[Sosfbay-discuss] Boxer Protest in Front of Barnes & Noble Today

[Andrea Dorey]

Hi, Green Colleagues,

Well, the treacherous TeaBaggers were back in toxic full force today  
and up to their gawdawful tactics, including name-calling, verbal  
harassment, and sign blocking.   At least no one tried to push me off  
the curb this time, but maybe only because I kept my distance.

The Grannies were there with fabulous theater pieces that looked like  
Lucy's "the doctor is in" booth that they called the "Anger  
Management" Booth.  I was about 45 minutes late, a lot having to do  
with finding a place to park, so I didn't get to see it in action,  
but judging by the distance the Right Wing Nut cases kept from Ruth  
and the two "booths" walking around, they must have gotten a good dose!

We were outnumbered and it was disconcerting to see so many people  
drive by honking and showing approval for their ignorant and  
offensive slogans, including calling Boxer a Nazi.  I positioned  
myself as far to the end as I could and I still had to face a lot of  
their harassment—I guess they just couldn't leave me alone even when  
I was quiet and just displayed my sign as cars went by.

On one side it said "Don't be a CASH COW for the INSURANCE COMPANIES"  
with a Green Party label on the bottom.  On the reverse, it said,  
"Demand SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE—the $400 BILLION they waste is  
ours!" with another GP label.  I was wearing my "Canada looks better  
every day," which seemed to cause rage and bitter recrimination.  A  
couple of them took pictures of me and I posed saucily.

The news person (if that's who was carrying the video camera) was  
back and spent all his time talking to only the TBs (hmmm, wonder if  
we could do something with the TB infection idea!).

One of the Obama folks noted that there were no Asians, Hispanics,  
Blacks, or other ethnic groups included among the crowd of Super  
Patriots—that was interesting!

I left with the few Pros still around, and drove home, feeling OK  
actually. The last 15 or 20 minutes when we had more space for our  
posters, we got a lot of "thumbs up" and "victory" signs from the  
cars as they went by.  I believe that a lot of the honking and drive- 
by responses were staged, as I saw some of the same cars come by  
several times.  And their group did get a few digital salutes!  We  
loved that!

Ah, well, we live to oppose oppression and ignorance another day.
Andrea