I got brave and went to a teahadist rally here in town

[Bluzmann57]

Well actually I only went for about 45 minutes to see what was happening. Boy oh boy, I sure hope the stupid doesn't rub off on me. I can't afford to get any dumber than I am.
Anyway, when I was walking toward the park (I parked a few blocks away) the busses were coming down the Interstate ramp and making all kinds of noise with sirens. Sounded like storm warning sirens which may be fitting. I waited at the street corner while they went past and turned into the park. Heck, I even waved but nobody waved back. The traffic cleared and into the park I went. Leach Park in Bettendorf, IA is a nice park situated on the banks of the Mississippi River. It has a nice bike path and several picnic tables and a boat launch area as well. A couple of guys were down at the west end of the park fishing and seemingly cared nothing about the rally. Someone approached me and asked if I would sign some sort of petition to "overthrow Obamacare" and I politely declined. I wandered to the edge of the "crowd" and just stood and watched. The entertainment part of the program started with some black man whose name I can't remember doing some sort of ridiculous rap about no socialism or something like that. Then a guy came on who apparently is a radio host in San Francisco and he hammered Boston, San Francisco, Pelosi, and Reid all without taking a breath. I went on top of the hill where the speakers were at and stood there observing the 200 people or so that were gathered. An elderly guy who used to work with my dad then made my day. He asked "Is Bruce your dad"? to which I replied "Yes." He asked me how my dad was doing and I said,"Well he's doing ok now but we had a scare a couple of months ago. He was in a rehab place for about six weeks but he's out now. Good thing he's got government run medicare or he probably wouldn't have been able to afford all that." The guy then said, "Yeah you're just like him. One of those damn Liberals." I replied, "My dad is a great man and me and my sister both got our parents Liberal values. We don't lie and we don't expect something for nothing." This guy was sputtering mad by this time, so I knew I hit a nerve. I heard the speaker say something about counter protestors commiting felonies while their side was just expressing viewpoints. I yelled that we don't spit on elected officials and we don't launch bricks through our opponents office windows either. A few fearsome looking biker types were glaring at me so I decided that it may be time to leave.
About the size of the crowd. We have a minor league baseball team and they will draw more on a Tuesday night in May than the teahadists drew today. Bet on it. My estimate is about 200 people attended today's rally. I personally went to a rally in '08 for Obama before he was the official nominee that I know drew about 5000. And I also attended a HRC rally which drew about 2000 in '08. So do not tell me that the teabaggers are a huge force. Just tell me that they are as goofy as a shithouse rat. Also, if I can figure out how to post photos in here, I will post a photo of the "crowd". One more word of advice, stay away from these people in case the crazy wears off.

[sharp_stick]

1. I can't be around teabaggers

I get far to damned angry and my fuse is a little on the short side. This is especially true when dealing with lying scumbags so 200 or so lying scumbags near me would probably result in some form of police interference.

[monmouth]

2. If you could edit this to a few paragraphs it would be a easier read. n/t

[Kievan Rus]

3. Uh oh, they came to the rally on the SOCIALIST Interstate system!

:sarcasm:

[ecstatic]

4. Is that an open carry state?

[Joanne98]

5. The black guy's name is Lloyd Marcus

http://www.lloydmarcus.com/

And in order to post photos you have to put them into photobucket (or something equivalent) and then grab the link from that and post it here.

[Bluzmann57]

6. Yeah that's it!

Thanks.

[quiet.american]

7. Enjoyed reading your account. (Although paragraphs *would* make it easier on the eyes. :) nt

[old mark]

8. B, I hope you got a good hot shower after. 200 will become a thousand

in their reports online.
Thanks - you captured the feel of it - like stepping in dog shit on purpose.

mark

[Bluzmann57]

9. I found out they are headed to Madison, Wisconsin later today

Now that could be interesting. Madison is a truly progressive city.

[HughMoran]

10. Thanks for sharing this with us

It was interesting reading about your experience with the angry psychopaths.

[Bluzmann57]

11. Sorry to the paragraph and length police

I should have edited it down to be a bit shorter but I didn't. I should have had better defined paragraphs, but again, I didn't. Maybe next time.

[Demoiselle]

14. Everybody's an editor, darlin'.

Thanks for the report. I enjoyed it. And read it with no difficulty, by the way.

[HillbillyBob]

16. No need to apologize for speaking your piece at length

I am so damned sick of teabaggers/rpukes et al myself I would not go to a meeting unarmed and I know I have a short fuse, much shorter these days. After 30 or so years of hearing this insane shit day in and day out from relatives.
I live 400 miles from the rest of the family and inadvertently 'hurt' a cousins feelins when she posted One Million Against Obama on my fb page when I asked why she would join such.
So I ll stay out on my hill and if the teabaggers like the kkk decide to hold a rally on my lawn like those white sheeted bastards did they will get the same treatment. Though in all reality they are such a stupid godam bunch the would not be able to find their way out here.

[femrap]

12. This Teabag crap

is a Rupert Murdoch creation. All Media, no people.

It also serves to discourage the Progressive people....we get no media coverage.

[la_chupa]

13. HAHA awesome

When POTUS was here in town the crazies were out yelling crap at his motorcade. I thought about going down there just to get some pictures but I didn't want to add to their numbers. They showed it on the news, it looked like maybe 100 people or so there. By contrast when he was in town for a campaign event, I tried to get in to see him. When we got off the train and started looking for the back of the line we realized that it would never happen and just went to get pizza instead. No exaggerating, the line had to be two miles long. It took the same route as a 5k I had run in a week earlier.

true story

[chill_wind]

15. Good on you! And here's the rest of the cities they will be visiting

between now and April 15.

# Tuesday, April 6

Davenport, IA

Rockford, IL

Madison, WI


# Wednesday, April 7

Milwaukee, WI

Green Bay, WI

Eau Claire, WI


# Thursday, April 8

Minneapolis, MN

Duluth, MN

Ironwood, MI


# Friday, April 9

Escanaba, MI

Sault Sainte Marie, MI


# Saturday, April 10

Cheboygan, MI

Petoskey, MI

Traverse City, MI

Big Rapids, MI

Grand Rapids, MI

Lansing, MI


# Sunday, April 11

Detroit, MI

Cleveland, OH

Erie, PA


# Monday, April 12

Buffalo, NY

Syracuse, NY


# Tuesday, April 13

Albany, NY

Concord, NH


# Wednesday, April 14

Boston, MA

# Thursday, April 15
Washington, DC


http://www.teapartyexpress.org/

Just FYI for those who may want to counter-rally.


The Michigan Militia is also hosting a Tea Party rally April 10, that same weekend they are all over Michigan.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. Wonder why they seem to avoid meccas of liberalism?

[Bluzmann57]

18. I've been to Madison, WI

And I'll tell you, it's a fairly Liberal city. Frankly, I can't believe they're going to Madison.

[HughBeaumont]

25. They are.

Par Example - the "Cleveland" stop is actually in Berea, where they're likely to get more Tea Klux Klanners. You know the Kleegle isn't going to set foot in "scarrah ghetto Clev'nd".

I'm thinking about rabble-rousing, but these bitch-ass nationalist rednecks will probably start shit and I'll be the one getting arrested, because police hate liberals. Witness, for instance, ANY PROTEST I'VE BEEN TO. Right wingers are protected, left alone, and joked with while we're the ones being maced, pummelled with sticks, have our limbs broken, physically assaulted and spit on by said wingdings and get arrested in droves.

[NoPasaran]

19. Sounds like a bunch of Deadheads wandering aimlessly around the country

Why don't these losers get jobs?

[HughBeaumont]

23. Funny how when we gather, they always say that very thing to us.

It's like "You're HERE in the SAME place, SAME time as me, idiot! WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?"

[Bluzmann57]

22. One final thing about the teahadists

They appeared in Bettendorf, Iowa not Davenport, Iowa. While these cities abut each other, they are two distinct and very different cities. So the teaheads can't even get it straight where they are.

[Heywood J]

27. God, I'm so tempted to skip out for a bit on Monday

# Monday, April 12

Buffalo, NY

Syracuse, NY

I wonder if I can drown them out with my car stereo... Groove Armada's "I See You Baby" sounds about right, given the recent headlines for conservatives.

[proud patriot]

20. thanks for sharing

:hi:

[Bluzmann57]

21. A good picture of the "crowd" at the rally

www.qctimes.com. Right on the home page. It looks like they got about the same angle I did, only a better pic.

[nickinSTL]

26. looks like they're claiming crowd-size of 1000

and the Bettendorf police chief nearly agreeing:

Organizers said more than 1,000 people attended the morning rally. Bettendorf Police Chief Phil Redington said “several hundred” were there and possibly “close to 1,000.” He said<\div>

[spanone]

24. the teabaggers are being exaggerated by the media...it's the good vs bad guys bullshit