Pictures from Salisbury's Tea Party

Yep, I made it - a little later than I would have liked but I managed to roll in while they were still reciting the Bill of Rights. As usual, the captions of the photos help tell the story.

This pretty much summed up the mood of the participants:

Who knew that a phrase from a movie about television, part of the mass media derided by some speakers, would sum up the feelings of those who were present?

And talk about a nasty day weatherwise. I think the event happened to take place on the coldest day we'll see in April, and certainly one of the wettest.

I took this shot when I arrived about 5 p.m. Some were estimating about 500 people present at the event's peak, I'd say that guess was only a little optimistic.

But despite the need for umbrellas the crowd was in good spirits.

Here's another shot of the crowd taken from about stage left looking toward Division Street.

There were even some who were smart enough to work to the downtown traffic. Many speakers had their words punctuated by the horns of passing motorists on Division Street.

Some of the protestors lined up along Division Street for passing motorists' reactions.

Since some people are going to assume that this Tea Party was a radical right-wing nut idea, may as well toss them a little red meat.

The picture's a touch blurry but still legible. I didn't look for the car missing the rear license plate.

Still, there were a number of sharply worded and humorous signs there. It was half the fun of taking pictures.

To be honest I think the answer to this question is 'no'.

Two sets of sentiments I share for the price of one.

Nothing wrong with borrowing a little bit of Ronald Reagan every now and then.

This may have been the best usage of an Obama phrase in the whole bunch. He sure is on his way to doing so.

There were numerous speakers during the event, most taking two to three minutes. Aside from the Pledge of Allegiance and reading of the Bill of Rights there was no set list of speakers.

One of many speakers who made his feelings known during the Tea Party.

In case you're wondering, the event organizer was Chris Lewis and he's in the black and yellow jacket to the left of the speaker in the photo.

This gentleman was a particularly inspiring speaker.

I actually got video of him with my phone...guess I'll have to figure out how to get it on here.

There was only one overtly political speaker I saw. You might know this guy.

State Senator and Congressional hopeful Andy Harris was on his third Tea Party of the day, having gone to Annapolis and Bel Air as well.

This was another interesting display. I honestly hope they didn't actually USE all of this but simply brought the boxes to make the point!

Is this an argument for the FairTax or what?

While I think I saw a Daily Times reporter there as well, I was quite disappointed that just one TV station bothered to be live at the event - especially since Channel 47 is just around the corner!

Channel 16 (WBOC) was the only TV station doing live shots from the event.

As one of those who jumped in line to speak, let me tell you I thought it was a very moving experience.

I chose to speak on a subject I've touched on peripherally and that is the war on prosperity. A couple posts back I expressed the sentiment in the "Going Galt" movement but in this case it was simply noting that President Obama's "soak-the-rich" tax scheme was an attack on the American Dream and prosperity in general. As I asked (I'm paraphrasing since I didn't write the remarks beforehand), "why bother working hard and putting your nose to the grindstone for the tax man to take it away?"

While there were a number of folks in the crowd who were familiar to me (including at least one elected official besides State Senator Harris), the majority were just everyday folks who weren't necessarily political until today and may not be political next week - they're just frustrated with the direction our nation is going.

But people like me who have been in the fight for awhile would like to see them stay engaged because this is what America is truly all about - a government for the people and by the people, not dictated to the people.

For those among the 400 to 500 people who braved the cold and rain with their signs, I have a suggestion. Don't toss out your sign, just stick it in the front window of your home or business. (So what if it got a little wet and runny, as long as it's still legible.) Let others know which side you're on and that you still feel you have the right to speak out and present your own petition for a redress of grievances.

We can yet take back our nation, the trick is to keep this fire burning for 18 to 42 months. The job can be completed by November of 2012 if we work hard at it.