Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Don't Mess with Texas Tea Party - Austin

I made myself unavailable to substitute teach today because I wanted to attend the Tea Party at Austin City Hall. I've never done anything like this before - attending a protest of any kind - and I wasn't sure what kind of gathering it might be, given the liberal tendencies of the city in which I live. Let's just say, it turned out very well. I'll only be posting a few pictures for now, but when I have time, I'll write more, off the notes I took. I got there early (parking garage ticket said 10:17am, and the event was scheduled to begin at 11:30). They announced that the police department estimated attendance was 1500, and when that announcement was made it was said to be a "conservative" estimate!



Uncle Sam was passing out these:




Mine now hangs from my rearview mirror...


Some kids were there, too:





Some people displayed flags with historic significance:

From the Texas Revolution:
"Come and Take It"



The 1824 flag



From the American Revolution:
The Gadsden flag: "Don't Tread on Me"



The Betsy Ross flag



The MC today was a bricklayer from Odessa, "Jason the Mason":



There were all kinds of signs, as well:













There was lots of Red, White & Blue being worn. I even wore the t-shirt I got last summer that I couldn't wear until recently, and someone was passing out buttons:



Everyone was very well behaved, I didn't see anything that could be considered "trouble". The crowd got a little loud and raucous at times, but that is only to be expected. More later when I have the time...

They did say there would be another event later today, at 4:30, at the State Capitol Building, but I've got someplace else I have to be: work...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you had an opportunity to participate. I would have loved to be there, or at the gathering at Alamo Plaza. Great signs!


Unkawill

Haole Wahine said...

Thanks for the pictures and commentary. Sounds like it was a very good rally. Glad to hear it. Still at the office.

Rosemary Welch said...

Very nice. My Tea Party (for which I've never done anything like this either) gathered about 50+ people. Late filing and all. It was a lot of fun, though. We had 2 ACORN thugs show up. lol. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Isn't that a twist for this April 15th? ;)

We even one on-duty police officer come over and voice his support for our efforts. He agreed to wear a tea bag under his badge! Wow. Long Beach, California.