Monday, March 2, 2009

let's party like it's 1773

Last Friday's Cleveland Tea Party Protest was small but successful. I think the weather kept a lot of people away - temperatures were in the mid-50s during the morning but by the time we had gotten downtown and found parking, the temperature had plummeted at least 25 degrees and the air had turned to an icy mist.

We all gathered in the square, shivering but cheerful. Mike and I saw people we knew from the local gun community. I even got recognized by a blog reader and learned that another had actually tried one of my recipes (cool!). It was nice to see the different groups (Republicans, gunnies, Freepers, Ron Paul followers, Ayn Rand fans, people who want to abolish the Federal Reserve, young punk 10th Amendment folk, etc) that came out for a single cause and to know that we all found each other via the internet. We were all chatting and exchanging information (& I think I need to get business cards made for my blog because I got a bit tired of writing down the web address.) Meeting likeminded people is always fun.

All the protesters were friendly and orderly and I was impressed at how intelligent the signs were. American flags were passed out and proudly displayed - this was far different than the protests we've gotten used to seeing over the past 8 years.

There was a small police presence and we attracted a bit of attention from passersby - from people giving us the thumbs up and honking their horns, to harsh words and menacing glares. My favorite had to be the woman who drove past while leaning out her car window and shouting, "o-BA-ma! o-BA-ma! It's OUR turn now, muthafuckas." Charming.

The entire group walked around the square at one point, our own little parade, and I followed along, just watching. There were quite a few angry looking urban youths standing sentinel around what I'm sure they think is "their" square...I made a point to smile at them as I walked past. Can't scare me, I'm a librarian...and I'm armed.



UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers! Have a look around & stop back often - I frequently write about bacon!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your signs look a lot better than those scrawled with Sharpies -- more readable, too. How did you get them made?

M

breda said...

Mike printed them out on a CAD machine and I filled in the letters with acrylic paint.

The degree in fine art sometimes comes in handy!

drjim said...

Thanks to you and Mike for going there!

B Smith said...

"A trillion in pork will help how?"

Well, if were a trillion in BACON...

;-)

Turk Turon said...

You guys are a cute couple!

Ditto on that bacon comment: I'm ready for my bacon stimulus, Mr. President.

Mike W. said...

My favorite had to be the woman who drove past while leaning out her car window and shouting, "o-BA-ma! o-BA-ma! It's OUR turn now, muthafuckas." Charming.

How predictable. I guess she was just channeling Obama's own "I won" comment.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/01/23/obama-to-gop-i-won/

Anonymous said...

Did anyone successfully answer Mike's question?

Robert Langham said...

"I'm a librarian and I'm armed." That ought to be the blog subheadline.

You are a bad, bad girl!

Phil said...

Looking at that picture of me with the bullhorn reminds me that before the next event, I need to take Megaphone 101.

K said...

First, I agree with Robert about the blog subheadline! You are right about the signs. I love Atlas will shrug. My husband enjoys your blog, as do I. If you have a minute check out my blog. I have a fairly recent entry about my first trip to the range (just scroll until you see the target pictures).

Old NFO said...

Thank you for stepping up for us!

Anonymous said...

"Can't scare me, I'm a librarian...and I'm armed."

Score!

Christina RN LMT said...

Very nice! I love the signs, and it does look like everyone had a good time. I'm glad you weren't heckled too badly. Thanks for protesting. I'm afraid I'm too lethargic in a lot of ways, but at least I voted!
Oh, and I plan on giving a persuasive speech in my COM101 class entitled: The Second Amendment, and why Every Law-abiding Citizen should own a Firearm
I shall kick ass.

Anonymous said...

What are you doing with the old guy in the picture?

Just kidding.

I shouldn't talk, I married up myself.

Anonymous said...

Breda,

The bigger question is:

What kind of nail polish were you wearing to coordinate with that sign!??

Sorry, having a wife as into nail polish as you are makes a man start to wonder about such minutia!

breda said...

Phil, thanks for having us! And yes, speak directly into the megaphone.

Christina - yes. Yes you will :D

Molon Labe - naked nails, no time. Too bad.

ajdshootist said...

Breda you should get yourself a
T shirt with "Obama Lied the Economy
Died " for the summer think you would look great in it.

Anonymous said...

Obama Lied, the Economy died would be a great bumper sticker, but living in the most commie of the People's republic of California, my car wouldn't last a week.
Actually the economy didn't just die, Obama is channeling FDR so Obama has it by the throat in a ditch with a knee in its chest.
I sure hope we know how to keep the Great Depression from happening again, but from what I've seen from Washington and heard from my Stalinist relatives, I don't know.

Bob said...

Grats on the Instalanche, Breda!

Bob

Anonymous said...

Hi Breda,

I wanted to say 'thanks' for alerting me to the St. Louis TeaParty, which was awesome!!! We had about 1,000 feisty souls there; I went with my two sisters and my brother-in-law. My wife Patti has been bitten with the blog-bug, so she started a blog and wrote about the St. Louis event (the post is dated Sat. Feb. 28th)and included some pictures. You can see them at:
http://countrygirlinsuburbia.blogspot.com/
She's still working on figuring out some of the technical intricacies, but I think it's a pretty good start (I'm very partial). Keep up the good work - we both LOVE your stuff.

Thanks,

Hank