The first thing you need to know about Tea Party’s event this year is that it was better organized. There were several volunteer organizers each wearing dark blue t-shirts that read “LOCKED AND LOADED WITH MY VOTE,” with the dates of the California Primary and the November election printed on them.
The volunteers were passing out business cards and carried radios with them, presumably to spot and report troublemakers. They also told us about their new monthly meetings at Newhall Church of the Nazarene. Are these folks planning more local action? Is Newhall Church of Nazarene the new hot nexus of conservative Santa Clarita (and is the IHOP old and tired)?
Time will tell.
Now Tea Party had said it was going to be on the lookout for trouble. Imposters -wily liberals out tea-bagging the Tea Partiers or liberal bloggers in disguise of journalists- were minimal to non-existent from what I could see. I did see one group of college aged kids drive by in a Taurus and shout “YOU’RE ALL FASCISTS” with a bullhorn. I admit it. I LOLed.
I think the Signal’s estimate of 500-1,000 protesters is probably on the low side. It was probably over 1,000 people and it stretched along the same part of Valencia Blvd that it did last year. The crowd was no more than four deep at various points along the road. There’s no way there were 2,500 people there at any one time; but it’s possible that that amount came and left during the three hour event.
The crowd itself was mostly white and probably evenly divided among men and women. The group varied widely in age, from kids to 20/30 somethings to middle aged folks and retired people.
Also, there were Meg Whitman volunteers or campaign workers on site, handing out expensive, full-color booklets on Meg’s plan for California. Our good friend and All-American conservative stand-up guy Petz was in a deep discussion with a Meg Whitman rep, probably telling her how Meg had thrown Bob Kellar under the bus last winter. Anyway, it was obvious the Whitman campaign was attempting to make inroads with the Tea Partiers. Hard to say if Tea Party is going to Buy it Now, or bid at the last moment on Whitman or Poisner (couldn’t resist).
Some other anecdotes:
- Horn honks, thumbs up, and “Yeahs!” were constant and deafening from drivers
- SCV’s population of monster stomper trucks decked out with motocross and boat stickers was out in force for the rally. These trucks, which outnumber registered Democrats in Santa Clarita, roared their engines up and down Valencia Blvd, some of them complete with various American flags
- One such truck, a ginormous red Dodge Ram with Cummins turbo diesel, was stopped at at the light at Valencia & Citrus. The light turned green, and to show off the American-made muscle, the driver goosed his engine (as many did that day) and roared away, leaving a noxious blue smoke cloud in his wake which lead to the following exchange between two motherly Tea Party protesters and me:
TPP #1: “Thanks a lot jerk!”
TPP #2: “Yeah. That guy needs a smog check or something.”
At that, I facepalmed and said to the ladies, “But a smog check is excess government regulation that limits our freedom to pollute!”
TPP #1 & #2: *blank stare*
- Signs: Whereas last year the signs were split probably 70/30 between state and federal issues, this year most were focused on the unholy trinity of big government and taxes: Obama, Pelosi and Reid. There were virtually no state signs or signs for primary candidates.
- Most of the signs were what Iw ould call mainstream Tea Party signs. Alas, there were few Teabonics signs. But a significant minority of the signs departed from the norm. For instance:
I appreciated the literary nod to psuedo-philosopher Ayn Rand
Kevin Korenthal takes home the prize in the "Use of Household Items in a Protest Sign" category
A Psalm 109:8 "The Assassination Psalm" sign was present
Bill Reynolds, aka Not a Ferry Fan, was on hand with a custom-made sign explaining that, I think, environmentalists are actually communists. Or maybe he likes Christmas.
Only one sign that I saw attacked Obama, who deployed an additional 50,000 troops to A-Stan, on foreign policy
At first I thought she was anti-tea party. But then I talked to her and she explained her sign.
There were many more gun rights signs, posters and nods to guns and weapons at the protest this year
Alas, I was hoping to see someone wearing or holding a sign like this, but no luck:
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