The 9-12 Project Parade And Rally, Downtown Fort Worth, September 12, 2009

I participated in the 9-12 Parade, Rally, Protest, and all-around Procession Of The Pissed in downtown Fort Worth today. Much has been written and argued about whether Libertarians have any business aligning themselves with this movement. Go here and read the comments for an overview.
John Spivey, Chair of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party, put in long hours building a parade float for this event. It was to supposed be an Alamo, made of wood and plaster that would frame the float trailer.
And then the rain began.
The plaster for our Alamo is pink when you apply it to a surface. Once it dries, it takes on a very Alamo-ish tan stucco look.
But if it gets wet again, it turns pink.
The Libertarian Party has enough trouble explaining its positions without showing up at a 9-12 Right Wing parade in the middle of Texas with a pink Alamo. So Spivey made an executive decision to nix the float.
We improvised with a few banners on an SUV.

Considering the weather, the turnout was huge. I'd put it between 8-10,000 people. By the time those of us at the back end of the procession started walking, the leaders had already marched through downtown Fort Worth and were crowding the bandstand. I didn't stick around for the speeches, mostly because my feet were wet and the rest of me was damp. Went back to our booth and helped evangelize Glenn Beck's followers for a while.

Here's the crowd gathering around the Fort Worth Convention Center.

This is me with Michael Badnarik, who was the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate in 2004. Mr. Badnarik was probably relieved that he didn't have to ride inside a pink Alamo.

Here's John Spivey with Mr. Badnarik.

One of the all-time great Thomas Jefferson quotes.

Starting them young....

One of my favorite parodies:

Unfortunately, this is not a parody. This was the rationale for spending 3/4 of a trillion dollars.

People are starting to catch on to the dangers of printing more and more money to cover government waste:

....so people like this just MIGHT have some money left for themselves.

Here's another one:

If you look closely, this is a "Don't Tread On Me" Tattoo. And yes, I did ask permission before getting a picture.

A John Adams quote:

One of the things that was most refreshing to me about this event.... I only saw one Republican T-shirt. There were a few people milling around with campaign signs for Debra Medina, who is supposedly so rational that Ron Paul likes her. Our booth was near a Rick Perry cubicle that people were ignoring. For the most part, the message of the rally was Leave Me Alone !

See below.

There were a lot of "In God We Trust" signs, but that, along with the ultra-patriotism were the only elements distinguishing this from a libertarian/small government event.

Here's my favorite sign of the day:
The Libertarian Party will also be marching/riding at the Alan Ross Freedom Parade, September 20, in Dallas. This is the annual Gay and Lesbian Rights march. We're bringing our Alamo.

If our Alamo float is dry by the time the Gay Rights parade begins, we're going to spray water on it until it's pink. Look for us.