"Drain the Swamp Rally," I

Hartford, CT

 Hartford, CT

Last Saturday several hundred people turned up for a rally on the grounds of Connecticut's state capital, in Hartford. The organizers were a number of groups associated with the "Tea Party Movement" and most of the speakers during the two hour event were running for political office. Each speaker was invariably introduced as a True Conservative and Real Patriot. They denounced generally all incumbents, but especially the "communists and socialists" they assert are running Washington, DC. A theme that every speaker seemed to stress was that to fix the dire condition of the state and nation, they wanted to cut government, and cut all non-defense spending. As though economic problems have nothing to do with funding the military industrial complex, or fighting two (going on three) foreign wars.

The audience seemed to have a broader range of concerns, though all expressed from an extremist right wing viewpoint. For the next few days I'll post pictures from the event and let the slogans on the signs and T-shirts speak for themselves.