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Editor Note: Last Friday students from my Internet Media class (What? You think I just surf the web all day?) took to the streets of the Mile High City to cover the Tax Day Rally at the Colorado State Capitol as part of an extra credit opportunity. Their photos appear on the following pages as well as a brief commentary presented here by Nikita Blue.
Friday’s Tax Day Tea Party Protest at the Denver Capitol Building seemed more like crossword puzzle hour at Golden Meadows than a politically-charged rally to action. There was even a row of lawn chairs up front near the steps for the severely fatigued. Many a lackluster punch-line received half-hearted titters of laughter, and the crowd had already thinned significantly after an hour.
Kelly Maher, conservative blogger for WhoSaidYouSaid.com, opened with, “Tax the Rich! Tax the Rich! Oh, wait… wrong rally.” Onlookers were momentarily confused; possibly thinking, “Wait… does that mean she goes to Obama rallies, too?”
Then Michelle Morin, a Mom for freedom, warned her audience that there was a “long, black train coming.” (That is, a Marxist, Obamacare train.) She managed to pry a few vacillating yeah’s and whoo’s from the group with her passionate anti-Marxism sentiments. And let’s face it; trains are scary. Especially black ones.
Unfortunately, the awkward moments just kept coming. One speaker suggested that one of the Tea Party mottos should be, “Get your hands off my lollipop!” The confused hush and mumbled responses reinforced the impropriety of hands, suckables and unwanted advances.
Denver’s Tea Party was once a fiery bunch of outraged, impassioned citizens demanding acknowledgement and consideration. Sadly, this get-together packed little of the previous fiscally-conservative punch found in rallies past.
Although this humble protest began with all the necessary elements of a minority uprising, its moxie was deflated prematurely. At one point, we were encouraged to “party like it’s 1773.” (Get it? The Tea Party?) Upon examination, it seemed that we were indeed partying with all of the puritanical, long-faced sobriety of the 1700’s. All we needed now was a crumpet.
