Being a seasoned Bossier boy, I said...Dang! I ain't waiting in this line. So, I took the left lane, went around, and parked at the Pierre Bossier Mall and walked back. I coulda parked at the Library, or the Church...but I don't go to First Baptist, and I don't have no libary card...
As I made my way to the lawn, I passed POW-MIA Boulevard (which leads into the Civic Center). The line of cars seemed never-ending, and people continued to arrive until 6 pm or so.
I went for reasons that I posted earlier, but I also went to see for myself just how many people give a damn, and to keep the press honest. I had expected this morning to read in The Shreveport Times coverage that "several hundred" protesters showed up. To my great amazement, The Times pegged the number at about 5,000. From what I saw that's about right. Good on 'em. Of course, they had to highlight the one sort of odd statement made by our Freshman Congressman, Dr. John Fleming...but whataya expect?
It was a heartening event. As I walked through the crowd, and visited with people many things occurred to me. I'm not alone. We are not alone my friends. We may be in the minority, but we are not alone.
It also occurred to me that probably 99% of those gathered had never carried a sign in protest of anything. There were old men and women, little kids, wounded veterans, survivors of Hitler's oppression in the 30's, and thousands of 30-to-50 something middle classers just like me.
Did the Tea Parties accomplish anything? We will see. But I can tell you one thing the Shreveport-Bossier City Tea Party did accomplish for sure. Now I know how Chris Matthews feels...it put a tingle up my leg...
I took some computer pictures. Click on any picture to see it big!
The Times of Shreveport video coverage...fairly good...
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Don't cuss nobody out, okay?