You know, the author of within blog, “Republiservative”, doesn’t walk around with his life accomplishments, emoluments, 30+ ACT score, prior elected partisan committeemanships, and such hung around his neck, or even (usually) dressed to the nines including Florsheim Royal or regular Imperials; no, except for the fact he combs his hair and shaves daily, Republiservative otherwise is like an at-large version of the old Peter Falk character “Columbo”…and he interacts in the same non-biased, non-pretentious ways with the world, because he reveres the law and LIKES people, be they artists or first professionals or his critics or anything else except sociopaths.

Today, your within author was out for his weekend morning walk around downtown Salem, Oregon, and at about 8:30 AM noticed all these “No Parking: Tea Party Express March And Capitol Steps Event 11:30AM-12:30 PM” around various Capitol-area streets; I decided not to participate but observe this “Tea Party Express” in action, and en route back to it just after starting time noticed the Marion County Democrats had street signs at their downtown office saying “meeting this morning”…they’re the ones who can pull dozens to non-stop local events while insisting ALL Oregon thinks Obama is way better than Bush (as if any of Oregon’s manifest majority population ever voted for Bush)…I didn’t see anybody walk into or out of this morning’s meeting.

While I didn’t fan out into the crowds with full surveillance tech or even as little as one acquaintance, here’s what I observed: the attendees grew to a crowd by end that appeared numbering no more than in the low to mid-100’s; most attendees appeared to come in groups from more sparsely populated areas of Oregon; every man, woman, and child I could observe was Caucasian; placards where visible had slogans like “Less Illegal Invaders Equals More Jobs”, and other situational extremely remote economic misunderstandings; most placard wavers were young to senior farming community members; a number expressed that this was their first foray to a “big city” in years; and about a half-dozen males all under age thirty by looks milled along perimeters yelling a two-word pro-Caucasian phrase. Of course, most attendees either had nothing to say or express, or brought USA flags to wave as if perhaps thinking they’re just frazzled generally re the economy…most certainly seemed uninterested in the six punks chanting racist slogans. Other than that, it was sunny and about 80 degrees Fahrenheit with no real wind.

The event speakers were all of Oregon GOP origin, and that seemed to be the point: raise future campaign workers by identifying with attendees upset with things, via just blaming Obama and Democrats for poor stewardship causing all attendees’ woes “whatever they may be”, and via tolerating ANY placard or slogan chant or silence without asking anyone to leave.

The entirety of GOP speaking could be summed up in the statement of the Marion GOP Womens’ leader (I swear, with stops and breaths, no applause or other audience interruptions, it took 5 minutes to say this): “ I…am…the head…of the Marion GOP Women….We wear red blazers……Of course………men are allowed to join….us…….but as associates only……..I urge you to support…..our party November 5th....stop by the Marion booth before you leave”. Other speakers simply urged attendees to contact “COMMON SENSE” and similar PACs, and of course any GOP candidates, for future change they can believe in. Thus was the glory of this robust backlash of the Rising Tide of Republicanism throughout the USA and Oregon…about as “robust” as the dozens of folks Marion Democrats say are but a mere sampling of Obamamania.   

I noted further that Oregon has a much more ethnically diverse population, and aggregate State population infinitely eclipsing the Tea Party and Marion Democrats combined; once again, this inter-racial, international behemoth of Independents was unavailable for attending OR protesting ANY partisan political event. Independents…the kind who see that no job for a national is no job for any immigrant and vice versa; that national or immigrant, it’s the same economic system; and so forth through the social and trade gamut.

Wherefore, I can only assess from my experience that this “Tea Party Express” is pure rodomontade of paycheck-seeking partisans having no more intention of changing status quos in the future than they did themselves under Bush and now Obama…such partisans won’t even commit to what THEY think is wrong and specifically WHAT they would immediately do if elected. These Tea Party things then are just to find folks upset with “ins” on pedestrian hope the “outs” THIS time would care.

The Tea Party Express appearing a load of political baloney topped with red herring, perhaps the majority of Oregon’s population was too busy trying to figure out: why a stock market made up only of Google, pharmaceutical companies, and cell phone makers is “up” on news now “only” two million per month seem to be losing jobs and foreclosures soar; how new paving jobs around Salem (starting as the Legislature sets to convene) will “put Oregon back to work” as road signs claim, since no workplaces/jobs is no workplaces/jobs pretty road or ugly road; and why today’s Saturday “Oregonian” headline is that Oregon food stamp use has increased 31% the last year to a record high, with the State predicting it will go higher still in 2009 (http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/09/record_number_of_oregonians_go.html ). Then there’s DHS calling the unemployed “alienated of interest through 2019”, USA paying Pakistan billions no-strings while coddling Taliban, a USA commission placing India on a “religious rights watch list” for not bowing to Taliban law, and all that creepy stuff from this Spring.

Anybody over at Tea Party land or Marion cheerleading ready to say we should bail on status quo, and if so, what we’ll immediately do in its place? And if only handfuls of folks with friends named “Skeeter” opposing handfuls of slackers passes as “zesty and issue-complete” GOP-DEM electoral combat, why should anyone believe no-trail voting would show folks only vote for GOP or DEM as representative of what voters on the whole worry about?