Nature Break

A few woodpecker shots.

Autumn in Boise

Autumn in Boise isn't the same as autumn in New England, but we do have some splashes of glory here and there...

Autumn Is Here

You know summer is well over when irrigation season ends. The canals are running dry; winter will soon follow.

Red State, Blue Capital

Right after over a thousand people march in protest of government spending and Obamacare, the Boise City Council -- with Mayor Dave Bieter providing the tie-breaking vote -- passes a resolution in favor of "health care reform." For the resolution: David Eberle, Maryanne Jordan, and Elaine Clegg. Against: Jim Tibbs, Alan Shealy, Vern Bisterfeldt.

About 30 Boiseans voiced their disapproval of the resolution, and even the idea of the city government wasting their time on such a thing. The local media hastens to explain that the resolution is non-binding and is purely a symbolic gesture.

One guy at the Tea Party on Saturday carried a sign with the word NO all over it, and a big, bold legend in the middle: CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? I guess at Boise City Hall, the answer is -- NO.

Right-Wing Extremists Unite: The Boise Tea Party

The organizers of today's Tea Party estimated over a thousand in attendance, including your humble correspondent, her aunt and her cousin. A pretty sizable mob of right-wing rabble, headed by a bunch of flag-waving bikers, marched from the Boise Depot, down Capitol Boulevard and gathered at Capitol Park to listen to music and speakers. It wasn't as big a crowd as the one that gathered in Washington, D.C., but attendance far outpaced anything liberal protest organizers have ever been able to drum up in Boise since I've lived here. Nevertheless, although there was some press coverage, I didn't see any news crews at Capitol Park.

Unfortunately, the Statehouse is under renovations, and fenced off, so there weren't any really good vantage points to take pictures from; but I did get lots of good shots. The hardest part was to choose from among them.

Some dangerous extremists.

Veterans in the crowd.


Davy Crockett and Benjamin Franklin pose for the cameras.

From across the centuries, Patrick Henry addresses the rally: his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech before the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775.

Patriotic pooch.

Protesters sign the Declaration of Independence. See a familiar signature at top left of the signature sheet, big enough for the Messiah to see without corrective lenses?

Here it is again, just in case you can't.


Next installment: dangerous right-wing extremists exercise their First Amendment rights.

Boise Tea Party: Right-Wing Extremists Exercise their First Amendment Rights

Every protest rally has its cranks, and the Boise Tea Party was no different. But, as Zombietime out of the Bay area documents, a liberal rally is almost all cranks. The vast majority of the protest signs at their shindigs are either pre-printed and mass-produced by liberal/anarchist attack groups, or homemade by illiterates, full of obscenities, incoherent phrases and copious spelling errors. By contrast, nearly all the signs I saw at the Tea Party -- most of which were homemade -- were pretty good, and some were quite clever. I saw a couple of rambling and hard-to-read signs (not including those of two counterprotesters that I saw) but no obscenities, and nothing that looked like it was executed by a kindergartner on crack.

Some samples:

This guy must have a pretty high tolerance level if his first time being ashamed of his President wasn't the Clinton era -- making Obama REALLY bad.

Violating the separation of Church and state on public property by citing to the Bible. Incidentally, the rally opened with a prayer in which -- horror of horrors -- Jesus Christ was invoked in a public park!!!

One of many signs calling for term limits:

The "Don't Tread on Me" symbol -- the one the Obama administration thinks is a banner of domestic terrorism -- was everywhere.

Almost all the bikers -- all of whose bikes, incidentally, were all shined up and in excellent condition -- had "Don't Tread on Me" flags.

There were quite a few signs calling for no government funding of abortion. Here was one of the best:


The Obama logo was widely lampooned:

ACORN was also targeted. The sign on the right below: "The Liberty Tree Did Not Grow from an ACORN."

Next to the "ACORNS ARE NUTS" sign: "HONK If I'm Paying Your MORTGAGE!"

The mainstream Obamabot media, weighed down with its many offenses against republicanism (with a small "r") did not escape notice:

Three of my personal favorites:

Liberals -- especially those with power and influence -- are always saying that "speaking truth to power" is an act of virtue, and that dissent is the highest form of patriotism and the greatest act of love for one's country. On this occasion at least, they have a point.