Charleston Tea Party

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!)

The cars were backed up for about a half a mile on East Bay Street on the way over.

Approaching, the crowd looked a lot bigger than this.

This was when Jim DeMint was speaking. There were lots of people beyond the steps.

The Fair Tax folks put out a good showing. This couple were happy to chant for their cause.

Still doesn't look like as many people as there were.

The volunteers wore these shirts. There were lots of them and they were very well mannered.

Back of the shirt. They gave some to people who answered history questions right.
To the kids too, I think.

Now you can see a bit more of the crowd.

OOHHH RAHHH!

Lest we forget the importance of tithing.

Getting crowded on the steps. The Hon Treasury Sec came in for a beating.

Channeling Rick Perry. Not sure how well that worked out the first time.

This lady was fun. She wasn't sure what the Fed was, but figured if she held the sign high, her friend would find her.

She got lots of pictures because she was so sweet.

Apparently her friend wasn't a fan of the IMF either.

The lady holding this sign was the only person I saw who seemed angry. But her sign was funny.

Gold and guns seem pretty Swiss. Not sure about the God part.

This lady was worried her daughter might catch her at a protest. Given my readership numbers, she doesn't have much to worry about!

Tea Party Chic!

At least someone other than Estonia has it right.

Morning in America (c. 2008/9)!

Someone had to have one.

Semi-sesquipedalianist!

Is that Vinnie Barbarino on the right?

And what's a protest without a Protest BABE!