No more taxes! (well, except…)

Panorama from several images during a tax day rally at the Peoria County Courthouse.
Panorama from several images during a tax day rally at the Peoria County Courthouse.

April 15, 2009 – PEORIA, Ill.  –  Populism was back in style. “Over 500” gathered in downtown Peoria for a rally against taxes. Well, against government spending to be more exact… but you could find a hundred different reasons why people were missing a few hours of work on a brilliant spring day. The signs said it all: “What would Jefferson do?,” “Bailouts tea me off,” “Save trees, stop printing money,” and the somewhat off-message “Liberty says NO to Big Brother.” It was a cornucopia of dissent, with the financially worried walking hand in hand with the anti-Federalists. A tax day tea party.

The multitude gathered near the public library, with the leader addressing the crowd about their intent. A message was decided, although this splintered once marching commenced into chants of “U.S.A.!” and “No more taxes!” This was obviously incorrect, and a small portion of the group noticed and chuckled, trying to correct the error with their own: “No more spending!” Anti-Obama messages were few, surprisingly, with “Obamunism” being the most common.

Peaking in front of the Peoria County Courthouse, the leader bellowed through a megaphone: “The answer to 2009… is 1776!” Fists pumped in the air, Courthouse security stood by nervously, and it was officially a block party.

There was plenty to look at, but I kept looking at one unique sign, carried by a middle-aged man who didn’t stay around long to talk with me. “Atlas will shrug,” said the lettering on his foam board sign. In competition with such beautiful weather (and a hunger for lunch), it seems like Peoria was doing the same.

* I say “over 500” because the accounts varied widely. Police said several hundred, while the Journal Star thought there a few more. Event organizers and attendees were optimistic at “several thousand.”

The Journal Star article
“Here Come the Plastic Pitchforks” by Thomas Frank at the WSJ


Oprah and her grammar skillz

A March morning in my sunroom.
A March morning in my sunroom.

It’s Friday morning and I’m watching Oprah’s Twitter account “followers” count ratchet up at the alarming rate of 20 a second. Although paling in comparison to the million followers of Ashton Kutcher, that’s terrifying. Let’s see what makes her so worthy of all this fuss:

oprahtweet

Egads! But at least there’s punctuation in this tweet. From here, her half-dozen posts have burned apostrophes, buried commas, and plundered complete sentences.

The Chicago Tribune gives a bit of perspective on the whole thing, citing Alexander Graham Bell’s first message on the telephone. But at least “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you” was spoken in lowercase, commas intact.

Note: I’m catching a train to Kansas City tonight, for a quick weekend of fun and relaxation. Suggestions or must-sees?

Syphilitic boozehounds

Hey, we live in Peoria and we’re used to attention. We’ve birthed such greats as Dan Fogelberg, Betty Friedan, Richard Pryor, and Elaine “Spanky” McFarlane (you know, Cass Elliot’s replacement in the Momas and the Papas.) For a metro area of 300,000, we’re pretty top notch. But the usually funny, sometimes annoying Stephen Colbert did a quick Wikipedia lookup (just like I did) and came up with this:

world’s biggest distilling center + mass production of penicillin =

“It is safe to assume that present day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds.”

Hey hey hey!

All kidding aside (or not), it’s worth a look to see yet another awkward political interview… this time with someone who obviously knows the Colbert game, the young Rep. Aaron Schock.

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Better Know a District – Illinois’ 18th – Aaron Schock
colbertnation.com
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