Nebraska Tea Party extravaganza TANKS! (dial-up warning)

[Cowpunk]

These are some pictures I took at the Heartland Liberty Fest, a major Tea Party event held in Papillion, NE, a mostly well-to-do suburb of Omaha. Republican Congressman Lee Terry spoke at this event, as well as several local radio conservatives, and all four Republican candidates vying for Ben Nelson's senate seat. As you can see, the people exhibiting outnumbered the visitors to the event when I was there.

I arrived at 4:30pm, more or less in the middle, as the event was supposed to last from 12 until 10:30. The fishbowl you can see in the last photo contains all the votes for the straw poll they had(photo taken at roughly 6pm). One TV news crew showed up while I was there and stayed about 10 minutes. So far, I haven't been able to find a single mainstream news item about the event.

[AmericaIsGreat]

1. Lmao, wow

A bible in one hand a gun in the other. Yeah, that's the way to progress this country.

God damn those people.

[jmowreader]

30. Y'know, that's funny...

The Founding Fathers were mostly Deists. Deism is the belief that the earth and everything in it was created by a God who finished His work, handed the Earth over to the people who lived on it, and went on permanent vacation.

According to the Wiki page on deism, "deists believe in the existence of a god without any reliance on revealed religion, religious authority or holy books."

IOW, if the Founding Fathers had Bibles they were using them as wheel chocks for cannons.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. What you might be watching is the collapse of a populist movement

that was created by astro turf.

[Remember Me]

43. Well said

Castles built on sand and all that -- except for the still vibrant media propaganda which promotes them and makes it appear the Tea Party still has numbers and clout.

[Exilednight]

3. That's too funny. I bet more people would show up for a New Kids on the Block reunion tour. n/t

[NBachers]

17. I bet more people would show up for a Menudo reunion tour

I hope it was brain-and-ass-frying hot there today

[Erose999]

26. I bet more people would show up for a Jackson 5 reunion tour where they get LaToya or Tito to do all

Michael's parts.

[NJCher]

34. no, no!

A Millie Vanilli reunion tour! It would be right in keeping with the Koch Bro's lip synching the useful tools in the Tea Party.


Cher

[indurancevile]

4. can there be any more doubt that there's no serious grassroots support for the tea baggers?

they can't draw enough people for a teaparty even in nebraska.

[Amonester]

15. Maybe because the (previously) idiot suckers just found out about

the tea roarist party's plans to cut their Social Security checks and abolish Medicare and Medicaid.

I truly cannot see any other (good enough for them) reason. If so, it's about damn time... (if not already too late). :mad:

[butterfly77]

5. Maybe they had such low attendance because...

somebody CUT THE SPENDING..:rofl:

[d_b]

6. no marching orders from corporate mcpravda n/t

[Initech]

7. Why was there a drum set on stage? Lee Greenwood planning to sing God Bless The USA?

:puke:

[jmowreader]

31. It was going to be an all-star event

Lee Greenwood would sing the 45-minute disco version of "God Bless the USA."

Followed by Darryl Worley with the hour-long "kill those fucking Rag Heads And Commie Lib'Ruls" version of "Have You Forgotten?"

John Valby will pop out for a quick runthrough of "Oh Bin Laden." (Very quick because it's only a couple minutes long.)

And finally, Ted Nugent would take the stage for a rousing rendition of "Kiss My Ass."

The five teabaggers who paid their $79.95 for this dazzling event will go home and regale their friends with tales of it, to which they'd hear "now why in HELL would anyone want to see that?"

[madrchsod]

8. was the temp in the 90`s today?

maybe they were afraid they would shrivel up....

[Cowpunk]

20. It was indeed very hot.

We also had thunderstorms in the evening, from 8pm on.

[Kaleko]

9. This was supposed to be a major Teaparty event?

Can you tell us how many people were expected to attend?

Thanks for the info and pics, Cowpunk.

[Cowpunk]

22. I don't know, but...

Someone posted this on the Facebook page the day before the event:

"Fyi Everyone: Ron Paul Campaign needs people to help band/sleeve 10,000 Ron Paul newspapers at Clancy's East (72nd) tonight at 7."

[66 dmhlt]

41. But a better turnout than Gov. Haley's Tea Party Extravaganza

[EFerrari]

10. Behold the amazing grassroots organizing of the ephemeral Tea Party.

Shy as unicorns and maybe as real.

LMAO

:rofl:

[NICO9000]

11. Notice how the "independent" TP has Rethug Party banners on the stage?

Hmmmmm....

[Drale]

12. Damn I was hoping

This was going to be a bunch of pictures of tea baggers getting run over by tanks.:rofl:

[Dawson Leery]

13. Looks like the "pro-war" rallies before the Iraq War.

[zbdent]

23. not really ... at that point, the "liberally-biased media" had the sense

to bunch up the "regular folk" and have tight shot pictures made up of the events ... keeping, of course, the port-a-potties out of the background of the pictures so that the viewers wouldn't see that the p-a-ps outnumbered the attendees ...

[JAnthony]

14. Even in Nebraska the stupid is going out of style!

Nice photos!

I hope they all go home and just lay down and die a stupid uninformed death.

These few people need to forget about rallies......concentrate on voter suppression and get themselves arrested and jailed for a few years.

[Scottybeamer70]

16. I can see that crowd control.........

had one hand full.

[murielm99]

18. Awww....

I don't see one misspelled sign. Not even one!

[SurfingScientist]

29. Look again...

... the last photo has a "then/than" error at the end of the god'n guns rambling !:D

[KeyserSoze87]

19. I expect this to be a top story from the "liberal" media.

After all, one teabagger wearing a tri-cornered hat and a "Don't Tread on Me" shirt is the equivalent of 500,000 union rights activists. :sarcasm:

[Skip_In_Boulder]

21. I saw something go by a few weeks back that said

that there were several upcoming tea bagger events in Nebraska that were being canceled due to lack of interest. Looks like this one may be the only one that survived the cuts. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[chollybocker]

24. "Welcome to Loserville. Population: You."

Great stuff, Cowpunk. :)

[Frustratedlady]

25. Thanks for the chuckles after a trying week.

The Kochs must have turned the spigot off and everyone lost interest? By now referring to the Republican Party as the Tea Party, they will live again! What fun!

[Cowpunk]

27. Americans For Prosperity was a "platinum" sponsor.

It doesn't look to me like a lack of funding was their problem. Their website lists quite a few sponsors and individual donors.

[EC]

28. It's because the tps from last summer were all paid

buses full of people showing up city to city to make it look like there were a lot of people...only maybe 10% were likely real locals.

[JVS]

32. Spinal Tap and puppet show.

[Scurrilous]

33. K & R

:thumbsup:

[and-justice-for-all]

35. Megafail...nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

36. Stayin' away in DROVES!!!

Cattle run around in droves, and are driven by a drover....

[Blue Owl]

37. So that's the "other side" the President keeps talking about?

:wtf:

[JNelson6563]

38. Pointing and laughing at Tea Party Fail.

lolz

[Waiting For Everyman]

39. Wow, thanks for sharing this, Cowpunk!

[malaise]

40. Bwaaaaaaaaaaah hahahaha they must have missed the Setpember bus

:rofl:

[a simple pattern]

42. Thanks for the laughs, Cowpunk!

Feeling a little defensive about their treason, aren't they? I love my country, I just want it to collapse so I can run around with my Bible in one hand and my gun in the other like I always fantasized...

[lumberjack_jeff]

44. I think even the tea partiers are beginning to realize that they've been had.

It's pseudo-populism based on an abstraction. "Freedom! Uh, Capitalism!" They're not protesting for tangibly better personal conditions. They're protesting for abstracted values in service of the wealthy elite.

Ask one of them, "What is it that you - personally - hope to get out of your participation with the tea party? What tangible benefit will you or your family derive from it?" At best, they'll say lower taxes, but that simply proves that they are stupid AND misguided.

A real populist movement says "Rents are too damn high!".