It wasn't exactly like revisiting the scene of the crime. Last year's tax day protest was located at Federal Plaza, and featured Chicago radio personality Erich "Mancow" Muller, who spoke on behalf of the Tea Party.
Unrelated story: about a month later, this same celebrity would admit admit "waterboarding is torture" on both Countdown With Keith Olbermann and his own show, after having suffered the process for a total of 6-7 seconds.
But that's old news. This year's rally was much different:
1. One of the speakers was a man of color. I didn't get his name at the event, nor was I able to retrieve this info after hours seconds of search querying the terms "Chicago," "Tea Party," and "African-American."
The speaker upbraided those on the left who would dare refer to the Tea Party as one of hate, replying (in a general sense) "Well let me tell you something. We do hate! We hate ... to pay taxes!"
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2. It was held at Daley Plaza, which, unlike Federal Plaza, is able to grant a crowd capacity of...
... oh, about the same number of protesters who attended last year's gathering, about 1500-3000 people, give or take a thousand. Come on, folks! Next year, I expect to see that fountain both steaming and steeped.
***UPDATE @ 4:00PM CST: MyFoxIllinois estimates yesterday's turnout to be "about one thousand."
But while last year's protest attracted a total of one side protest by the anti-Scientology group Project Chanology (and good word has it that these cool kids show up at pretty much every protest in the Windy City), this year's gathering featured actual counter protests.
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Let's cut to the chase. The next few pictures feature nothing new, just your standard-issue Tea Party fear of Commie/Pinko/Socialist/Liberals... with a bonus helping of right-wing concern trolling over the state of the U.S. Constitution, as if performed by a dewy-eyed Rip Van Winkle.
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Scary placard collage, with Rand filling. And who is Marno? Is he stuck or something?
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ROFLbot seminar finally pays off.
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"... what's good for the gander" department:
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So that's the bad, the ugly, and the utterly confusing. Add to that the reported incident of a young male holding an "Arrest Bush" being shoved by a couple of teabaggers, who in turn were upbraided by other TP attendees who, suspecting an agent provocateur, warned the hasslers, "This is a trap!"
For addressing in gutsy fashion a collectively lousy short term memory the blatant hypocrisy on the part of Tea Partiers in ignoring injustices perpetrated by the Bush II administration, the counter-protester, sign in tatters, was escorted away from Daley Plaza by Chicago police, for his own safety, I am sure.
Good thing we had all that protection back in 2003. Though to be fair, the protests opposing the impending invasion of Iraq drew far more than a thousand or so participants. And with little to no media blitz. Go figure.
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The upbeat...
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... and the unintentionally upbeat, from a Ron Paul supporter.
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A few of the counter protest groups were stationed around the perimeter of Daley Plaza. That's right... who has who surrounded? The presence of counter protesters provided something of a good vibe zone. And these people were greatly encouraged with each knowing glance, nod, smile, and shrug, to know that seemingly average bystanders had their collective back. I think this is one good reason to attend such a crazier-than-cloud-cuckoo-land event such as a Tea Party rally.
So let's hear it for a few other "radical fringe groups"...
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The Gay Liberation Network
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Voices For Creative Nonviolence
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Vietnam Veterans Against the War
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World Can't Wait
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Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism
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One more for the road...
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Last year's rally, diaried, with photos.
This year's images, with extras: on Flickr.
Coverage from Huffington Post on yesterday's rally.