So approximately thirty million protesters are supposed to show up in Washington, DC today to take back the country, deposing President Obama and the federal government in a reenactment of the last five minutes of V for Vendetta. Or maybe thirty guys will show up and yell a little bit. Either way, we are very interested to observe this latest episode in right wing organizing because it strikes us that the real tea party — the hate group that was always hiding under a veneer of main street acceptability — is finally emerging into the light.
Consider the fact that Tea Party Nation, which has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has endorsed the event. Consider also that organizer Harry Riley has been calling on the militia movement to take part in his uprising. Consider the simultaneous sister demonstration being held today at welfare rancher Cliven Bundy’s ranch, where slavery is deemed better than food stamps. Consider the fact that Riley seems to think that the President of the United States should be his manservant:
“We are calling for [their] removal … as a start toward constitutional restoration,” said retired Army Col. Harry Riley, the leader of the group, Raw Story reported. “They have all abandoned the U.S. Constitution, are unworthy to be retained in a position that calls for servant status.”
The live video feed is supposed to be available at this link in a few minutes. We will embed it here if we can and will update as often as we are able, for as long as we can stand it. In the meantime, here is Rachel Maddow’s excellent analysis of the event from her show last night.
Update: As you might be able to tell already, we have had little luck getting the live feed to work. So far, the only live coverage has come from the bus of conservative talk host Mark Connors ten miles from the site of the event.
11:51 This purports to be a live Ustream channel, but so far all we see are a few people milling around with flags.
11:53 Participants are singing the national anthem to begin their protest against the United States government. The crowd appears closer to thirty people than thirty million.
11:57 There were reports that these people were very worried about a drone strike on their protest, but so far the only droning is the sound of our snoring.
11:58 Man screams “where are you at?!” because he cannot believe that only a few dozen Americans love freedom as much as he does.
11:59 Who is this dissonant woman talking about Anonymous and Occupy and the Federal Reserve? Does she really think those “patriots” around her give a crap about Chelsea Manning?
12:01 This man drove five hundred miles to tell Obama to kiss his ass.
12:02 A woman thinks she is still fighting the Civil War.
12:03 The bugle player under the III%er flag is just precious. Will he sound the charge next?
12:07 The only unifying theme seems to be unresolved anger. The man shouting right now is angry about Cuba and Benghazi and the fact that people on welfare are allowed to vote.
12:11 Oh, we get it now. These people are angry because they are all alone in the nation’s capital. “Where are you?” They keep asking everyone in general and no one in particular.
12:13 “The federal gummint spends too much money! But not enough on veterans!”
12:14 Was this little crowd not supposed to be marching about ten minutes ago?
12:16 This monochromatic crowd could use a little touch of diversity. Also, we could use a little less of the guy with the flagpole couched right in his groin.
12:21 We are trying to figure out who this Operation Rescue chaplain-slash-Baptist preacher is, because he just brought the most life of any speaker so far by telling “Barry Soetero” to “go back to Kenya.”
12:24 And there you have it: “Obama is a Muslim terrorist.”
12:31 Someone needs a wind guard on their microphone. Just sayin’…
12:25 Well, the live feed has disappeared just as someone seemed to be saying that it was time for the crowd to march. We counted maybe, possibly a hundred people present, approximately 29,999,900 short of expectations. Oh wait, it’s back! …Sigh, no, it’s just a shot of the Washington Monument.
12:29 We will have to revise our estimates down, as many of the passersby in the shot now appear to be tourists.
12:35 Someone is flying an American flag upside-down as a symbol of his distress that so many “patriots” stayed home today.
We now conclude this liveblog because it does not appear there will be any more action to report.
Want Obama to leave town? Organize a KXL protest. That will at least get rid of him for the weekend…
PS: I was watching some of the live stream too-For me this was the high point:
The mob (of 30-50 people) is milling around. The guy with the megaphone announces that they are about to move out and asks if anyone would like to sing the Star Spangled Banner first. A woman immediately volunteers, and begins to sing and he joins in over the megaphone… Only he’s singing America the Beautiful.
Heh heh.
So I wasn’t the only one who caught that? Good, glad to know I’m not losing my mind here.
So now they’re saying the revolution was called on account of rain. FFS, these are some fairweather patriots. I’ve watched Veterans For Peace line up to get arrested in a snowstorm, and even if I don’t think much of their agenda I sure admire their guts. So why can’t these wusses put up with a little dampness?
We in the DC area had awful thunderstorms last night, sounded like hail, some flooding too (mostly in my basement). The weather has been gorgeous since 9 or 10 AM. They couldn’t have chosen a better day for the revolution.
Also worth noting: The protesters ended up at the Mall, where the Washington Monument just re-opened to visitors for the first time in 2 or 3 years. So those tourists sure had some entertaining RWNJ’s to watch while they waited for an hour or so.
God bless America, y’know? LOL