16 April 2009

Scenes Of The Lunatic Fringe

Sorry for the blurriness on some - OK, most - of the images, I really need to invest in a tripod. Click on any picture for an expanded view (necessary to read some of the signs).

The crowds packed the west lawn of the building in the area designated for the rally. I hesitate to call it a protest given the orderliness of the crowds.

The point of posting this particular picture is to show how the police, while present, weren't required for crowd control. More than one person walked up to them to thank them for their service and shake their hands. At first they seemed surprised, I don't think they expected that from the right-wing extremist whack jobs the DHS told them to be looking out for. At the end, while everyone was heading to their cars, the police blocked off a single street to allow the crowds to cross without having to fight traffic. Once clear of that single street, however, the crowds stayed on the sidewalks and obeyed traffic signs on their way to the parking lots. Not your typical protest as carried out by typical protesters, but that's the way we like it.

The Gadsden flag was in evidence all through the crowd. This particular flag was flown by the street, and given the enthusiastic honking of the motorists driving by, was well received.

Russ. Just Russ says they were there, but I didn't see any cameras or reporters myself. I didn't see any mention on the local stations during the eleven o'clock news, either, but I wasn't really watching closely. I did see the Fayetteville rally coverage on the "local" all-news-all-the-time channel, so at least someone was paying attention somewhere.

This was a family event, and there were plenty of kids about. Some of the older ones had their own signs, most of them along the "hey, that's MY money you're taking!" variety.

Makes me want to cry too, kid. At least you're getting a ride out of the deal. For now at least. Later on you can carry me, 'kay?

Nice thought there. History, failure to learn, failure to learn from.

The crowds were well behaved and orderly throughout the event. No one strayed into the streets to block traffic, something that seemed to be well appreciated by both law enforcement officers and passing motorists.

There were slightly more than a pathetic dozen people present, and of all the American flags at the scene not a single one was even so much as smoldering.

Someone should probably keep an eye on this radical extremist.

This one too.

Strangely enough, PETA was not there to highlight the plight of this poor, helpless animal. Won't someone please help?

5 comments:

Steve said...

I looked for you, Larry, but in that crowd, not surprised I didn't find you.

none said...

Good pics.

The only thing the left wing media had to say about the protests was:

"Teabaggers"

Larry said...

Sorry I missed you Steve.
I don't know that our local media even said that much Hammer.

MAS1916 said...

These were big crowds!

We should be hopeful that this signals a shift in domestic attitude towards taxation and control. The Reagan Revolution actually kicked off with the Prop 13 win in California. Prop 13 was a limitation on the ability of California to raise property taxes. This was a much smaller and localized issue, but the Tea Parties are indeed national. Tea Parties could indeed set the state for a conservative rebound in 2010.

Larry said...

I believe the Tea Parties are going to signal a shift in the political winds, much to the consternation and dismay of the usual suspects.

They are convinced and confused that the issue is just taxes, but the real issue is government spending. The 7B TARP plan passed with considerable public outcry, but the Congress ignored the taxpayer then and again just months later when the 700B porkulous bill was passed without being read!

Now we can hope that there is a Conservative leader in the wings that can don the Reagan mantle. I'm not convinced that the Republican party has walked the wilderness long enough yet to purge the spenders from it's ranks, and until they do they are not worthy to take up the "limited government" war cry.