Saturday, April 16, 2011

Saradise Lost - Book 5 - Chapter 45: Breitbart and Palin Roundly Booed in Madison Wisconsin

As part of the Tea Party tax weekend activities, Sarah Palin spoke near the capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin. The crowd was estimated to be about 6,000 to 7,000, but from reports coming in, the Tea Partiers may have been handily outnumbered by protesters:

(CBS/AP) MADISON, Wis. - After weeks of relative quiet following the bruising battle over an anti-union collective bargaining bill, the state Capitol was again the scene of protests and counter-protests.
Hundreds of pro-union labor supporters are surrounding smaller groups of conservative Tea Party members attending a rally featuring former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Speaking at the tax day rally outside the Wisconsin Capitol, Palin called the crowd in Madison courageous for having stood up to "death threats and thug tactics" of those who opposed Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining bill.

"You held your ground, your governor did the right thing, and you won," she said.

Referring to herself as a former union member and the wife of a union member, Palin said, "He's not trying to hurt union members. Hey, folks, he's trying to save your jobs and your pensions!"

She said union leaders don't care if their members are laid off, in order to protect their own power.

She also criticized President Obama for his budget plans, including proposals to invest in "really fast trains and solar shingles."

Prior to her appearance, labor supporters still smarting from the passage of Walker's polarizing bill eliminating most public employees' collective bargaining rights drowned out Palin's supporters, shouting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Scott Walker's got to go."
Here's a local, Madison report:

The tea party supporters were lined along the sidewalk in front of the podium, surrounded by small barriers, perhaps to keep the sounds of counter protesters out. Several thousand counter-protesters surrounded them, chanting "Recall Walker," blowing whistles and horns, beating drums and sometimes booing the speakers.

Even though they used a sound system, it was hard to hear everything the speakers were saying over the counter-chants. The acoustics were such that you could hear the speakers better from afar than you could up close.

Only the shrill Vicki Mckenna, talk show host WIBA, seemed to be able to cut through the chanting, when she told them: "Shut up." The crowd didn't listen. Andrew Breitbart was similarly annoyed and told the crowd, "you've been so rude, go to hell. You're trying to divide America."

Gabe Conroe, a 2001 UW-Madison graduate, made the trip all the way from his home in Chicago to protest Palin. "We wanted to show support for workers." He said the Tea Party "doesn't care about the poor or workers."

Jeff Kerwin of Madison, a union worker, says he was dumbfounded by why the tea party crowd was supporting "the corruption that's gone down in Waukesha County" over the election for state Supreme Court.

Aside from her curiosity about Palin, Taylor said she came out to show "Wisconsin is not a tea party state" and "we'll fight back."

As for what she makes of the tea party crowd, Taylor said, "It's important for citizens to be involved. I've always admired how peaceful we remain here despite the strong feelings on both sides."

When Palin finally took the state, around 1:30 p.m., the crowd erupted in a cacophony of cheers, boos, applause and angry chants.

I could hardly hear a word she said and probably wouldn't remember any of them anyways. But I'm sure I'll always remember the reception Madison gave her.
Here's the audio of her awful, screechy speech.

Gryph is covering this too.

So are Patrick and Kathleen at Politicalgates, who feel Palin all but announced a presidential candidacy. That's part of why I was checking out the speech too.

Hat tip to Politicalgates for the video:



And YouTubes showing how big the anti-Teabagger crowd was are starting to show up:


Another view:

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Actually I am still not 100 per cent sure that Palin will run -- if she does I doubt that it will be under the GOP ticket.

I do think that her late decision to appear at this rally is a distraction from the discussion regarding Trig and whether or not she should provide evidence that she is his birth mother given the fact that she thinks that it is OK for Trump to seek evidence of President Obama's place of birth.

As I said. More hints -- big distractions. It is obvious that the msm will focus on her "Game On!" pronouncement.

Philip Munger said...

You may be right. as somebody told me years ago, Palin may be the biggest bright, shiny object yet invented by our political system.

Anonymous said...

A rare view of when she has not had the ability to be in control of terms and conditions and only surrounded herself by her lovefest fans - especially non-paying ones at that!!

Maybe she'll realize that this would be what it's like on a campaign trail this time around. But then, that would require some intelligence on her part!!!

Delightful videos!!!

majii said...

Reading this was worth visiting your blog, Phil!

"Only the shrill Vicki Mckenna, talk show host WIBA, seemed to be able to cut through the chanting, when she told them: "Shut up." The crowd didn't listen. Andrew Breitbart was similarly annoyed and told the crowd, "you've been so rude, go to hell. You're trying to divide America."

I am so glad that Palin, McKenna, Breitbart, and the other speakers were served a dose of what they needed: a persistent chorus of loud boos since they're so used to speaking before a group of mindless robots that don't know their heads from their behinds.

Anonymous said...

She's all "wee-wee'd up" over the steamroller called babygate that is bearing down on her. And the forthcoming Bailey, Dunn and McGinniss books.

Popcorn time.

Anonymous said...

If sarah is going to run, she had better be ready to provide HER long-form birth certificate, because all indications are that she was born in Canada !

Anonymous said...

Clearly, Palin's popularity has faded rapidly and she will be booed off the stage if she rears her opportunist/demagogue head to enter politics again. Her numbers are now in the tank and she is perhaps THE most reviled woman in the country.

Bah-bye Sarah. Sounds like Babygate and Todd's Hookergate is swamping this gang of chillbilly grifters.

sallyngarland,tx said...

Bachmann is appearing with Nikki Haley on Mon. in SC at a TP rally. I bet Palin isn't too happy about that, especially since there weren't any politicians for her in WI.