So many Nashville bloggers have their thoughts on this, the best synopsis being Bob Krumm’s, which I find to be the most accurate portrayal: a few nutjobs, lots of decent, hard-working Tennesseans who don’t like what their government is doing. I thought since most people have heard the story that I would just share a few pictures I took from being in medias res. Check out below the fold.
There were so many great signs. Here are a few favorites:
There was a LOT of support for the FairTax at the Tea Party:
There were some elected officials present, including state legislators, who waved a bit but stayed in the background for most of the rally (wise idea, even here in Tennessee):
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn was also there, and she rallied for grandmothers worried about their grandkids having to pay for all of the government spending. The crowd reacted really postively for her…is that run for governor going to happen after all? Here she is with her grandson:
Look, there’s even Nashville’s Eric Crafton. Interesting:
There were definitely some characters, including the freaky man-pig thing that was stomping on pork rhinds in the street:
The marijuana legalizers must have a built-in radar to detect whenever and wherever there’s a political rally:
One tiny group of Obama supporters:
There were a few radio folks, like Steve Gill here, but they stayed in the background for the most part:
New friend and fantastic blogger Ken Marrero of Blue Collar Muse was a major organizer and speaker:
Most of the people there were decent, normal Tennesseans who were there to protect their way of life and fight for their rights as citizens:
If there were any doubt that this rally was in Music City, no more:
I want this shirt:
Finally some crowd shots to demonstrate how many people were at this thing:
I said earlier on Twitter that it was about 2500, but I was quickly corrected: 10,000 people, just about. Pretty amazing job for one of the most grassrootsy of the large Tea Parties.
All things considered, what I saw today was a great instance of Americans who don’t think high taxes and lots of spending is the way to go. They used their 1st Amendment rights to say so, and perhaps their sending a message. Obama and most Dems are pretty deaf to it, but maybe other elected officials are going to get the message. It was great to see so many good people (with a few, mostly harmless, crazies thrown in) get together to get the ball rolling.
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Thanks for the coverage. Some sources were condemning Tea Party attendees as people who just didn’t want to pay taxes, and I think your coverage does a good job of showing that it was something more than that. If it was about not paying taxes, everyone could stay home and watch the clock turn over to 12:00 without pressing submit. The best message, it seems to me, is not about breaking the law, or even about civil disobedience. Rather, these are traditional rallies (even if organized through progressive means) seeking to draw attention to disfavored government policy, direction, and even overarching paradigm.
Thanks for the pictures and comments.
http://twitter.com/CatoTN
Love the ACORN sign…haha. Good to hear you all had a great rally. The ATL tea party was quite enjoyable as well. And LOTS of FairTaxers there, too. Lots.
Hey, thanks for the coverage. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with their message, I think it’s extremely important that everyone gets to express his or her opinions in a constructive way. Being the immature person I am, I just don’t understand why they had to use words like “tea-bagging”…
Marsha Blackburn is part of the problem.
Economic Stimulus. H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, passed 385-35 on January 29, 2008 (Roll Call 25). It would provide about $150 billion in economic stimulus, including $101.1 billion in direct payments of rebate checks (typically $600) to most taxpayers in 2008 and temporary tax breaks for businesses. Creating money out of thin air and then spending the newly created money cannot improve the economy, at least not in the long term. (If it could, why not create even more money for rebates and make every American a millionaire?) The stimulus has no offset and thus increases the federal deficit by the amount of the stimulus because the government must borrow the rebate money. A realistic long-term stimulus can only be achieved by lowering taxes through less government and by reducing regulatory burdens. Marsha Blackburn voted FOR this bill.(Source: The New American – July 21, 2008)
Marsha Blackburn is my Congressman.
She is no conservative.
See her unconstitutional votes at :
http://bluecollarrepublican.com/blog/?p=614
Mickey
Thanks for a thorough and clear presentation. I am so tired of the media bias, which really is understating the problem of no longer having a free press.
Well done, Mike Warren! Bob Owen