A friend of mine in Minnesota sent this story. Came to her by email from one of the protesters.
Maybe Humor Is the Answer
May 4, 2005 | 4:30 p.m.
Scene: a "No More Taxes" rally in Minnesota
Sponsor: the right-wing "Taxpayers League"
Guest of Honor: Governor Tim Pawlenty
Unexpected guests: several women dressed as "Billionaires for Pawlenty"
An unbiased report (well, okay, it was from one of the unexpected guests):
We had so much fun. There were eight of us, all women in furs, tiaras, gowns, etc., carrying signs and champagne glasses. We arrived by limo and left by limo.
This was the perfect event for this sort of thing. Every time the Republicans called for no new taxes, we screamed like teenage girls at a Beatles concert. When we first walked in, they were passing out all these truly fabulous "Thank you, Tim!" and "No New Taxes!" stickers. So we covered our furs and gowns with them and put stickers all over the signs. So we now had signs saying, "Govt' Child-care? Hire an au pair!" "Privatize everything!" "Wealth care, not health care!" and "Pave Your Own Roads!" and "Let Them Eat Cake!" and "Widen the Income Gap"--all festooned with "Thank you, Tim!" and "No New Taxes" stickers.
At some point, the rally organizers actually hauled out a birthday cake to use as some stunt. Which is when we started waving our "Let Them Eat Cake" sign--festooned with "Thank you, Tim!" stickers and chanted "Let Them Eat Cake! Let Them Eat Cake!"
At another point, Jason Lewis was yelling about public schools taking money from "My Kids" and giving it to "Their Kids." So two of us began chanting "My Kids, Not their Kids!"
We got jostled around on the floor a bit by rally attendees who tried to block our signs. A few men said nasty things. But then I just went into high gear and blew kisses. When one extremely fat and furious guy told me where I could kiss him, I squealed with delight and said, "Well, I'm just not that kind of girl, you naughty, naughty, naughty boy!" Then I started slapping him playfully: "So naughty, naughty, naughty!" At which point, he moved away from me and left me alone.
When the guy next to me kept yelling, "Liberal Fascists, Go Home!" I'd yell, "Yes, Yes, Liberals go Home!" When one blond woman came up to me, angrily waving Michael Savage's new book, "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions" and telling me to say hi to George Soros, I said, "Darling, we don't see him at all. He isn't our type. Now who's doing your hair? Something's not quite right. I know this great gal at the spa...."
The other women were fearless too. The rally organizers didn't seem to know what do to with us. A few attendees (mostly elderly guys) seemed to miss the irony and think we were truly there to support the GOP. Other attendees knew we were protesters, but still wanted to pose with us for photos. So the response was this odd mix of fury and good-humor. It was actually easier for me to be there in character as a Billionaire for Pawlenty than a more straight forward DFL counter-protester, because we got to take all the crowd's energy and use it for our side. It felt like one long karate move.
When the governor mounted the podium for the first time, I was able to scream like a banshee, "We love you, Tim!" and wave my "Govt Childcare? Hire an Au Pair!" briefly at him before Republicans leaped up to block my sign. But I think I saw him taking a quick glance at me and frankly, he looked a little worried.
By the way, this GOP "Taxpayers" Rally was pretty badly attended, considering that GOP really pushed for their people to go and the Taxpayers League offered free busing to the Capital from Rainbow and Cub Food stores all across the metro area. A few people told us we stole the show. Alas, we probably didn't steal it. But we were visible, vocal and we had a lot of fun.
Bottom line: great use of a morning. Next time, I'll skip the limousine because that was our biggest expense. On the other hand, WCCO-TV did film us descending down the capital steps and interviewed us briefly before we drove away in the big, black stretch, with our "Pave Your Own Roads!" sign hanging out the window.
"Like one long karate move"--something to think about there"
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