RSS
Home
One violin incident; no arrests at Seattle Tea Party
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
“Honk if I’m paying your mortgage!” was the first and, frankly, best sign I eyed on my walk into Seattle’s Westlake Center Wednesday evening for one of 800 Tax Day Tea Parties from sea to tea-drenched sea.
“Stuck between Barack and a hard place!” was as clever as “Obama’s not my Messiah; I already have One!” But too many protestors believed Obama-bashing was the purpose of the rally instead of voicing anger over the regrettable runaway spending ironically begun under the new president’s predecessor.
This rally in Seattle seemed more focused on an untested president than an unprecedented test. After all, it is much easier to make an 18th century statement by dumping large bags of tea into a harbor than it is to sustain a 21st century rebellion by dropping tiny bags of tea into a mailbox at one dollar per pop.
Like the proverbial rush into battle in Jeremiah 8:6 [New King James] – “each pursuing his own course” – we saw hundreds of soldiers frothing to fight, but awkwardly conflicted by confusing messages.
One gentleman praised the uncompromising leadership of George W. Bush, who somehow managed to outspend President Clinton’s eight-year tab before the first tank had ever crossed into Iraq six years ago.
Another fellow professed hatred toward Obama “for one reason and one reason only,” and that was his having started this whole bailout mess. Never mind that Bush had poked the hornets’ nest last summer. Nearby, a woman waved a sign which read: “Three trillion dollars down the toilet! Stimulated yet?"
Hands down, the hardest working man in King County Republican politics is Steve Beren. Hundreds hung on every word of this two-time challenger of incumbent fringe-left Congressman Jim McDermott, mainly because he enunciated perfectly the purpose of that evening.
“Don’t underestimate what we are doing here today!” Beren shouted. “This is an ad hoc rally to hold Congress and the president accountable.” Apparently unmoved by the moment, a young man far from the stage shouted, “[Screw] Starbucks! They sold our Sonics!”
About an hour later, a block away, a street musician was playing his violin with an open case for the tips of passers-by. As he was packing up his instrument and grabbing the gaggle of dollar bills, a guy holding a cut-out rifle and U.S. flag over either shoulder strolled by and said, “Just another liberal wing nut strumming some tunes so he can hit us up for money.”
Hoping his feelings hadn’t been hurt, I asked the eccentrically dressed musician how much he makes. “Oh let’s see,” he said. “Probably fifteen, twenty bucks a night. Wish I could play more, but it’s tough when you’re running your own business during the day and have a family waiting for you afterwards.
“When you have a socialist as your president, you do what you can for income. We live in a country where liberty is all the stimulus you ever need. Know what I mean?”
Honk if that guy’s paying your mortgage.
Related Articles:
Comments
