Loading ...By Newton
Frankly, when I attended this afternoon’s Ann Arbor version of a “Tea Party”, I didn’t expect to see too many people on the U of M Diag. For those of you who don’t know, Tea Parties are being held all over the country today, Tax Day, in protest of run away government spending, higher taxes, and government bailouts. These rallies represent a nation-wide ground swell of non-partisan protest. Ann Arbor being what it is, I didn’t expect to see all that many protesters in attendance.
I was wrong. At its peak, I estimate about 150 people came to the Diag to express their concern about government spending. The crowd was pretty diverse. It included seniors, the middle aged, little kids, whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. There were lots of moms with kids. Actually, I was surprised by the number of moms in attendance. Obviously, this is an issue of great concern to many mothers.
The signs being carried spanned the spectrum, they included such messages as “Taxes are Tyranny”, “I’m Not Your ATM”, and “Equal Opportunity, Not Equal Distribution” to name just a few.
At about noon, the entire contingent left the Diag and marched off to the Federal Building on Liberty. The crowd was orderly and genuinely excited to see all the others who had decided to attend. Warmer weather definitely would have brought a bigger rally. If a crowd of this size could come together in Ann Arbor, there’s no telling how large they’ll be in other cities around the country. We’ll have to wait and see.
We took quite a bit of video of the rally. We’re putting it together now. Look for a posting once its ready.
TO SEE THE RALLY VIDEO: http://www.annarborbiznews.com/ann-arbor-on-you-tube/
