Archive for March, 2010

I have a ton of things going on today…

Posted: March 16, 2010 by datechguy in personal
Tags:

…I have an eye exam this morning, then there is the tea party protest this afternoon and then the tea party event tonight.

blogging may be a tad iffy but I hope to have a lot of material to work with for Wednesday.

Also my wife’s birthday is Thursday and I have no idea what to get her. It’s like I’m spending her money to give her something.

…well I think this comment left on my morning Tea Party post says a whole lot more about the gentleman who wrote it, (who I’ve met on a couple of occasions and I like actually) then about the people who he is asking it about.

Next time, please ask:
Is President Obama a secret Muslim?
Is President Obama a natural-born citizen?
Are you a fan of Sarah Palin?
How often do you watch Glenn Beck?
Who is your personal hero?

I think the answers to these questions would be more revealing.

After all you can’t oppose obamacare or be willing to protest without either being some kind of conspiracy theorist or supporting a pol or talk show host on the not approved list.

In case you are curious my own answers to those questions are available here.

You should check out his blog and podcast anyway so you can see where he is coming from.

As you might have noticed I like to quote Tip O’Neill book Man of the House to explain how politics works. There is a particular passage on page 134 that brings to mind what is going on behind the scenes right now.

The background: In the book was a Congressman Leo O’Brien who had promised a vote to Sam Rayburn on an issue and was getting killed at home over it. Since his word had been given (Yes that makes a difference, I still believe that one’s word is sacrosanct) Tip told him he had no choice but to go to Rayburn and ask to be released. (How hard must that have been) I’ll let Rayburn and O’Neill finish the story:

“…you gave me your word and I expect you to keep it. However I can certainly appreciate your situation, so here’s what I’ll do for you. On the day of the vote I want to see you in the front row. Keep your eye on the doorkeeper. If I don’t need your vote, Fishbait Miller will give you the sign and you’ll be free to vote your district.”…

…when Leo took his seat in the front row, he looked around and saw thirteen other guys that Sam had in his pocket in case he needed them. It wasn’t just Leo. The entire front row was sitting there and waiting for the nod from Fishbait Miller.

This is the real question that we don’t know the answer to. Does Nancy Pelosi have the votes and is just deciding who sits in the front row or is she scrambling for votes? And if the media knows what the truth is will they tell us?

Here are some quick images from the first of two tea party protests scheduled for today at Congressman John Olver’s office on Main Street

The people assembled were holding their signs and getting a fair amount of response from the drivers passing by. I only noticed one person giving a thumbs down while horn after horn was beeped in their favor.

I talked to people both on camera and off. Justin Brooks got involved in the movement in January mostly to find out for himself what was actually going on. He saw the negative spin in the media and the constant use of the …ism card, “race”-ism, “sex”-ism etc…etc…etc.

What he saw instead was average working people who were not at all what the media claimed to be. I met those people today and as I’ve seen over and over again they are the working class folk that was once the mainstay of the democratic party but feel that they are now being ignored.

Phillip Porter was first

His wife Arlene was very hesitant to go on camera, but she agreed in the end:

The Police asked the protesters to stay to the sidewalk and to be sure not to block parking spaces in front of Congressman Olver’s office, another officer swung by later. He said he had see the occasional protest maybe two a year in the 17 years he had been on the force. This was was no trouble, their main concern was to make sure that egress was not blocked for local businesses.

Jeff Wilson supported Scott Brown and he supports the tea party movement.

Michael Wertz had never protested before but he was protesting today

Some people passed by asking questions and some were interested. One man who worked at a local business had never seen any kind of protest like this (excepting the planned parenthood ones) in Fitchburg before. He also agreed that the health care bill was poor and if he was in congress would vote against it. Unlike the protesters he objected to the lack of a public option. He believed that house democrats should have the courage of their convictions.

When you are dealing with the most liberal congressman in the house it is unlikely that the protesters were going to change his mind, but they wanted to be sure that even if he didn’t change his mind that he was aware of how they felt. Anne Andrews put it best:

“We are tired of an out of control congress.” she said, she was tired of being taken for granted. “We are not dust in the wind!”

Update: Michelle and Robert Stacy are on top of the national stuff.

Update 2: Another Instalanche thanks muchly Glenn. Thanks for stopping by. Learn why Roger Maris is superior to Mitt Romeny, See why the president’s “courage” argument is bogus, learn the wisdom of the Barber Shop, and remember if you want your story told anywhere in the country I’ll do it for $1k plus expenses, “Have Fedora will Travel