Charleston is heaven on earth in the spring. So it was no surprise that the Charleston Tea Party brought out the crowds. One of the cops directing traffic said he thought there were "around a thousand" at the event. I would have guessed something like that.
As advertised, it was pretty much a grass roots, locally organized event. But since South Carolina is a conservative state, the leading state pols were invited and well received. Senator Jim DeMint, being a businessman turned politician, was appreciated by the anti-tax crowd. And G0vernor Mark Sanford, one of the few governors to push back against "stimulus" money, was cheered wildly. His actual speech was a bit of snoozer, but the crowd was nice enough to ignore that fact.
Then came the locals. I have no idea who most of them were - probably just local folks who wanted to have their word. And have their word they did. All in all, a their comments were sincere and surprisingly well presented. No anger or nastiness. One guy showed a poster sized picture of his kids and said he was there for them. That got a lot of people cheering, especially several moms nearby who were clearly thinking the same.
As far as I could tell there were very few anti-protest protesters. I noticed one ganja looking guy (blond dreadlocks... spare me) holding a sign that said "I hate tea" (and your point would be?). And then there were six or seven bulky (and somewhat angry looking) Longshoremen from the union hall down the street. They formed a circle and waved professionally produced signs about "someone being fired every 23 minutes for wanting a union", or some such thing. They looked completely out of place among the hand painted signs and genial older crowd.
So... have a look. It was a great crowd, a beautiful day, and a lot of fun. (And don't stop before you get to the end!)
To the kids too, I think.
7 comments:
9:56 AM
Great pics, Jake. I told Travis Rowley up in RI about you yesterday. He was key player in organization of the tea party in Providence yesterday. Interesting guy. Captained the Brown football team a few years ago and has authored a book about his experience as a conservative at a liberal Ivy League college. Book's title: Out of Ivy.
He lives in Narragansett. Probably does some sailing, too.
12:47 PM
Well done, sir. That last photo is the most interest you shown in women in years...
Yarch,
JP
2:53 PM
To heck with the protest babes. I'd have gone just for the signs!
3:15 PM
Yeah, but ya have to admit. That was some protest babe. And John Galt! Ayne Rand lives. In Charleston!
3:39 PM
Thanks for the kind comments. It was all good fun, particularly Protest Babe. She thought my broken French was "amazing".
5:16 PM
OOps. Ayn.
5:34 PM
A French protest babe? Sounds like my days in Montreal ...
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