Observations From The Corner

Yesterday afternoon, several dozen people ( all white and most above the age of 40 though I did see a few kids holding signs and looking rather puzzled as to what they were actually doing there ) gathered in an abandoned parking lot in downtown Madisonville, KY.

There were the obligatory "Get Your Hands Of My ____" signs and a few timid shouts at cars that honked their horns as they passed. Overall, the atmosphere felt a bit forced and lacking in the passion that one would think a Tea Bagger would have. In all, it wasn't really a "march" or a "protest", just people idly shuffling around.

The one thing that made the event almost worthless to capture on film, aside from the fact that no one wanted to appear on camera, was this extremely annoying band that played 70s standards at an almost ear piercing level. One had to wonder if the low turnout had anything to do with the heat emanating up from the concrete, the near inaccessible parking area, or the amateur-hour band that couldn't figure out how to turn down the treble.

I stayed about an hour and actually had a few revealing conversations. I say revealing because the overriding sentiment from the 6 or so that would actually speak to me was one of complete lack of ability to fact check everything they took in as truth. Each and every time one of them would repeat something that Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh had said about Obama, taxes, or government in general, I would ask them if they had verified these claims. I got more than a few odd and puzzled looks. This was usually followed up by "but they fact check these things before they say them". It was quite exasperating at times.

As I left, there was this woman that came up to me and asked if she could pray for me. Not being a particularly religious person to begin with, I asked why she thought I needed to be prayed for, to which she replied - with a particularly morbid grin - that Obama was "the anti-christ".

I had to make my exit as gracefully as possible, as I nearly burst into uncontrollable laughter at that point.