NYC Tea Party.

Notes from the NYC Tea Party
Today I attended the NYC Tea Party at City Hall. There were easily several thousand people there (13,000). While I have witnessed countless protests, this was the first I ever participated in. Below are some quick notes and pictures from the experience :[sorry, they are not in any particular order].

I was not alone:

Although I had planned to go with a friend, I ended up attending alone. Once there I easily mingled with so many people who share my disgust with the wasteful spending, outrageous and and punitive taxes and the general incompetence of government today. I was very surprised to find so many people who , like me, were participating in a protest for the first time.

Come on, make some noise!

As one who has witnessed many left wing protests, I have to say, we Tea Partiers need to open up a little more. Yeah, people hollered here and there, but that loud rhythmic chant that lefties make simply was not there. Even I took a little time before I started hollering. We need to get past this.

Signage:

There were some clever signs there. My favorite read “Tea Parties Today, Tar and Feathers Tomorrow”! There were way too many T.E.A (Taxed Enough Already) signs.

Race:

No surprise that the crowd was predominately white. I was surprised by the large number of Hispanics and Asians. From where I as standing (way in the back, sorry got there late) I could only count 12 blacks including myself, with the majority being female (8 Females, 4 Males). Come on brothers and sisters, we have to do better than that.

Speakers:

Clearly the best ones were the everyday folks that got plucked from the crowd. These people seem to have the exact words to describe the emotions of the day. The scheduled speakers and MC seemed to be trying to pump up the crowd rather than expressing any real sentiment. Newt Gingrich got the biggest reception. In NYC? Who would have thought?

Class and Age:

What ever was lacking in racial diversity was clearly made up in economic and age diversity. There were upper income white collar types easily mingling with middle class blue collar types. Ages ran the gambit from teens to seniors. I was surprised by the large number of middle class house wife types. They seemed to be the most active, waving signs and chanting.

Liberal photogs:

There were quite a number of liberal photographers there. You could pick them out like pepper grains in the salt shaker. They had that whole anti Globalization protester look about them, plus they seemed removed from the event. I did not have to worry about them snapping my picture, because the last thing a liberal would want would be to showcase blacks at a predominately conservative rally.

Things I did not get:

There was a small group of Obama supporters who were against all the spending but still supported Obama. They seem to blame Congress but not the President, go figure. The layout of the protest was also a mystery to me. City Hall in NYC sits on its own block. The stage could have been set in the park and the protesters could have ringed the park. Instead, the stage and half the protesters were on one side of Broadway and another batch of protesters were on the other side. Seemed like a huge disconnect. There was a lone guy there with a sign that equated gay marriage with the fair tax, I am still scratching my head over that one.

Thank goodness, no corny costumes!

At liberal protests, you cannot swing a cat without hitting some clown in some crazy get up. Thankfully there were precious few there. There was a dude in an Uncle Sam costume and shorts (it was freezing too) and someone with some kind of face paint way up front (I could not tell what it was, I left my glasses at home).

From the masses comes the one:

This is a quick thought I had about the Tea Parties in general. There is clearly an anti government-same-old-same sentiment out there in America. Anyone who can clearly voice it and tap into the strong emotions tied into it, could easily unite these Tea Parties into a solid mass movement. Such an individual would be a juggernaut come 2012. Now wouldn't that be Change? One of us, the ordinary, leading our great nation and ushering in the return of common sense.

So now what?

The main feeling I am left with after my first Tea Party is, now what? Where do we go from here? The ball is clearly in government’s court. Does it follow the media’s lead and dismiss this these Tea Parties as nothing more than Astroturf or does the government heed the voice of the people and halt in its march to madness? Stay tuned.