Off-Topic: Mad As Hell At DC Tea Party

I attended the DC Tea party today. I wish I had brought my camera as pictures of the signs being carried would really help you capture what the protesters are thinking.

Living outside of DC, I've been to many protests and gatherings on the Mall (Nixon's Reinauguration Protest, Marches for Life, Promise Keepers, 4^th Of July Fireworks, etc.).

SIDENOTE: As a result of the President Bush / Republicans obvious corruption surrounding the financial crisis (and stupid wars and the Republican's porking out when they finally got in power rather than reforming anything), I am cured of being a “social conservative”. I'm more in the Bill Bonner all politicians are lying and self-serving camp right now. So I'm mostly trying to report to you what I saw and heard rather spin some particular political agenda.

UPDATE: I'm removing all crowd size estimates from this post because the photos I saw on TV after coming home were clearly larger than what I could see on the ground on location when I left around 12:30PM. I expect that the crowd continued to grow after I left and I probably didn't see the entire size of the crowd that was present when I left. My earlier estimates were wrong.

Unlike other things I've gone to, with a well-planned out program and name-brand speakers and everything ho-hum we all agree, this was way more grass-roots. Every sign was home-made expressing the individual's view point and with their own slogan.

The best part about being there was conversations with folks who were coming. Here's some examples of representative opinion:

Q: What is this about? Being taxed too much or about the corruption of government by both parties. A: Mostly about corruption.

Q: Who are the main spokesman for what this is about? A: Nobody really gets it. Glenn Beck comes the closest. No mentions of Rush Limbaugh. A couple of Hannity mentions.

My sense is that most of the people there used to be “social conservatives”, but got so burnt out by Bush 2 and the trough-feeding by the post-Contract-With-America Republicans in power that now they are basically in the I'm mad as hell, “throw the bums” non-partisans.

Some of the key ideas/slogans were:

“You Work For Me” - these folks have concluded that the politicians exist just to feather their own beds and their big buck-insider pals.

“No Obama Health Care” - my conclusion is that this is a case where folks realize that the reason why the Obama health-care plan is so nebulous is because the politicians are clearly lying and that it would never pass (be acceptable to the public) if it was clearly stated because it is intended to benefit the Washington insiders (and their elite pals) and screw the “hard-working”.

"You Lie" - applies especially to Obama, but also to all of the politicians in congress. 

There was no clear fingering of the banksters or any other corporations (other than a resentment of the mainstream media). No much anti-Federal Reserve talk. The hostility was focused against unlistening politicians, power-hungy politicians and politicians taking/spending other people's money especially not for those people's own good.

The fact that the attendees were not listened to during the whole “TARP” bailout thing (and ignored / attacked by the press) is quite a sore point.

I could not hear any of the speakers at the front. I did hear one sound-bite speaking out against corruption by both Rupublicans and Democrats (to the cheering of the crowd).

My overall impression is that this is politically significant. Its 15 months to go to the next election congressional only election. Ordinarily around DC there would be nothing (especially from the “right”) at this time in the political cycle (they always manage to trot out some kind of “repent America” rally for the social conservatives during presidential election seasons). I expect that, given a lack of improvement in the economy for the average Joe, that this will be quite a bit bigger next year (say ½ million), better organized with a “throw the bums out” attitude.

This is clearly not an instrument of the Republican establishment. Its probably more of a threat to them than anyone else as the first step for really making things happen is to clean out the old Republican leadership as anybody who's trying to get in front of this crowd knows.

I think it immediately sucks significant political support out of Obama care, more bailouts, the carbon tax stuff as anyone who is up for reelection and isn't in a politically slam dunk district/state is going to try to avoid getting a “GO HOME” vote from these folks. This goes especially for anyone down south who got in on an anti-bush/pro-change we can believe in stance. This is particularly important in a congressional only election where voter turnout is the key to everything. My guess is that no significant legislation will pass before the next election. 

I'm looking for some Republican to come out of nowhere with a populist, but conservative “stop the corruption” and we Republican's have been part of the problem message.

There were no clear messages I could see for how to stop the corruption, other than returning to the constitution and having honesty and integrity from government officials. This is an area where some work has to happen if this movement is going to go anywhere. There has to be better placement of blame on populist targets (beyond just the existing government and Obama) and a clear, simple message about what to do about it.

I hope you find this report helpful,

MontyHigh, www.worldofwallstreet.us

Comments

[Independent Voter Joliet]

This was almost the fairest report I heard although you should have a camera on your cell phone.. for all the questions about the type of people they were from every walk of life.. stay at home mom's, professionals, small businesses men/women, college kids, Black, White, Hispanic and every nationality, from CA to DC some joining following the buses in their own vehicles caravan style picking them up as they traveled thought states.. I had the honor of attending the Bus that traveled from CA when it stopped in IL at New Lenox they were expecting a few hundred or thousand and there were actually 10,000 that showed up in the little town from all over IL.. it was AWESOME..and while the mainstream media is FAILING not only their audiences but the their own profession by not covering this movement..I talked to Democrats (fact is I went to the rally with Democrats who voted for Obama), Independents and Republicans.. While the White House continues to make fun of these people trying to marginalize them this only makes them look more lame and MORE people join in speaking out.. Yes it is people like Beck who ENCOURAGES the speaking out, most people have forgot they are allowed to do so but are finding a new freedom they haven't experienced since they told us we all have to be PC..

[Ralph Smith]

Monty I appreciate your objectivity and candor and agree with you in most respects. However your crowd estimates are somewhat off. My guess would be around 200-250K. There were people coming and leaving all day and many on the side roads. I've been to many major sporting event and your 100,000 people is less than a Michigan home football game, and I would guess there were at least twice that amount.

[Naruralized Citizen]

I was there with camera and did take shot towards the Capital and turned around and took some towards the Washington Monument. While I did not walk all the way down the mall, I did see people as far as could be seen on the ENTIRE Mall. Definitely more than just "tens of thousands". I also personally saw hundreds of great handmade signs, including only ONE where Obama has a Hitler mustache. Guess which sign gets shown in the media?

[longwalksinparis.blogspot.com]

Obama had 1.6m at his inauguration... this event had 50k TOPS. Nice try but no cigar. 450 busloads of rightwingers don't equal no movement. Just more Fox News made- for -tv politics. Last November was the REAL REVOLUTION.

[Elvan Poots]

Thanks for the eyewitness report - interesting that most of the folks there were just in general "mad as hell" mode, and not so much motivated by the health care thing specifically (as suggested by the MSM).

What would you think were the kind of folks there? White collar, blue collar, to much of a mix to really tell? How about the parts of the country they were from - was it generally just "day trip" distances, or were they coming from all over?
Lefties have been trying to paint the attendees as being racist (of course), did you see anything like that in evidence?

[MontyHigh]

Ok, now I get it. John Galt means you are an admirer of Ayn Rand. Its amazing how often her admirers have no class or generousity. The Ayn Rand admirer approach of hitting people instead of talking to them honestly and patiently is a real turn-off. Do you guys hit each other that way when you get together? Yikes!

[MontyHigh]

I kind of resent you accusing me of lying. I've got no big political axe to grind. Yes I was there. Why didn't I bring a camera? Well, because I didn't really want to go and decided at the last minute so I could hang with a friend and tore myself away from playing with my 8-year old son and didn't make any preparations. Its no big deal to jump on the subway and see what's going on down town.

UPDATE: I'm removing all crowd size estimates from this post because the photos I saw on TV after coming home were clearly larger than what I could see on the ground on location when I left around 12:30PM. I expect that the crowd continued to grow after I left and I probably didn't see the entire size of the crowd that was present when I left. My earlier estimates were wrong.

[John Galt]

You want us to believe that you were at this rally but neglected to bring a camera? You claim to have been at this rally and claim that there were 15k to 50k in attendance? You were not at this rally. I was at the rally. I have pictures. There were HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THERE!