A note: a lot of these pics appear on the Governor Perry speech video that was posted earlier. However, I wanted to post them again for size and for people who don't want to listen to Gov. Perry. Also, there was a second tea Party at the Capitol at 4:30 pm central time. I did not go, but this Austinite did:
http://open.salon.com/blog/andrewmcneil/2009/04/15/tax_day_in_texaseh_nothing_special
Damn. What a day. I was up most of the night working on taxes. The sticker shock at the end was almost unbearable. No. It was unbearble. Painful. Miserable. I really wanted to sleep. Sleep past noon. But there would be taxes to pay. Lots of taxes. So I motivated my butt to work, but veered off course, winding up at City Hall for the 11:30 am Austin Tea Party.
Hey.
Why not hang out with a bunch of conservatives? I hate taxes as much as the next guy. Perhaps I could bond with these folx and toss some good hate at the feds for keeping me up all time night. Get all INGSOC and two minute hate.
After all, gummint hatin' runs in my Texas blood- especially among the men. Some of my earliest memories of my dad were of his diatribes against taxes. He was a small biz guy. Sole proprietor. He worked all day. Wanted to keep all his money and invest it. Send his pups to college. He didn't like the government takin' his green. That's the Texas way. Maternal grandpa. Hated the government and people who worked for it. Real men did not work for the government in his farmer's opinion.
So I park across Lady Bird Lake from City Hall. Looks like all the other teapartyers got the same idea. I lucked into a space. Someone leavin' as I pulled in.
I cross on the pedestrian bridge along South First behind some ladies with signs. Some runners told them to "go home." They laughed at the libbies. Wonder if the runners, all men, would have said that to a group of guys? I labeled these runners chickenshit, as well as the libbies who yelled at the partyers from their cars. Oh well. Still angry. I owe! I owe!
I hear people babbling about Guv. Perry when I get to City Hall. Great luck. I get to see the guv. The guv who refuses fed stimulus dollars for unemployment benefits because he doesn't want to adopt fed guidelines for Texas benefits. Good on him. Just cut the god talk and gay bashing, and I might vote for you one cold day in hell.
And what's with all the Jesus and Christian nation stuff at these damn rallies? What happened to separation of church and state. Let's do business and keep god out of it.
Governor Perry hiding his do. Hates taxes and gay marriage, too.
So some yahoo from Odessa is the MC for the event. Some Jackass the Bricklayer or some such thing. He's a big bubba type with a handlebar stash. The guy annoyed me all to hell. The joke about Brazilians was terrible.
REPEATING A BAD JOKE:
Hillary Clinton goes to Prez Obama and informs him about a skirmish in South America.. no-- can't do it...
I hope you have not heard it.
So then a parade of speakers go on about how Texas has the healthiest economy. Texas does need fed bailout. Companies are leaving NY and CA to come to Texas so they aren't taxed to death. Texas created 1.2 million jobs last year. Texas leads the nation in exports.. blah.. blah.. blah..
"SECEDE" no small number of yahoos chanted off and on again.
Michael Williams, Texas Railroad Commissioner, gets the crowd worked up with "I wish Obama would change..... The democrats are getting ready for a spending feast.... My grandfather who overcame segregation to become a successful businessman would be appalled by what is happening in Washington today.. yadda...." The repubs on hand loved this guy. He's running for Senate in 2010. He could be a big scary force in conservatism. If he wins, it should not be long before President is in his view.
Governor Perry finally gets on the podium after some radio jocks blabber on about Texas and low taxes.. Blah...
When he finally finishes, I get out of there quickly, to go home and process all the media I've been gathering and get it posted. I'm shocked that so much of it winds up as Editor Picks and on the front page. OOops.. embarrass myself with the Racist sign one. I'd never heard "Don't taze me bro." Honest. I thought it was aimed at Obama.. Anyway. You get the pic. Sorry if I embarrassed the OS editors.. Hey.. Fuck up big.. Just like a tejano.
The law office is hell when I finally get there 4ish or so. It's like a nursury of screaming babies!! Where are my documents? My blackberry doesn't work!! I learn that one of our tech guys is trying to toss me under the bus for some fuck up he made. It's hell. I get carpeted by the Senior Partner. I don't know the allegations against me. I don't ask. I just take it and go back to work. I'll eventually answer the allegations in writing.
No time to waste. Have to go to the PO to mail my tax form and payment. What? Downtown PO not on extended hours? Screw it. I'm not driving 20 miles to deliver my taxes to the only PO that's open. If the government wants my taxes on time, they need to have a damn post office open in Austin, not Zimbabwe.
Some chick is babbling on her cell phone in front of the box. She finally moves and tells me it won't be postmarked today. "I don't really give a shit right now," I tell her. "There's a mighty big check in this envelope. It'll still be good a day late." Yes. That was chickenshit rude of me. I stopped myself. "Sorry. Really bad mood," I said.
"It's tax day," she cheerfully responded with a big understanding smile. I've always depended upon the kindness of strangers.
I start to feel worried about the form being late. Great. Too late.
I exit and go to Whole Foods and buy overpriced groceries. The parking garage is jammed. Takes about 15 minutes to find parking. I put everything, including my freshly roasted chicken in a paper bag at the check out, my reusables left at home.
I get home, and the damn paper bag disintegrates on me, chicken grease pouring all over the front seat of the Civic. Sop it up with a towel, cursing for about 20 minutes. Nice end to a weird day.
http://open.salon.com/blog/andrewmcneil/2009/04/15/tax_day_in_texaseh_nothing_special
Damn. What a day. I was up most of the night working on taxes. The sticker shock at the end was almost unbearable. No. It was unbearble. Painful. Miserable. I really wanted to sleep. Sleep past noon. But there would be taxes to pay. Lots of taxes. So I motivated my butt to work, but veered off course, winding up at City Hall for the 11:30 am Austin Tea Party.
Hey.
Why not hang out with a bunch of conservatives? I hate taxes as much as the next guy. Perhaps I could bond with these folx and toss some good hate at the feds for keeping me up all time night. Get all INGSOC and two minute hate.
After all, gummint hatin' runs in my Texas blood- especially among the men. Some of my earliest memories of my dad were of his diatribes against taxes. He was a small biz guy. Sole proprietor. He worked all day. Wanted to keep all his money and invest it. Send his pups to college. He didn't like the government takin' his green. That's the Texas way. Maternal grandpa. Hated the government and people who worked for it. Real men did not work for the government in his farmer's opinion.
So I park across Lady Bird Lake from City Hall. Looks like all the other teapartyers got the same idea. I lucked into a space. Someone leavin' as I pulled in.
I cross on the pedestrian bridge along South First behind some ladies with signs. Some runners told them to "go home." They laughed at the libbies. Wonder if the runners, all men, would have said that to a group of guys? I labeled these runners chickenshit, as well as the libbies who yelled at the partyers from their cars. Oh well. Still angry. I owe! I owe!
I hear people babbling about Guv. Perry when I get to City Hall. Great luck. I get to see the guv. The guv who refuses fed stimulus dollars for unemployment benefits because he doesn't want to adopt fed guidelines for Texas benefits. Good on him. Just cut the god talk and gay bashing, and I might vote for you one cold day in hell.
And what's with all the Jesus and Christian nation stuff at these damn rallies? What happened to separation of church and state. Let's do business and keep god out of it.
Governor Perry hiding his do. Hates taxes and gay marriage, too.
So some yahoo from Odessa is the MC for the event. Some Jackass the Bricklayer or some such thing. He's a big bubba type with a handlebar stash. The guy annoyed me all to hell. The joke about Brazilians was terrible.
REPEATING A BAD JOKE:
Hillary Clinton goes to Prez Obama and informs him about a skirmish in South America.. no-- can't do it...
I hope you have not heard it.
So then a parade of speakers go on about how Texas has the healthiest economy. Texas does need fed bailout. Companies are leaving NY and CA to come to Texas so they aren't taxed to death. Texas created 1.2 million jobs last year. Texas leads the nation in exports.. blah.. blah.. blah..
"SECEDE" no small number of yahoos chanted off and on again.
Michael Williams, Texas Railroad Commissioner, gets the crowd worked up with "I wish Obama would change..... The democrats are getting ready for a spending feast.... My grandfather who overcame segregation to become a successful businessman would be appalled by what is happening in Washington today.. yadda...." The repubs on hand loved this guy. He's running for Senate in 2010. He could be a big scary force in conservatism. If he wins, it should not be long before President is in his view.
Governor Perry finally gets on the podium after some radio jocks blabber on about Texas and low taxes.. Blah...
When he finally finishes, I get out of there quickly, to go home and process all the media I've been gathering and get it posted. I'm shocked that so much of it winds up as Editor Picks and on the front page. OOops.. embarrass myself with the Racist sign one. I'd never heard "Don't taze me bro." Honest. I thought it was aimed at Obama.. Anyway. You get the pic. Sorry if I embarrassed the OS editors.. Hey.. Fuck up big.. Just like a tejano.
The law office is hell when I finally get there 4ish or so. It's like a nursury of screaming babies!! Where are my documents? My blackberry doesn't work!! I learn that one of our tech guys is trying to toss me under the bus for some fuck up he made. It's hell. I get carpeted by the Senior Partner. I don't know the allegations against me. I don't ask. I just take it and go back to work. I'll eventually answer the allegations in writing.
No time to waste. Have to go to the PO to mail my tax form and payment. What? Downtown PO not on extended hours? Screw it. I'm not driving 20 miles to deliver my taxes to the only PO that's open. If the government wants my taxes on time, they need to have a damn post office open in Austin, not Zimbabwe.
Some chick is babbling on her cell phone in front of the box. She finally moves and tells me it won't be postmarked today. "I don't really give a shit right now," I tell her. "There's a mighty big check in this envelope. It'll still be good a day late." Yes. That was chickenshit rude of me. I stopped myself. "Sorry. Really bad mood," I said.
"It's tax day," she cheerfully responded with a big understanding smile. I've always depended upon the kindness of strangers.
I start to feel worried about the form being late. Great. Too late.
I exit and go to Whole Foods and buy overpriced groceries. The parking garage is jammed. Takes about 15 minutes to find parking. I put everything, including my freshly roasted chicken in a paper bag at the check out, my reusables left at home.
I get home, and the damn paper bag disintegrates on me, chicken grease pouring all over the front seat of the Civic. Sop it up with a towel, cursing for about 20 minutes. Nice end to a weird day.
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