MORE ORLANDO TEA PARTY PICS HERE: Also, Rachel Pereira has posted over 100 pictures. Note the appearance of John Galt:
Here’s a news report from the event. And reader Freddy Clayton sends this report from Orlando: “I am an enthusiastic reader who has checked in with Instapundit nearly daily for almost six years. I thoroughly enjoy your perceptive comments and your quirky and often witty selection of stories and links, and I have cited you to my two sons often. One of them, Walker, is home for Spring Break from Stanford, where he is a junior. He is a libertarian, and he often finds himself philosophically isolated and lonely in Palo Alto. He and I attended the Orlando Tea Party this afternoon, and I have attached a photo of Walker there. While I am an inveterate issues nerd, always eager to read about and discuss political/economic/social issues, I have not been very active politically, so today was a rare treat for Walker and me. The crowd at the rally was friendly, enthusiastic, and good-natured, and we heard few comments directed towards the President or Congress that were nasty or personally derogatory.” Here’s a picture. And there are plenty of libertarians in Palo Alto, Walker, though you may have to get off campus to meet most of them . . . .
Here’s another Orlando gallery from Gabe Chapman. As you can see the crowd was very large.
And reader Brian Gates reports from the scene: “Nice crowd. Lots of Reagan fans wearing this or this. There were also quite a few references to John Galt. I’ve been thinking of sending my representative copies of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Sure, it’s 1800 pages, but the geniuses in Congress can read a thousand pages overnight….”
Plus, reader Laurie Lane has pics from the Ridgefield, CT protest and reports: “Here are some pix I took of this awesome event of approximately 300 enthusiastic, good humored and very concerned citizens. More pix (taken with my Nikon D300) are in my gallery, link below.” Follow the link to see ’em. I note another appearance by The Debt Star! It’s everywhere! Reader Patrick Courtney also reports from Ridgefield: “I attended this event today. Beautiful weather, good sized crowd (100 expected, 200-300 in attendance).” Here’s a news report from Ridgefield.
Meanwhile, reader Peter Matthews reports from Lexington, Kentucky: “Here are some pics from the Lexington, KY Tea Party held today from noon to 2pm at the Fayette County Courthouse. At least a thousand in attendance – maybe more.” He sends this picture, among others. And there’s lots more Lexington coverage here — just keep scrolling.
And here’s another from the Raleigh protest, mentioned earlier, from reader David Moore:
What’s most striking about all of these, of course, is that these are people who don’t usually go in for protests.
Well, that and the fact that — unlike the AIG media event — the press doesn’t outnumber the protesters. Heck, it barely shows up at all.
UPDATE: Much more from Michelle Malkin. Her comment: “Maybe if the Tea Party protesters burned the American flag instead of waving it proudly, the AP would send out reporters…” And, of course, all of this is just a warmup for April 15.
ANOTHER UPDATE: More from Ridgefield, via reader Andrew Bunger: “About 200 – 300 people showed up in the historic (and very Democratic) town of Ridgefield, CT. Very polite, well organized, and very much against Dodd. I would guess it is the first protest for about 95% of us (myself included). It takes a lot to get a bunch of conservatives to stand on Main Street and shout slogans at passing cars. We have a way to go before we catch up to the professional protests of the Dems but this was the most encouraging event I have witnessed in the last year. Dodd is sinking fast in CT.”
I like the “Dump Dodd” and “Dodd Man Walking” signs.
MORE: Another Orlando pic, courtesy of reader Jay Stannard:
Plus, WRAL on the Raleigh Tea Party. Lots more Raleigh pictures here: Just keep scrolling.
STILL MORE: Reader Dan Steele writes: “Long time reader, first time commenter. Two things I think worth noting about the photos from the tea parties on Saturday: All of the signs (some made me lol) looked to be homemade by the people who were carrying them, in contrast to the pre-printed signs common at the ANSWER organized hatefests. Also, I couldn’t identify a single uniformed police office in any of the photos. Apparently, fiscal conservatives are better able to exercise their First Amendment rights without shedding their clothes, breaking stuff or lighting things on fire. Let’s HOPE that doesn’t CHANGE.”
MORE STILL: Okay, one more Orlando pic, courtesy of reader David Reid.
