Yesterday, April 15, was "Tax Day," and the furious tea baggers were out in force here in the City of Satan. Well, there were several hundred, maybe even close to a thousand. The WaPo, ever eager to inflate the opposition to a legally elected Democratic President, said it was "thousands." The paper enthused that "more than 50 tour buses" poured into DC for the event. When was the last time YOU were on a tour bus? Did you count the seats? You do the math.
Anyhoo, on the same slope by the Washington Monument that had been COVERED, elbow to elbow, with protesters during one of the antiwar gatherings during the Bush 2 administration, the tea baggers gathered in a fenced-in area. Inside of this, the speakers' platform was set up so that--the cameras not being able to see the empty space behind--it might actually look crowded. Two park police were out by the sidewalk near Constitution Avenue (in full sight of the traffic) trying to manage their fidgety horses. By the time we left at 7 p.m., there were FOUR cavalry waiting to run down troublemakers--which apparently were both of us old girls plus a bunch of very young folks.
Yes, they had their hateful buttons and signs, but this time they were mostly manufactured, not hand-made, and all meticulously spelled!! But boy, were they pissed off! One older gentleman refused to read my little handout ("Thank you, Obama, for these tax cuts!" followed by a listing of all the tax cuts us little folks (i.e., taxpayers) have received this year.) "Nah....I've been workin since I was 10 years old and I never took a penny from anyone, and I got 17 children and...." at which point, he turned and stomped away. I called "Thanks for your good example and hard work!" But he didn't turn around. And I got to thinking...17 kids! I wonder if he's my cousin!! I should have asked him if he was from South Dakota.
I suppose the news will be full of the events if the day, but will ignore the people protesting the tea baggers. Ah well, that's our country for good or bad.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your courage!!! Those people scare me!!!! The media keeps saying these people are educated and have money but they look and act like what we used to call 'trash' with their nasty behavior and misspelled signs.
ReplyDeleteM.E. you are a hero. Even more, you are MY hero. Countering angry misinformation and ignorance with truth is dangerous work and life bless those who do it.
ReplyDeletePS 17 kids and never took a penny from anyone, eh? I guess his kids didn't go to school... that"s a shame.
ReplyDeleteDarlene: they've forgotten the tea baggers already, too. it was such a nothing event.
ReplyDeleteKay: their handlers really had them in hand this time...most of the signs were machine-made and spelled right. Even the home-made ones were pristine as far as grammar and spelling go.
Ronnie: Well, it was fun. The main counter-protest group was walking too fast for me, so i just grabbed a bunch of handouts and went one-on-one. Most folks were very pleasant even if their minds were made up...and some were actually interested. I had on my best Michelle Obama "We Can Do It" t-shirt. I even got interviewed by two lovely young folks. They asked me why I was out there, and I just said I'd gotten an email from one of the Democratic Party groups to come give our side. And I also said that I just simply did not understand what these people were so upset about. And I still don't, unless they've been listening to Limbaugh et al. and actually believe their lies. But after seeing and meeting some of them, it occurred to me that people like the hunky old father of 17 may have been farmers all their lives--and I'm not sure farmers even get social security when they retire, if indeed they ever do retire. So maybe it seems to them like everyone else gets a handout but them. I dunno. I've never thought of farmers as poor. Where I grew up--the Red River Valley of ND-- "rich farmer" was an oxymoron. But when we lived in Bismarck, some of my best friends were John Birch Society members. I never figured that group out, either. There's lots of weirdness in the hinterlands. Interesting, indeed.
M.E., this is brilliant writing and picturing. You have my admiration for standing up to these benighted and pathetic folks. I truly hope that they have run out their time on the media attention-meter. We must find a way to re-focus progressive energy on moving on!
ReplyDeletenaomi: !!
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