So I was a bit curious as to how well the "Tea Party" would do in my home town. As I walked out my door, I was met by the bite of cold rain and wind. I thought to myself "this can't be good teabagging weather".
I got down to Love Park around 11:15 am. At that time, there were about 100 teabaggers, and probably half that number I would describe as organizers. These organizers, I tagged as people exiting Lincoln Town Cars on the corner of JFK, hovering around under the tent, or moving back and forth from the line of FOX News trucks lining the 15th street side of the park.
Since I was early, and freezing my butt off, I decided to go down to the Wendy's two blocks south on 15th and Chestnut. As I walked in, I saw a gentleman donning an InfoWars "Tyranny Response Team" tee and hat, speaking with two ladies. So I ordered my food and proceeded to have a seat next to them.
While eating my food, I kept my ears open. The "TYT" member (not to be confused with a Young Turk) from what I gathered, was non-partisan. He was eloquent in his explanation of his position, and was quick to point out that Obama is not his "boogieman". The gentleman then began to give a warning to the two ladies as to who to "watch out for".
"Yea, Cavuto too, but it's that nut job, what's his name? He's doing the tea party in San Antonio. Not Limbaugh... um..." and I couldn't keep my mouth shut. "Glen Beck, right?" I blurted out. "Yup, that's him." he responded". He then began to tare into the faux partners that he clearly didn't trust.
It was hard not to smile a bit by his declaration, and that I was able to help sow discontent by just providing the name on the tip of his tongue.
After lunch, around 11:50, I returned to the douche teabagger rally with a clearer understanding of the mechanics of the gathering. I noticed that the Philadelphia Police Civil Affairs Corp had arrived and were taking up positions around the perimeter. As one was walking by me, he shot me a glance, so I commented, "this ought to be interesting"? And wouldn't you know, I got a good chuckle out of the guy.
I stayed till around 12:30, circling the park to get a feel for the numbers. I would estimate the rally drew about 300 people. Anybody who knows the layout of Love Park would understand this; there was still plenty of room for skateboarders to enjoy themselves, that is, if it wasn't raining.
So, I hope they liked the loose tea leaves stuck in their teeth from their iced-tea party!
I'll check back later, I have a meeting.
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Update:
A quick addition that I just remembered. The guy at the Wendy's had referred to a website promoting the "Tea Party" in which was a list of "unacceptable signage" for the teabaggers to bring.
His words were, "they keep talking about free speech, but how is listing what is unacceptable speech free?"
I agree, what does Beck, Cavuto, and Rush know about free speech? Let them speak their minds. And if you do, we will quickly find out that the teabaggers don't all drink from the same "batch of sweet tea".
Not good for their corporate sponsors.