| The weather was perfect, and there are plenty of state-level grievances that Tea Party types have, particularly New York's high level of state and local taxes.
And their essential message for this event -- We're Voting the Ins Out -- has plenty of resonance, and not just on the far-right.
And, while the April 15 event was largely promoted by one talk show host on one station, this time all three Albany talk stations got into the act, and one broadcast from the scene throughout the three-hour event.
So, the organizers expected another crowd of thousands of Capital District residents, plus thousands more from downstate and Central and Western New York.
Did. Not. Happen.
One of the organizers, Wade Abbott, told talk show host Paul Vandenburgh he was pleased with the turnout, because today was a workday for most.
Vandenburgh noted that April 15 was a workday, too.
There were plenty of signs, of course, and most of them dealt with the same anti-Obama themes that dominated the April 15 events.
Like this "Obama is a commie" one, which is available from the impeachobamastore website, and another homemade one that had Obama's face Photoshopped in a lion's body, with the text:
The Lyin' King
One
Big
Ass
Mistake
America
Another homemade one was more current, anyway:
Pres. Obama
What do I need to do to be sent to Bermuda??
Most of the speeches I heard were standard anti-government stuff. One former Republican Congressional candidate, now the NYS coordinator of the Campaign for Liberty, swore in the entire crowd as "Constitutional Police Officers," though his explanation of what that meant was quite muddled.
A tricorn-hatted speaker from Long Island called for the real of the 17th Amendment, arguing incoherently that the direct election of U.S. Senators was a bad thing.
The Campaign for Liberty and other wingnut groups had tables selling or giving away their stuff. On offer were free Ron Paul bumper stickers, a Glenn Beck-endorsed book about how the USA is a Christian nation, an exhortation to participate in "Continental Congress 2009" to do away with the income tax, and whatever the John Birch Society is pushing these days.
Maybe the Tea Party movement is still teh awesome in other parts of the country where Ron Paul is somewhat more popular.
But here in New York, it's clearly lost whatever momentum it thought it had on April 16, and shrunk back mostly to the far-right fringe whence it came. |
