The local protest  [Indianapolis - o.g.]  was a good-sized crowd and very much the same sort of group as elsewhere reported: largely middle-class, with a smattering of students and retired folks but mostly ordinary workin’ Joes and Janes who had taken the afternoon off to remind our elected nitwits that a slim majority is not a mandate -- and that every misspent tax dollar, every kited check, every tax increase or expansion of Federal, State or local authority, weighs that much heavier on the electorate.  It’s not a group much given to sign-waving; it takes a bit more to wake them up.

Very little professional signage.  Check it out. Real people spent real time making those signs.

It was a very regular crowd of people gathered in the island of blue that is Charlottesville. University town; very liberal all the way around.  The Pavilion is a stone’s throw from City Hall, and folks were coming out of that building with worried looks on their faces to check us out.

No cops.  Not a single one did I observe.  I found that very interesting as well.

The only disturbance consisted of a group of 3 or 4 yahoos that screamed, “Obama!” 3 or 4 times before running away.  This provided some humorous ammunition to the MC. We just laughed at them.

Very nonpartisan, even though our local Repulican state delegate was there, as was the head of the Jefferson Area Libertarians.  They all just gave some barnburning speeches without reference to their own parties.  I think this was wise. (link)

I ran into a local photojournalist there, who told me that he’d offered pics to the local press, but was turned down cold, even though he sells them a lot of stuff otherwise.  He said he’d probably end up posting them on Freep, since nobody in the MSM would pay him anything for them. (link)
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Nobody I interviewed was willing to give their name, and few wanted to let me take a closeup.  The fear is there - in SF, being marked a “conservative” (read “fascist, racist, enemy of the people”) is a good way to have job problems, car problems, vandalism problems, and assorted social problems.

The groupthink out here is frightening.

Which makes the turnout all the more praiseworthy.(link)

...it was not a pro-Republican event even though we had some local Republican speakers.  Some of the loudest cheers came when one of the organizers talked about how the RNC called her to “coordinate the message” and she, in so many words, told them to stick it.  I can also report I only saw 3 signs that didn’t fit: one confederate flag, one “bow to the Muslim king” and one abortion sign.  I did not see a single sign discussing immigration outside of one instance of snark about the DHS report (something like Terrorist = Wanting to enforce Immigration law).  Lots of signs in reference to the DHS report.

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