control and representation as they were about taxation. The crowd roared its disgust at Change and had no general use for Washington DC’s current regime. It grew steadily and by the time I left at 5:15 for another engagement, the enthusiasm was obvious. Whatever the MSM isn’t saying, if this get together was an indication, this movement has real legs.

    This rally sounded the most encouraging note I’ve heard in years. Liberty’s not quite over yet.

  4. happyfeet says:

    My favorite thing about this whole thing is how they told Michael Steele to go fuck himself. More of that please.

  5. meya says:

    “The crowd roared its disgust at Change and had no general use for Washington DC’s current regime. ”

    Here’s the DC crowd:

    http://washingtonindependent.com/38877/scenes-from-the-dc-tea-party-more-photos

    No ironic ‘taxation without representation’ signs.

  6. Jeff G. says:

    Oh, lookit! Meya found Dave Weigel sneering at the proles. How cheeky and unexpected!

  7. Mikey NTH says:

    Well, matoko/nishi/kate/our own little mengele is now haunting Karl over at Hot Air under the handle ‘strangelet’.

    Better there than here, but my sympathies to Hot Air.

    What a very disturbed individual kate is.

  8. router says:

    “Soros Bought America”

    minor quibble:i think he shorted it.

  9. Jeff G. says:

    I don’t know who Karl is.

  10. Mikey NTH says:

    The clip Ace has posted of the CNN reporter arguing with a person she is ostensibily interviewing is priceless. She asks a question, and as the answer isn’t what she wants to hear she starts arguing with him, telling him what his answer ought to be.

    After all that I know what her opinion is, but I really don’t know what his is.

  11. JHoward says:

    The police were circulating at my little slice of middle Americana, and some 6’4″ thug was running around demanding folks produce the credentials to pass stuff out. I hear permit snafus have been the ruin of at least a few of these exercises in free speech.

    You never know when nine-to-five First Amendmenteers with three kids, a mortgage, and a place in the tenor section at First Lutheran will go irretrievably ape shit and burn down the welfare office.

  12. SarahW says:

    It’s a driving cold rain. I’m supposed to be at the Tea Party taking pictures of Mike ( DH) who’s scheduled for a little Liberty or Death Action on stage, but I am dry at home. I hope turnout is not too suppressed.

  13. BumperStickerist says:

    Does anybody really *know* anybody, Jeff?

  14. Spies, Brigands, and Pirates says:

    Let SFAG and her “progressive” media buddies sneer all they want. It’s whistling past the graveyard.

    The House comes up for election next year, SFAG. The entire House.

    You know, the branch that has to originate any spending bill?

    Oh, and it looks like all the gold paint has already worn off Teleprompter Jesus’ halo. He’s been skirting the edge of negative territory in Rasmussen’s approval index for a couple weeks now. 4 months in and his coattails are already threadbare — imagine what it’s going to be like by 2010.

  15. Why not, dear; he was sort of channeling you the other day . . . it was a bit irritating, though of course I’ve made my peace with him.

    And he’s awfully stylized.

  16. happyfeet says:

    I like nishi and Karl is neato mosquito but I’m not ready to go back to Hot Air again. It’s never proven enjoyable to do that, not ever. It’s a very … I do not know the word. Shallow. Hot Air is a very very shallow blog. Shallow and dorky. Palin Palin Palin Franken Franken Franken and all of it ad nauseum.

  17. Jeff G. says:

    Shhh. We’ll end up being tweeted or twats or something. Not me. Not on such an important day.

  18. JHoward says:

    Probably meya was all into Clinton’s solo foray into balanced budget territory. Today’s debt surpasses the entire country’s 2004 output.

    Can’t keep up with the progressive show without a program.

  19. happyfeet says:

    # going furniture shopping for my new apartment in NYC – want the whole thing to feel like a sexy, cozy, boudoir…about 5 hours ago from web *

    I hate her.

  20. SarahW says:

    I guess that complaint is fair, Hf. It might improve, though.

  21. Jeff G. says:

    Somebody gave her six figures to write.

    Progressive Republicanism, indeed. But hey — she’s Twitter friends with people we know, so it’s almost like we’re cool by proxy!

  22. SarahW says:

    A liposuction accident waiting to happen.

  23. SarahW says:

    I guess that was kind of sourpatch. But I hate her too.

  24. SarahW says:

    I followed HF on twitter today. So I am cool.

  25. want the whole thing to feel like a sexy, cozy, boudoir

    so, no more skulls?

  26. router says:

    does the meghan know about this “tea bagging” thing that has anderson cooper so exited?

  27. Tman says:

    You would think that this Maddow lady would realize that the reason her ratings are in the tank is because of her snotty elitist attitude that pisses off anyone with even a modicum of civility.

    You’d be wrong.

    It is to laugh.

  28. Mikey NTH says:

    #16 haps:

    No, I do not like nishi because I do not like what she advocates. It is creepy, really creepy, all ‘get rid of the unfit and make a superior human’ creepy. That stuff never ends well in either fiction or reality.

    No, I do not like matoko/nishi/kate/strangelet; and her reputation across the inner tubes is not a good one. Dr. Mengele, I presume?

  29. SarahW says:

    I’ve lived to see major network news turn into Beavis and Butthead.

  30. Mikey NTH says:

    Sorry to go all off-topic. I’ll be good now.

  31. SarahW says:

    Mike just called. Said the crowd was HUGE. I’m surprised as the weather could not be more crap.

  32. SarahW says:

    I hope there are pics to link later.

  33. happyfeet says:

    It’s ok. I think nishi is sincere about what she believes. Meaning, kind of for example, you can contrast nishi with the NPR ones what find that their concern with civil liberties has evaporated even if there’s been a conspicuous lack of Change in policy. nishi is not one of those ones.

  34. Mikey NTH says:

    The problem is that she is sincere. Sincerity in the service of evil is not a good thing, I think.

  35. SarahW says:

    NIshi I just get the impression is very young and full of herself and the big world of ideas is just a toy.

  36. Mikey NTH says:

    Before you bow down to any force or desire, know what you are bowing down to. All of the cardinal vices and virtues are at play in us.

  37. happyfeet says:

    I think that’s fair, SarahW. I’m openly a lot envious.

  38. Mikey NTH says:

    Back to tea parties.

    I wonder how the Lansing one went with geoffb?

  39. The Salem Oregon tea party I went to was orderly, clean, friendly, happy, and very pleasent. About 1000 people, maybe? No trash on the ground like the inaguration. No troublemakers. No offensive signs. Lots of happy people being neighborly, and cares driving by honking in support.

  40. Jeff G. says:

    I think that CNN lass thinks there’s a giant stimulus tree in DC, and that the 50 billion her state was getting was a gift taken from that tree by a benevolent bringer of light.

    I think also that’s she a clueless skank.

  41. happyfeet says:

    Making comments on a blog is not in the realm of evil. I can’t see how that can be so. Me I still wouldn’t mind it if some of these tea parties tore up the place. Tear gas. Civil strife. Neighbor against neighbor. It’s not unwarranted in my view, none of that and a lot more besides.

  42. happyfeet says:

    oh. Excepting the obviously evil commenter people of course.

  43. router says:

    did anyone bring yellowcake to a tea party? dhs wants to know.

  44. router says:

    the tea l like is arizona green tea

  45. Spies, Brigands, and Pirates says:

    Susan Roesgen is a scrunt.

  46. gus says:

    The problem as I see it, is that Crass Losers like Roesgen and Anderson Pooper, preach the the current losers that were tought by the same Leftits who teach most of our children today.
    Control the children, mold them and you have this kind of human filth.

  47. router says:

    the allahpundit is a stupid lawyer:

    I snarked yesterday that the left would get hysterical and treat his statement on the Tenth Amendment as a veiled call for secession, so I’m obliged to eat my words today. Simply awful, whether as a convenient distraction for the media from the tea parties or as a brush for them to tar the protests as motivated by crackpot neo-confederate sentiments.

    you know mr. O!’s man Harold Koh might be interested in this case:

    In 1845, the Republic of Texas was admitted to the Union via a Joint Resolution of Congress which some scholars believe is not legal under international law.[1][2]

    ?

  48. Randy says:

    I went to the tea party here in Knoxville. I’m not a good judge of crowd size, but maybe between 2 and 3 thousand.

  49. Ella says:

    I was at one of the Tulsa tea parties, Christopher Taylor. We had about 3200 people (Tulsa PD estimates). You know what? It never occurred to me to look for trash or debris, and, racking my memories, I don’t recall seeing anything tossed anywhere. Not even overflowing trash cans. Strange, huh? I just assumed everyone would act like responsible grownups. :)

  50. Ella says:

    Oh, the other tea party in Tulsa had about 1000, guessing from the photos. It was in downtown, which is really hard to park in, so that’s an awesome turnout.

  51. the tears of a moderate says:

    Nuance? I got your nuance.

  52. router says:

    obama is liberal fascism

  53. hf says:

    the allah one lends meghan a certain gravitas.He’s exponentially more consumed with do the republicans make my ass look fat than she is.Shallow twat.

  54. router says:

    this july 4th join O! as he celebrates freedom doing a partial birth abortion live on msnbc

  55. Muledriver says:

    “…the allahpundit is a stupid lawyer…”

    That guy makes me want to punch a kitten in the balls.

  56. SarahW says:

    Mikes home, eating his dinner. He reports a very enthusiastic, shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.

  57. SarahW says:

    He took photos, there might be news footage later.

  58. router says:

    allahpundit is a lawerly chuck green teabagger

  59. router says:

    allahpundit: megahan with balls

  60. router says:

    megahan works sortof

  61. router says:

    my sign:

    “NO WE CAN’T!”

  62. geoffb says:

    Lansing went fine. If you have Facebook there are pictures here. If you don’t this blog has a bunch of pictures but as he says he hasn’t resized them yet so some may load slow.

    Anne and I arrived in Lansing around 11:30. Event started at noon. All parking structures and nearby lots and street-slots were full. We parked about 5 blocks away in a lot for “Michigan visitors”?. It was supposed to be a pay lot but the gates were up and no ticket came out. We went in and found one remaining spot. A handicap one and since Anne is wheelchair bound it was perfect.

    We positioned ourselves at the center rear when the crowd thinned. Closer and Anne would be staring at someone’s butt the whole time. We could neither see nor clearly hear the speakers. Too far away and too many signs. Crowd was 1 or 2 thousand I would guess. Lots of great signs, good crowd, weather was perfect, 50’s and sunshine.

    Carin managed to find us toward the end of the rally. Very nice meeting her and her daughter. After we went to Leo’s Lodge to eat and then home.

  63. geoffb says:

    Where the crowd thinned not when.

  64. Mr. Pink says:

    What is good about these things is people are starting to figure out they are not alone. They do not get that from watching TV and seeing 3 hours of reporters willingly teabagging Obama’s new dog Bo, or from walking down the magazine isle at the grocery store and seeing the amazon Michelle on the cover along with a 750 word article full of left wing masterbation fantasies.

  65. blowhard says:

    You want nuance?

    The original opening to this post went, “A gratifying treat for fans of the boss, like me.” He just dropped the “like me” part. Not kidding.

    Do you think he actually believes that there is a single person out there who doesn’t realize she is exactly the type of conservative he’s normally so embarrassed about?

    But yeah, I think he’s right, our focus today really should be on second guessing everyone to the right of David Frum.

  66. Blogger won’t let me load pictures tonight. I took a bunch. Poo. Ace put one of mine up at his site. I got a pic of Geoff and Anne!

  67. i feel badly i didn’t go to the one here. i wanted to, but.

    and router, i am so sorry i was all mean to you when you were interrogating me a few weeks back. you’ve made me laugh at least half a dozen times tonight.

    also, i hate Mblogette too. maybe not hate. hate is so strong. but she grates, abrades even. and thanks for bringing her up, cuz you know i do love the thinspo.

    and this word scrunt is fabulous.

  68. B Moe says:

    I ain’t buying any of this until our side gets big ass paper mache puppet heads like Hampster and them had. I will help make them if anybody wants to give it a go, I just can’t decide whose heads we should blow up.

    I didn’t mean that literally if any DHS dudes are lurking.

  69. Oh, and the Lansing one was very well organized. I wrote that earlier somewhere. Speakers, etc, so we didn’t have to stand around and attempt to “protest” on our own. There was one really strange guy, wearing a rope around his neck and had this backpack with wires sticking out of it. If I can ever put my pictures up, I’ll share.

    It made me. Nervous.

  70. Somebody gave her six figures to write.

    Progressive Republicanism, indeed. But hey — she’s Twitter friends with people we know, so it’s almost like we’re cool by proxy!

    A few weeks after that book is released, it’s gonna be on those entrance-way shelves, marked down to $2.99.

    Heads will roll.

  71. router says:

    the cnn chick is funny because it wouldn’t go after the code pinkster w/2 yo child the same way.

  72. router says:

    Progressive Republicanism

    tr, hoover great minds that

  73. […] (Did I hear “Open Thread”? Atrios has that patented I think… ) […]

  74. geoffb says:

    And I completely blew my chance to get Comrade Carin’s picture. Duh.

  75. geoffb says:

    “Heads will roll.”

    Much of the Publishing industry is a political money laundry to support the left. I don’t think they expect to make back the advances they hand out to the lefty political types. Just a way to fund causes.

  76. RTO Trainer says:

    I went to the Rowlett, Texas Tea Party dressed as a radicalized Veteran. Oh, wait. I AM a radicalized veteran.

    I met Texas Fred. Rowlett is a community of about 50,000 and turn out ran between 150 and 200 adults at any given time. I think that’s pretty good for a small community on a weekday afternoon.

  77. Mr. Pink says:

    Really huge coincidence that the left-wing blogs and the MSM anchors seem to have the same take on the tea parties today. What a shocker.

  78. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by B Moe on 4/15 @ 6:49 pm #

    I ain’t buying any of this until our side gets big ass paper mache puppet heads like Hampster and them had. I will help make them if anybody wants to give it a go, I just can’t decide whose heads we should blow up.”

    Well, you could make a life size copy of Al Gore’s.

  79. router says:

    if you have a “thrill going up your leg” could you be “teabagging”?

  80. cranky-d says:

    I’m getting used to the idea that I’m a now considered to be a right-wing extremist. Hell, since I’m a life member of the NRA, I guess that was already a foregone conclusion. Anyway, I guess I should’ve gone to the local tea party, but I was trying to get some work done, probably like many others.

    Yeah, I know, whatevs.

  81. router says:

    NO PALE PASTELS BOLD COLORS

  82. B Moe says:

    I am thinking just make a couple of big old generic faces, and let everybody wonder who the hell it is supposed to be.

  83. router says:

    english update: NO PALE PASTELS BOLD COLOURS!

  84. Roland THTG says:

    You could do a giant Biden head with like Zoysia grass plugs. Do they still have that?

  85. Roland THTG says:

    Oh! A giant Obama Chia head!

    That’s the ticket!

  86. router says:

    Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?

    Let us show that we stand for fiscal integrity and sound money and above all for an end to deficit spending, with ultimate retirement of the national debt.

    Let us also include a permanent limit on the percentage of the people’s earnings government can take without their consent.

    Let our banner proclaim a genuine tax reform that will begin by simplifying the income tax so that workers can compute their obligation without having to employ legal help.

    ?

  87. N. O'Brain says:

    “Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party”

    How about a Republican wing of the Republican party?

  88. router says:

    i think arlen specter looks good in robin egg blue

  89. router says:

    “Let us explore ways to ward off socialism, not by increasing government’s coercive power, but by increasing participation by the people in the ownership of our industrial machine.

    Our banner must recognize the responsibility of government to protect the law-abiding, holding those who commit misdeeds personally accountable.

    And we must make it plain to international adventurers that our love of peace stops short of “peace at any price.”

    We will maintain whatever level of strength is necessary to preserve our free way of life.

    A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers.

    I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.”
    ?

  90. Kirk says:

    Just got back from the Lansing protest. Early estimate is 4,000 people, none of whom bared saggy boobs.

  91. TmjUtah says:

    I went to the Salt Lake City Tea Party at the Federal building – it’s across the street from my project.

    I estimate minimum seven hundred people. the venue was not all that large, but it was packed. Speakers included the President of the Utah chapter of the Eagle Forum, Rep. Jason Chavetz (freshman, we kicked Cannon out last election), AG Shurtleff, Rep. Rod Bishop. I’m not sure if any elected Democrat spoke but I was only able to stay for a short half hour. All the speakers I heard made a point of the non-partisan nature of the Tea Party movement. Many passing cars honked in response to signs asking them to honk if they are taxed too much; many thumbs up.

    I’ve got to get a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag for the yard; I’ll fly it alongside the Colors on holidays for the next little while.

    The protesters were overwhelmingly working and family people. One goober showed up wearing a Glock on a duty belt and cammie trousers bloused into Doc Marten boots. His tshirt said something abput “combat training team nine” and I overheard him stating that Utah was an open carry state. He was ignored by everybody – including two uniformed cops. One guy on the periphery wore an Obama mask and had a Soviet flag on his shoulders. He danced around whenever a camera got close.

    I leave my ball cap in my truck when I get to work. So I stood hatless and listened to the speeches in the rain until it turned to snow. The crowd was bigger when I left.

    No paper machet heads were hurt in this protest, and we didn’t even kick in the Starbuck’s windows.

  92. LTC John says:

    I rather like the #3 idea – then if anyone asked you who they were, you could look at them with a “What?! Can you possible be that uninformed?” look…

  93. LTC John says:

    #83 that is.

  94. Jeff G. says:

    Allah writes in a comment: “I don’t have time, unfortunately, to argue with commenters intent on demonizing Obama in precisely the same way the left did to Bush” — the trick there being to pretend that the demonizing is happening in precisely the same way.

    Fact is, though, the left called Bush a fascist because it uses the word fascism as an all-purpose attack word for powerful GOP members, especially those who support a vigorous defense. Conversely, Obama has acted like a fascist, and so people have noted as much.

    It’s really that simple.

    Sorry if saying it out loud embarrasses people, but it is what it is, as they say in Chicago.

  95. happyfeet says:

    shallow twat is about all you can say about that one. Insipider than a Daily Show viewer even.

  96. router says:

    demonizing Obama in precisely the same way the left did to Bush

    when did w put out a study by dhs critizing leftists?

  97. cranky-d says:

    Everyone is settling themselves out nicely. It’s best to know as early as possible who your allies really are; that way, less energy is wasted later.

  98. router says:

    oh they did but named names. not this one.

  99. psycho... says:

    Remember, that’s the same Allah who formerly could be seen gettin’ all what that guy said about things I said.

    Me. Him. Same.

    Right here.

    Jeez.

  100. happyfeet says:

    What a treat to see some on the right pulling the same whiny, anti-democratic crap that the left pulled under Bush.

    Sniffy effete loser.

  101. Molon Labe says:

    They said 2000 in Las Vegas. Generous, probably, but we got there late. Wayne Allen Root was dishing out some red meat in his speech.

  102. Techie says:

    Good luck with the parties everyone. Sadly, I’ll be incommunicado on a business trip for the next 2 weeks.

  103. B Moe says:

    Allah writes in a comment: “I don’t have time, unfortunately, to argue with commenters intent on demonizing Obama in precisely the same way the left did to Bush”

    Maybe if I embolden that word someone will point out the ironicalness to him.

  104. Techie says:

    I mean, it’s not as if irrational hatred let the Democrats control all three branches of government or anything………….

    Oh wait.

  105. TmjUtah says:

    I have edited my earlier comment into a post on my site. I included a few pics, as well. Just click my name.

  106. happyfeet says:

    See I don’t remember that allah. If I did remember that allah I would feel like an intervention was in order. That is what I would feel in my heart. I would do that for you Jeff if you twisted off and became a flaming douche what was begging Barack Obama to pay his student loans and smirking idiotically at them what was of better character and better sense. This is a solemn vow I make to you.

  107. Here is a breaking news report from Tennessee, where we cling to our guns, religion and sex toys. In that order.

    http://sixmeatbuffet.com/archives/2009/04/15/tax-day-tea-parties-nashville-knoxville-philly/

  108. thor says:

    That wasn’t a protest, that was white riff-raff networking, a show of group autism, losers roiling.

  109. happyfeet says:

    Pretty sure it was a protest. Nothing like that ever happened before the dirty socialists bankrupted our little country with their dirty socialist schemes. Yup. I quod erat demonstrandumed that for you, thor. I’m a giver.

  110. router says:

    Bush fascist yea ok. obama no way man i mean a black man being a fascist like mugabbe? ain’t no hyperinflation coming by a black liberation theology/communist/kenyan socialist/columbia/hardon educated paper shuffler. leave that to pelosi.

  111. Jim in KC says:

    About 3,000 to 4,000 on the north lawn of the Liberty Memorial here in KC. Pix tomorrow–I’m too lazy at the moment.

  112. router says:

    yo thorster

    a show of group autism,

    you like demonizing people you don’t like. fit right in with the ‘rats

  113. router says:

    i hate ivy educated stupid people like thor and his whores

  114. router says:

    university education sucks. better to read the book and lose the middleman

  115. router says:

    Pat Toomey kicking Specter’s ass!

    oh my a progg is scared that they will lose. yea 2010 is going to be difficult for the “reality based” community.

  116. […] – same goes for all of you getting here via Protein Wisdom (Proteinlanche! Usually I have to eat a triple cheeseburger with chili fries to get one of those). […]

  117. Tman says:

    It’s amazing how focused these protests were. All the anti-war protests seemed to be made up of people who didn’t realize how little they had in common with each other except for a loathing of Bush, whereas these crowds are pretty specific and all seem to share a very distinct common theme.

    Not that this stops idiots like thor and the MSM from trying to laugh off what clearly scares the hell out of them, but hey. It’s fun watching them squirm.

  118. router says:

    #

    Comment by meya on 4/15 @ 9:30 pm #

    “when did w put out a study by dhs critizing leftists?”

    In January.

    trolls are funny

  119. Techie says:

    Whatever you say, Walter.

  120. router says:

    meya

    the bush man did the leftists earlier google it.

  121. bour3 says:

    The crowd in Denver was quite large, as you know. But I’ve honestly never seen a more civil mob. Everyone there was so polite! If you discount the one woman who barked at a couple agitprops, but she doesn’t count because her shoes obviously hurt, plus the trek up the hill probably got to her. At 14Th and Lincoln I turned to photograph a line of school busses, because it was a neat picture and I thought it odd that schools would bus children to such a thing, turns out they didn’t, the buses were for something else. My camera, a large deelie-whopper with a buffo lens was in a backpack and I was walking with two canes, positioned against a pole so I didn’t tip over. I got this little thing with balance. My sunglasses dropped on the sidewalk right as a crowd stampeeded across Lincoln which was full all lanes with trucks and cars josstling to squeek through the light. A woman older than myself saw my sunglasses swiftly turned back and picked them up then handed them to me to save me the trouble, apparently I look more handicapped than I actually am. I was touched. Right off the bat this happened before approaching the actual crowd. Throughout the whole thing people moved out of my way like I was freakin’ Moses. If only all life was like that it’d be awesome. I learned something. People at these things like to be photographed. They did bother with signage and costumes in some cases, after all. Also kids like flags. I learned to ask children with parents if I could photograph their little darlings, then say thanks for the great shot, then show the kids the result. I can’t wait to do this again.

  122. J. Peden says:

    In a County of 7000 we had an ~150 turnout, did two laps around the Courthouse accompanied by honking horns and waves from passing vehicles, pledged allegience, listened to a local singer do two very good self-composed songs re:America, etc., and threw “Black” tea into the pot just to prove our racist bona fides – well, not really. Sadly, nobody seemed to know what I was talking about when I tried to tell them about the secret Tea code!

  123. SarahW says:

    Below is a snap Mike took of Richmond’s tea party:

    http://tiny.cc/wlr9s

    Kanawha plaza holds about 3000 people. It was shoulder-to-shoulder and overflowing. In a cold, steady rain that lasted all day and evening.

  124. SarahW says:

    From the Richmond TImes Dispatch:

    “…A series of speakers, many from radio station WRVA, railed against the government and the growing federal debt. But the loudspeakers weren’t strong enough to carry the speeches to the rear of the crowd. Many shouted their disapproval with the sound system.

    A Patrick Henry impersonator drew the biggest applause with a recitation of his famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, made just a few blocks away in 1775…”

    That’s my darling.

  125. SarahW says:

    From Wtvr.com ( a local richmond television station):

    “Richmond Tea Party Draws Thousands
    Organizers of the Tax Day Tea Party in Richmond are calling Wednesday’s event a huge success.

    Despite the rain, more than 3,000 people flooded Canal Street and Kanawha Plaza to protest taxes, government spending and the overall state of the union.

    The peaceful protest was one of hundreds that took place across the country. Most people we spoke with at the tea party said they showed up because they love America, but are upset with the direction politicians are taking it.

    A counter protest was supposed to take place across the street, but nobody ever showed up.

    (emphasis mine)

  126. Austin TEA Party Report – 1500 people at an over an our-long rally. Great “Dont Mess With Texas” Crowd with awesome patriotic flags and pro-liberty signs and some good red-meat speeches.

    http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2009/04/austin-tea-party-report.html

  127. TYPO CORRECTION: Austin TEA Party Report – 1500 people at an over an HOUR-long rally. Great “Dont Mess With Texas” Crowd with awesome patriotic flags and pro-liberty signs and some good red-meat speeches.

    http://travismonitor.blogspot.com/2009/04/austin-tea-party-report.html

  128. apotheosis says:

    Nice Deb has some of the Downtown Kansas City party:
    http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/kansas-city-tax-day-tea-party-liberty-memorial/

    And via that page, Rantings and Ravings has some from the suburbs:
    http://blog.rantingsandravings.com/2009/04/tax-day-tea-party-protest-in-kansas.html

  129. Dash Rendar says:

    Trenton NJ was quite nice with ~250 people despite hella rain. Lots of families.

  130. Phil says:

    I mean, it’s not as if irrational hatred let the Democrats control all three branches of government or anything………….

    Oh wait.

    Ding! That’s the thing that pisses me off the most about the Pragmatic Republicans. This notion that “We need to be nice!”. The Democrats were borderline psychotic, mainstreaming conspiracy theories that “Bush knew!” or “We went to war for OIIIIIILLLL!” and they now control all three branches of government.

    Now I’m not really interested in promoting right wing conspiracy about Obama and fake birth certificates. What I AM interested in is calling a spade a spade. Obama is obviously completely over his head and this trust that a slight majority of Americans have in him needs to fade away soon or we’ll be so deep in debt we’ll never get out.

    I have no interest in being nice when I say it. Obama is an incompetent fool and all of us could have told the foolish moderates this beforehand. I have no interest in pandering to the moderates.

    Eventually the moderates will realize that we were right. I’ll take no pleasure in saying “I told you so.” I’ll just expect them vote accordingly next time.

  131. SarahW says:

    Here is Flickr set containing someRichmond Tea Party photos, taken by by my husband, Michael. I hope somebody got some audio of him.

  132. Molon Labe says:

    I don’t understand “heart-ache”. I thought the day was a rousing success.

  133. Topsecretk9 says:

    A counter protest was supposed to take place across the street, but nobody ever showed up.”

    The REAL grassroots don’t protest unless paid or something it seems, eh? They all seem to be embarrassingly under attended unless the taxpayer financed ACORN filled buses comes.

  134. Hap Hazard says:

    The Sacramento event was very well attended, probably near 5000, maybe more. I knew there would be some Huffington Post authors attending who reside here. I looked, and they were dismissive, noting the crowd was white (the horror), and old (which was not true), and calling it a Republican-only event. The usual talking points journolist crap.

    I think they are unsettled a bit. I haven’t seen that many protesting anything at the State Capitol since the anti Vietnam War protests in the 1970s.

  135. Akatsukami says:

    As I commented on P*j*m*sm*dia, the commentary during the Presidential campaign showed that leftypigs like thor get more shrill and vicious as they see their chances of victory diminish. Thor’s invective proves it to be pretty worried right, but we won’t know ourselves within striking distance of our goals until he, Nishi, meya, and cynn pump out 24×7 trolling equating peaceful protests such as these with calls for genocide and armed revolution to overthrow the Obamist cabal.

  136. BuddyPC says:

    5. Comment by meya on 4/15 @ 4:44 pm #

    “The crowd roared its disgust at Change and had no general use for Washington DC’s current regime. ”
    Here’s the DC crowd:
    http://washingtonindependent.com/38877/scenes-from-the-dc-tea-party-more-photos

    No ironic ‘taxation without representation’ signs.

    I’m probably in the minority on this, but the hell with District “residents” and their tax w.o. rep beefs. These carpetbaggers have been moving to a town never designed to be a full blown city to suckle at the federal teat on the rest of our’s dimes for a couple generations now. You want your own rep? Move to the suburbs, venture your own capital, and buy one like the rest of us have to.

    OTOH Most at the DC party probably weren’t from inside the beltway.

    137. Comment by Phil on 4/15 @ 11:06 pm #
    I mean, it’s not as if irrational hatred let the Democrats control all three branches of government or anything………….
    Oh wait.
    Ding! That’s the thing that pisses me off the most about the Pragmatic Republicans. This notion that “We need to be nice!”. The Democrats were borderline psychotic, mainstreaming conspiracy theories that “Bush knew!” or “We went to war for OIIIIIILLLL!” and they now control all three branches of government.

    Now I’m not really interested in promoting right wing conspiracy about Obama and fake birth certificates. What I AM interested in is calling a spade a spade. Obama is obviously completely over his head and this trust that a slight majority of Americans have in him needs to fade away soon or we’ll be so deep in debt we’ll never get out.

    New leftist talking point I’ve seen making various rounds: Obama is a centrist president, that the extreme right wishes to fail.
    I disagree that Obama is incompetent; he knows exactly what he’s doing. But otherwise you’re right. If Obama and his minions are so desperate for for the radical agenda they wish to impose on the rest of us, why do they bristle when we call it what it is?

  137. thor says:

    #

    Comment by Akatsukami on 4/16 @ 3:53 am #

    As I commented on P*j*m*sm*dia, the commentary during the Presidential campaign showed that leftypigs like thor get more shrill and vicious as they see their chances of victory diminish. Thor’s invective proves it to be pretty worried right, but we won’t know ourselves within striking distance of our goals until he, Nishi, meya, and cynn pump out 24×7 trolling equating peaceful protests such as these with calls for genocide and armed revolution to overthrow the Obamist cabal.

    My invective is strong, much stronger than yours. My hand was made strong by God.

  138. N. O'Brain says:

    Comment by happyfeet on 4/15 @ 9:07 pm #

    Comment by router on 4/15 @ 9:12 pm #

    Please ignore the nattering bandersnatch.

    Thank you.

  139. thor says:

    Poor helpless coward, I scorched his earth, set fire to his sky, and made the ignorant girly-thing beg “Please” one thousand times.

    Feel him break, watch him suffer. The P’brain.

  140. Mr. Pink says:

    146
    Does anyone have a crazy to English book handy?

  141. happyfeet says:

    Let’s all everybody have a great day I think. I have to go to a midwestern farm state this weekend to spend Saturday on an actual for real farm in a midwestern farm state. I really need this to be a good day so what this will be is a good day. Starting now.

  142. thor says:

    I guess I could put my bird finger away and share a happy face.

    Have a good one, Haps.

  143. serr8d says:

    Thanks, Jeff, for the linky.

    Here’s my Flickr photostream. Better than the lousy lossy pictures Blogger allows, that’s for sure.

    My favorite is the one I put up in the Pub. Should get some sort of award I think… )

  144. happyfeet says:

    thanks! At the very least I think being in the middle of nowhere with no car with miles and miles of empty ethanol fields as far as the eye can see and also cows will make the quitting smoking easier. I’m going to go see one of the houses they used in the filming of Twister. Wait. That didn’t sound right. I’m going to go see one of the houses they used in the filming of Twister!

  145. N. O'Brain says:

    “Comment by Mr. Pink on 4/16 @ 5:39 am #

    146
    Does anyone have a crazy to English book handy?”

    The lying retarded marmoset is having delusions of gender, flashes of insanity concerning an incident where I spanked him thoroughly, proved that it’s a prevaricating, mendoucious slime mold with the soul of a KGB torturer and the intellect of Corky the Retard.

    Please ignore it’s street corner mumblings.

    Thank you.

  146. thor says:

    “Please!”

    1001

  147. thor says:


    Comment by serr8d on 4/16 @ 6:05 am #

    Here’s my Flickr photostream. Better than the lousy lossy pictures Blogger allows, that’s for sure.

    My favorite is the one I put up in the Pub. Should get some sort of award I think… )

    Maybe you could Photoshop some toilets and turds into your hickbilly pics.

  148. SDN says:

    #146: I’d say the one refusing to provide the LZ is the coward, buttmunch.

  149. thor says:

    Both your teeth will scatter when you land, buttwart.

  150. Joe says:

    Anderson Cooper notes, it is hard to talk when you are teabagging. And Anderson would know!

  151. serr8d says:

    That’s a thought, thor.

    Send me your picture. There’s a nice porcelain fixture I have in mind, just for you.

    (Wait..this isn’t you? Really? Certainly captures your essence, if not your actual visage…and the weight? Within a couple pounds, right? )

  152. Matt says:

    Tea parties ? No no no but BUSH !!! You thuglicans are hypocrites- why weren’t you protesting Bush. Hypocritical. Facist !!

    On the upside, I saw no “Obama = Hitler” or “Obama = Mao” signs at the protest today.

  153. That’s a thought insane, meth-induced chimera, thor.

    FTFY, Serr8d.

  154. Abe Froman says:

    It’s really a shame thor doesn’t have the balls to start a blog of his own. Any emotionally troubled pseudo-intellectual can incessantly drop monosyllabic turds in someone else’s punch bowl. But for a beta male who so vigorously overcompensates for it with a rich cyber fantasy life, you’d think it would be more obvious to him that nobody here buys any of his make-believe when he doesn’t even have the courage to pen his own thoughtvomit.

  155. Jim in KC says:

    My name should be orangey to indicate a link to some pix of the KC Liberty Memorial event.

    At the very least, it looks like we had better weather than Richmond. No counter-protesters in evidence; no police either unless they were in street clothes protesting along with us.

  156. nawoods says:

    Any Atlanta readers here that were present last night? My better half and I got on MARTA in Buckhead, and the trains were already pretty full bringing folks in from the ‘burbs. We arrived at 630pm, half an hour before the advertised start time and it was already crowded. By the time we left around 830pm, it was assholes to elbows. Atlanta PD estimated the crowd at 15,000, and that could very easily be true. It was too crowded to really move around and get a full view of the proceedings.

  157. Slartibartfast says:

    do we know where the president was born?

    Yes, we do.

    shouldn’t “journalists” uncover such info?

    They already have. If some new lead comes along, they should follow that. Until such time as something like evidence pops up, such questions sound a bit too much like Trutherism for my taste.

    I mean, this lack of 100% certainty that Obama wasn’t born overseas, or (even worse) wasn’t adopted overseas by a woman having US citizenship…you’re just going to have to live with it, until something new pops up. Which, I’m not expecting for anything new to pop up.

    Imagine if McCain had instead been elected, and people started noting that he wasn’t borne in the US, and therefore wasn’t eligible to hold the office. Think of what a bunch of dumbasses you would think that they were, in that case, and you get a certain perspective of how our friends on the left are looking at these kinds of authenticity questions.

  158. ccs says:

    Serr8d,
    you should put in some kind of warning when you post a picture like the one at #158.

  159. cynn says:

    So were these tea parties anti-tax or anti-bailout? I really couldn’t tell.

  160. Pablo says:

    Anti-out-of-control spending, it seems.

  161. J. Peden says:

    Maybe you could Photoshop some toilets and turds into your hickbilly pics.

    “Thousands of trolls go to bed hungery every night!”

  162. geoffb says:

    “So were these tea parties anti-tax or anti-bailout? I really couldn’t tell.”

    That seems to be the talking point of “concern trolls” everywhere starting last night. They are “concerned” that there shouldn’t be any more protests until a completely unified theme is adopted by the organizers and then transmitted down to all the little hoi polloi.

    The same ones also talk about how few people showed up compared to the Lefty protests. According to the left, who always shows it’s “concern” and wants to “help” us, we need some real Community Organizers and some well paid, bussed in, protesters to get a real political movement started. Can’t be a real protest movement unless you follow CPUSA guidelines.

  163. So were these tea parties anti-tax or anti-bailout? I really couldn’t tell.

    Well, apparently the MSM can chalk up another success for itself.

  164. Spies, Brigands, and Pirates says:

    So were these tea parties anti-tax or anti-bailout? I really couldn’t tell.

    Hint: that would be because you’re stupid.

    How are your smokes tasting, cynn? Still like Barry’s ass?

  165. JHoward says:

    So were these tea parties anti-tax or anti-bailout? I really couldn’t tell.

    Sorry to hear that. They were mostly anti-Socialism, thereby covering all the bases associated with systems failures, not least of them being runaway taxation, non-representation, bailouts and collectivism (but I repeat myself) and all things unfortunate enough to fall under federal budgeting and Democrat rule at the same time.

    Wouldn’t you agree? Yep, folks are pissed.

  166. J. Peden says:

    So were these tea parties anti-tax or anti-bailout? I really couldn’t tell.

    What’s the difference, especially when Obamanomics means stripping all profit off the workers’ backs so as to eternally redistribute it to Gov’t and Gov’t’s other annointed “winners”?

  167. The Oracle says:

    Also Jonesboro and Paragould, Ark. olioscourge.blogspot.com

  168. N. O'Brain says:

    Comment by serr8d on 4/16 @ 6:30 am #

    Comment by Comrade Carin on 4/16 @ 6:54 am #

    Comment by Abe Froman on 4/16 @ 7:09 am #

    Please ignore the howler monkey.

    Thank you.

  169. Jeff G says:

    Don’t underestimate the power of denial and defensiveness. For the time being, you’ll see his supporters publicly lauding President Barry even more for his courage in facing the rightwing extremists, and for his sober centrism.

    — Which sober centrism includes lots of things that aren’t even remotely centrist.

    Some people seem to think that because (saving certain glaring and “symbolic” examples) Obama has hewed to the Bush defense policies, he is governing very much like Bush. The difference is, Bush believed in what he was doing; Barry is terrified something will happen on his watch that will make him look impotent. So he is keeping up current defense measures while undercutting defense in the long term.

    But hey, who needs a volunteer armed services when one can dictate a mandatory civilian army peopled by the next generation’s crop of community organizers?

  170. N. O'Brain says:

    “So were these tea parties anti-tax or anti-bailout?”

    Yes, yes they were.

  171. Jeff G says:

    I should add that the birth certificate stuff I find uninteresting at this point, but as with the TANG documents, the fact that a fringe element keeps the story alive probably won’t hurt too much unless we allow the media to paint us all with the same brush.

    Ironically, it is those who are most embarrassed by the fringe who tend to be among the number who would rather have us parse everything we say than to simply refuse to accept the premises offered by the media — and to tell the media so directly.

  172. N. O'Brain says:

    “Barry is terrified something will happen on his watch that will make him look impotent.”

    What’d I say?

    Jimmy Carter redux.

  173. Rob Crawford says:

    Barry is terrified something will happen on his watch that will make him look impotent.

    Which, when you think about it, makes him all the more likely to over-react.

  174. Jeff G says:

    Molon —

    The “heart-ache” thing was ironic and directed at certain folks who like to make fun of OUTLAW — though they tend do so only on Twitter, and only among themselves.

    More publicly, they’re afraid doing so might alienate some of their readers, and it’s all about the hits to some folks (even, ironically, as they suggest the rest of us are panders).

  175. LTC John says:

    “Some people seem to think that because (saving certain glaring and “symbolic” examples) Obama has hewed to the Bush defense policies, he is governing very much like Bush. The difference is, Bush believed in what he was doing; Barry is terrified something will happen on his watch that will make him look impotent. So he is keeping up current defense measures while undercutting defense in the long term.

    But hey, who needs a volunteer armed services when one can dictate a mandatory civilian army peopled by the next generation’s crop of community organizers?”

    Quite so. On the other hand, you can’t be too sure, Jeff – all us potential recruits for REICHWING EXTREMIST HATEKILLMURDER GROUPZ!!11!1 need to be cut down to size.

  176. More publicly, they’re afraid doing so might alienate some of their readers, and it’s all about the hits to some folks (even, ironically, as they suggest the rest of us are panders).

    We’ve already been painted, Jeff. We’re either right-wing nutjobs (those who attended a Tea Party) or we’re moderates who want to cross the isle and work with Obama. The fringe nutjobs, though, are ruining for the rest of the fine folk.

  177. geoffb says:

    From the primaries on my impression has always been that it was the Anti-Obama, mostly Pro-Hillary-PUMA, Democrats that invested the most time, money, and emotional resources into the whole “Birth certificate” row. They were the ones filing the court cases and blogging about it constantly.

    Conservatives have policy differences with Obama and Pelosi and Reid. The tactic of knocking your opponent out of the race on a technical foul is a Dem thing mostly. Obama himself has used it often.

  178. happyfeet says:

    Mostly when I hear about birth certificates it’s cause questions about our dirty socialist piece of shit president’s birth certificate are of profound and symbolic meaning for shallow twats like what you find posting at lowest common denominator mega-site Hot Air. Otherwise it just never comes up really.

  179. Slartibartfast says:

    I’m not totally closed off to the birth certificate thing eventually turning into something real, just as I’m not closed off to the possibility of the existence of aliens from other solar systems. I’d just want to see some evidence, before I get all excited about it.

  180. Pablo says:

    I wish the birth certificate truthers would put a sock in it because Baracky benefits from them. It’s a lousy argument and a game they can’t win. Barry’s little socialist ass was borned in Hawaii. Get over it.

  181. thor says:

    I’d like to share my profound condolences to the family, friends and to her Literary Critic colleagues in the passing of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.

    I know Jeff, as fellow student of criticism and respective language theorist, will be most saddened with news of Mrs. Sedgwick’s sudden and unexpected passing. We all benefit from ideas, opposing or shared alike, and she was a a respected American academic and fierce advocate of her theories.

    Well done, Mrs. Sedgwick, well done. May God bless.

  182. Jeff G. says:

    As feminist theorists go, Sedgwick was interesting to read. And on the off chance her family might ever read this, I naturally offer my condolences.

  183. I think the birth certificate thing is a kind of interesting conspiracy theory … you know, why not just release everything and put and end to it all?

    But, as an issue for my opposition of Obama? Doesn’t even make the radar. I could care less.

  184. thor says:

    See there, Jeff ain’t all about hatin’. Those who enter the ring and fight always earn a measure of respect in at least they took a swing, and wild as those swings might be come, at least they had their puncher’s chance.

    It’s all good.

  185. geoffb says:

    Michigan Tea Party roundup.

  186. N. O'Brain says:

    #Comment by thor on 4/16 @ 11:02 am #

    Please ignore the retarded marmoset.

    Thank you.

  187. ThomasD says:

    Ironically, it is those who are most embarrassed by the fringe who tend to be among the number who would rather have us parse everything we say than to simply refuse to accept the premises offered by the media — and to tell the media so directly.

    I just thought that needed repeating.

    So there.

  188. Jim in KC says:

    No pictures, but I did take my teleprompter along with me last night, just in case I got interviewed on the teevee…

  189. […] if the protesters had been more careful about what they wore, or more precise in the language they used on their […]

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  191. SarahW says:

    Hey. You can hear my husband as Patrick Henry at the beginning of this Youtube video of the Richmond Tea Party. Yeah, he’s a terrorist. OUTLAWYER!

  192. SDN says:

    thor, there’s billions of people on the planet I don’t hate. I don’t even hate you; the term is despise.

  193. SDN says:

    Oh, and as for #156: evidence trumps theory, so where’s my LZ; I want to see how long one of these takes to kill 200 pounds of green slime.

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