Train Ride To The Big Tea Party

On Tax Day I went to the Atlanta Tea Party. One of the big challenges I faced was how to get there. The Atlanta event was held at the state capital in downtown Atlanta from 7-10 in the evening. Driving in Atlanta traffic at rush hour with the Braves also playing a game that night seemed very unappealing. So I chose to ride the Marta subway train which would be more efficient and less expensive (After all I had just sent in a rather large tax payment to Uncle Sam and saving money protesting government tax policy seemed like an appropriate alternative). I had visions of walking into the Marta station buying a ticket and going downtown. What a shock. The station was packed with hundreds of people who had the same idea. The lines were long to get tickets and the trains were packed going to the event.

The crowd was good natured, diverse with ages ranging from the very young to senior citizens, and truly dedicated to a cause they thought was worth leaving the comfort of their suburban homes for and to spend an evening in downtown Atlanta. The signs were everywhere and creative. "Revolution is Brewing", "IRS-RIP", and many saying "Get Your Hand Out of My Piggybank." A number of ladies who wore teapots as hats received a lot of cheers. When the train load of riders got off they poured into side streets surrounding the capital since the capital grounds were already full of people. Like most of those assembled I watched the speakers on a jumbo tron while at the same time watching the crowd. I observed no "incidents" and the greatest display of anger was that of members of the military who were dismayed by the just released Homeland Security report implying that returning veterans should be watched for possible terrorist associations. The signs and crowd (closer to 20,000than the 10,000 estimated by the local media) at the capital was even more diverse with many signs advocating the Fair Tax to an African American couple holding up a sign supporting Sarah Palin.

After hearing a lot of speeches and watching most of the Sean Hannity Show including his interview with Joe The Plummer (Joe has really enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame) I returned home on Marta. While it was now late and the trains were packed the crowd was still good natured and its members I talked to were glad they had come. The engineer who had a two hour ride to get home after arriving at the Marta station was thrilled that his sign got air time on the Sean Hannity Show. The student who drove two hours from the University of Georgia to attend the rally and a young banker both acknowledged that unless things change they will have few opportunities for success in the future because of the projected high taxes they will have to pay.

While the leftwing media has attempted to marginalize the tea parties and attack those who attended them as racist losers, I was encouraged by the quality and quantitive of those attending the event. Let's see how this all plays out. What do you think?