I went to the “Tea Party” in St. Charles a few weeks ago. There was no tea and no sign of a party. There were quite a few people listening to speeches though. It was a strange gathering — something like a toe dip into a 60′s protest or a tired sunday night revival. An old lady quivered  some patriotic hymns through cracked speakers. A crazy haired lady did some fist pumps to pump the pep. A doctor spoke. He got lots of cheers with cheesy, condescending remark about Obama’s  health plan.  Church lady came back with some more B-sides.  Then crazy lady was back with a little “support our troops” diddy.  It mostly winded down into rhetoric about how socialist our country has gotten/becoming and how little we know about our constitution let alone abide by it. Throughout this event speakers had some how equated “support our troops” with the health care reform debacle.  I despise this tactic. This statement has become meaningless.

I got there toward the end of it all so I didn’t get the full experience.  I did catch this guy’s speech. It might have been one of his first public speeches. He had some good points but it was clear he was nervous. I think I made it worse taking pictures of him. He seemed to stuttered in rhythm with the flutter of my camera shutter. I don’t blame him, I’d be scared of cameras pointed at me too.

It’s  good to see people actually gathering together in a place that wasn’t a bar or a mall. People came to listen and in some way participate. This sure beat the hell out of reading it on a blog (like your doing now :0) or watching the TV chew it out for us. This was pulp Missouri.

So if you hear about any of these happenings I recommend checking one out. At best you learn/feel something at worst you get to watch a circus.

And of course there’s always a lurker….