[Note:  This message is also posted in the Tea Baggers Need A History Lesson Topic]

Tens of thousands of them showed up to fill Pennsylvania Avenue ... well spread out (in a calculated way, to be sure) to give the appearance of a larger throng than was actually there, the right-wing of America showed up and did their cause good.  Despite claims to the contrary, television and media coverage was adequate:  on Tuesday morning, September 15, I saw footage of the protest on the morning news of ABC, CBS and NBC (both local and national shows, for the second consecutive day) in the Oregonian (for the third consecutive day), on internet news sites (Yahoo and AOL), and even last night on Jay Leno's new show.  Of course, one cable network station gave the march a LOT of coverage, but then it is also one of the national sponsors of the spontaneous march, so that is to be expected.

One thing is very clear.  These people are angry.  They are very angry.  And they're angry about a whole lot of stuff.  I saw contingents of folks organized around themes (as illustrated by their signs), as well as individuals carrying posters and signs expressing the broad range of issues that have them steamed.  According to the signs, they are angry about the growing national debt, the growing budget deficit, abortion, gay marriage, fears their guns will be taken away, fears their taxes will be raised, a public option, immigration, fears that immigrants might receive a free mammogram, bailouts, ownership of car manufacturers, the Federal Reserve, creeping Nazism, creeping Communism, socialism in general, atheism, friendliness with Islam, investigations into torture, any and all investigations into allegations the previous administration exceeded its authority, all television networks (except for one, which again does not need to be named because of its notorious sponsorship role), that the president will not grow a tiny mustache, and that NancyPelosi doesn't grow a tiny mustache.  There were also signs suggesting that Barack Obama intends to arrest all conservatives and put them in concentration camps, kill all old people, and -- of course -- destroy the Constitution.

In short, they are clearly angry and mad as heck.  They are not going to take anymore.  Unfortunately, they have also learned one pretty bad lesson from left-wing protestors:  their anger has no focus.  It is totally incoherent and emotional.  By staging the protest on 9/12, organizers (i.e., Dick Armey et.al.) are clearly attempting to link Barack Obama with Osama bin Laden and the fear his name continues to stir.  The only other consistent concept or idea that seems to hold these really angry people together is that they are very angry with their government.

This is a stroke of genius on the part of the spokesmen (others might rightfully call them shills or pimps, since they are trying to sell an idea for someone else) of the movement.  They have successfully transferred anger from those who are causing all the problems to those who are making an effort to solve them.  These protestors are not angry at the insurance companies ... either those in the health care industry who rake anywhere from 25% to 35% right off the top of the roughly $3 trillion a year that Americans spend for health care and whose chief executives are taking home multi-million dollar salaries each year (or who are spending $1.4 million A DAY to defeat health care reform), or those who were allowed to join the financial system by Republican deregulation and contributed to the current economic crisis (The Great Recession).  These protestors are not angry at the major pharmaceutical companies, who bought legislation under the moniker of "reform" that gave them legal protection to gouge customers, who regularly advertise prescription drugs on network television as if it were over-the-counter candy and who operate a totally illegal under-the-table operation to get doctors to prescribe those medications.  They are not angry at Big Banks and Wall Street gamblers who caused the financial meltdown and have driven 18% of the population of the United States out of work.

No ... their anger is directed at government, not the billionaires who have caused the problems and who continue to profit from them!  So, they express anger at the national debt, something even as recently as a few months ago in which they had no interest; they're angry at the hundreds of billions used to stimulate an economy in recession, but not the trillions given to those who caused the recession; and they worry about a trillion dollars pledged to provide basic health care to all citizens, but not the trillions in tax breaks given to those who already were the wealthiest amongst us.