The Recess Rally in Birmingham, MI on Saturday August 22, 2009 was a huge success. This rally was part of a nationwide day of protest against ObamaCare, as well as President Obama’s socialist policies in general. The rally was scheduled to start at noon and end at 3 pm. When my wife and I first arrived we couldn’t find the exact location of the rally. After about 5 minutes of driving around we stumbled upon what was clearly the correct location as there were hoards of people with protest signs lining Woodward Ave. It was quite impressive as we arrived exactly at the scheduled start time and there was already a huge crowd that increased over the next hour or so.
My wife and I split up so we could collectively see more of the rally. She took her protest sign and camped out along Woodward Avenue where there was plenty of automobile traffic driving by. I established my position along Old Woodward Avenue which had less auto traffic and hence was quieter, with less road noise coming from the street. One might wonder why I chose to protest where there was less traffic. After all, isn’t the purpose of a protest to get as much exposure as possible? Well in addition to my protest sign I brought a new tool with me to this rally. My new tool was a Sony Boom Box complete with audio clips of President Obama and an assortment of his henchman all discussing various aspects of ObamaCare!
Even with the audio power of my new Boom Box I realized I should camp out along the street with less vehicle traffic and road noise as I wanted my “message” to be heard. So I showered passersby, on foot and in car, with clips of Obama stating how it would be better to give grandma a pain pill rather than have her undergo surgery to correct her ailment. This was my favorite clip but there were others that received a lot of play. Other favorites included another clip of Obama, this time talking about death panels, and a clip of John Conyers stating that it was a waste of his time to read the health care bill. I also played a clip of Hillary Clinton screaming about her right to disagree with the Bush administration; however, this did not get as much play as I could only take so much of her grating voice.
My highlight from this rally was my audio “duel” with some supporters of socialized medicine. There couldn’t have been more than twenty ObamaCare supporters in the crowd of about 1,000. Out of these twenty “Yes We Can” types, a squad of about 4-5 ladies, dressed in costume, descended upon me to voice their support for surrendering our health care rights to cult leader Obama. These women, decked out in quaint dresses that you might have seen in the 1800’s, started singing to me about the virtues of a single payer system. Being somewhat startled I don’t recall many of their lyrics but I do recall they seemed to be able to carry a tune. When I fully realized that I was the target of their assault I pivoted to face this adversary head on. Perhaps they didn’t realize that I was not defenseless. As I turned toward this threat I powered up my electronic friend and engaged them with the full force and volume from my boom box. It must have been quite a sight to behold; a squad of kool-aid drinkers versus a foot soldier of limited government, locked in audio combat. It was no contest! A deluge of decibels, direct from the mouth of their own deviant director easily drowned out this disheartened choir. My only regret, I did not have a camera to capture this precious Kodak moment.
My wife and I headed for home at about 2:30. We listened to the radio hopeful that the day’s events might be reported in the news. We were in luck as WWJ, the local all-news radio station, was already running a story. I would characterize their coverage as decent; however the story did not adequately capture the passion or the numbers of the anti-ObamaCare forces. WWJ reported that there were 300-400 protesters. While this may have been true at the time of their report it understated the peak attendance by about 600-700 people. WWJ also report that there were ObamaCare supporters at this rally but they chose not to mention their miniscule numbers. Additional media coverage was shown on Fox 2 News in Detroit.
Upcoming events in Michigan where you can make your voices heard include:
Tea Party Express Bus Tour with stops in Battle Creek on Sept 8 (Labor Day), and Jackson, Brighton, and Troy on September 8.
Tea Party Patriots shows events for Port Huron on August 25, Sanford on August 29, and Sault Saint Marie on September 12.
I haven’t decided how many of these events I will attend. But come out for some fun – maybe you’ll see me with my boom box!
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