Photo Set 1 / http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/04/237095.php


April 15th saw a mixed group of "Tea Party" activists, protesters and political hopefuls stage a small but visible protest outside of California Senator Diane Feinsteins Los Angeles Offices.
It was one of many held throughout the southland on the American tax deadline date in response to the Obama administrations policies concerning healthcare, immigration and the growing federal deficit.

The protest was composed of libertarians, evangelicals, catholics, republicans, a percentage of democrats, LBGT republicans, Jewish, atheist, immigrant, wealthy and middle class conservatives.. This reporter spoke to at least a fourth of the crowd and found it to be surprisingly diverse and somewhat representative of the west side.

Generally the crowd was friendly with only a few openly hostile personalities. A warning went up at the beginning of the protest to be aware of left wing photographers that were simply there to take embarrassing shots of the participants. Of course that would seem to make this dreadlocked photographer who reports for IndyMedia an immediate center of attention, but happily that was not the case. The crowd was friendly and orderly.

The police presence was almost nonexistent ( one LAPD car was dispatched to cover the action ). This did seem rather disconcerting due to the presence of armed protesters at previous rallies around the US. and the recent threats that have been aimed at members of Congress following the passage of the health care bill. Also 11111 Santa Monica Blvd. is a heavy traffic area ( the protest was from 5:30 to 7:30... rush hour ) and the LAPD always has multiple units dispatched to protests for traffic / pedestrian safety issues alone. Yet there was only one unit for this protest.

The major media outlets were not in evidence either.

There were two political hopefuls working the crowd of perhaps 60 to 100 people, both republicans. Terry Rathbun is running for the State Assembly for the 41st district. and Ari David from the 30th district is running for Rep.Henry Waxman's seat.

Most of the crowd that I spoke to seemed to be of the entrepreneurial class and felt that they were losing control of their financial destinies. The complaints ran from President Obama being a Socialist antichrist to a few reasonable professional accountants who are deeply alarmed about a possible new state of "Stagflation", a jobless recovery, the national deficit, the cost of healthcare reform, and the untouchable bonus culture of Wall Street Bankers.

Quite a few of the activists were small business people who said that they felt crushed by regulations and taxation.

More than one person cited Ayn Rand.

For all of the suffering being cited the crowd was cheerful and friendly.

Robert Stuart Lowden April 16th 2010.Los Angeles CA


Photo Set 1 / http://la.indymedia.org/news/2010/04/237095.php

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Fierce Dude. He had a nice dog though.

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This lady was sweet. She kept telling me to watch out for traffic. I often times found it disconcerting to receive the politeness of these protesters and then proceeding to soak in what was in their signage.
I came to a place where I was just happy to see them exercise their free speech rights.

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LOL! Look at those insane rightarded cultist loons, a sea of honkey protesting against taxes when the stupid fucks paid *less* taxes last year than any of the previous 50 years.

Republican Christians are *such* fucking insane loons.

What they're really protesting is a black man in the White House. They're protesting against the changing demographics of the country where honkey Christanic males are quickly becoming the minority.

*THAT* is what these insane Republidiot cult loons are protesting.

Republicans are easily manipulated idiots, dancing to the string pulls of their Corporate masters. What fucking idiots.

you know, Fred, that sure explains the numbnuts racism you can't keep from leaking out of your hiking sports depends.
And you ride it like a mechanical 25 cent rodeo bull while taking a lead from the use of infantile propaganda graphics too!
Wow, you been picking up some bad role modeling!
As usual we receive your spasms of opinionated crap without content or reason, with amazement.

That's the face of an attention starved fuckwit, boys and girls.

you and Fred are the same numbnuts, right?
Pulling your pud for all to see?
You been helping him out with the graphics, I see.
And the obligatory race content is also kinda telling...

My only real criticism of this particular photo, report and editorial of this protest, is the lack of variation in cropped frames, selective reference shots and lack of critical numbers accounting. How many were there? Why were some photos cropped or miss framed to exclude information and others repeated while; some were not even shown which makes no sense if the turn out was so small according to the peculiar framing.
For the benefit of a doubt, I'll consider this a learning experience instead of subtle attempt at intentional bias or subterfuge.
Thank you for reading this.

That's interesting - the teabaggers seem to be dropping the "socialism" or "national socialism" and "Obama" signs. Perhaps it's the recent presence of actual Nazis parroting the right wing's rhetoric that's raised their awareness of what real Fascism is about: right-wing politics combined with the working class reality of high unemployment.

ahem...
the term fascism is about the corporate state.
When the corporations and the state assume common interests; that is fascism.
Like the federal government forcing you to pay a corporation for a product to preserve the profits of that corporation.
Obama is not a socialist, he is a pure Wall Street fascist.

Tax the wealthy, they mean you ?

This is like the Brown Shirts in Italy. The street fighters for the capitalist class.

these protesters are railing against fascism in the form of a government that is following the corporate state and personality cult of Wall Street's Obama and all the goodies he has delivered to them.
As he has turned 180 degrees from the rhetoric of his stealth campaign in every respect.
The corporations that paid for his office are well pleased by this individual.
Yet another tool of the banking houses that are looting the nation in an orgy of theft.