Teabaggers In The Mist - Updated 9.15.09

Glenn Beck once insisted that he started his “9/12 Movement” to recapture the sense of unity in the nation the day after the terrorist attacks in 2001. That idea lasted about four minutes Saturday morning as evidenced by the signs held aloft at the event he and a group of well-funded astroturf organisations in Washington created.

Thanks to Oliver Willis’ website, we have a disturbing record of just how bizarre and out-of-touch the ragtag and often racist crowd of batty birthers, deathers, tenthers, climate change deniers, Federal Reserve haters, anti-abortionists, pro gunners and the just plain kooky turned out to be.

Like Sen. Jim DeMint (R-Crazyland). He actually autographed a sign that reads “We Are A Christian Nation.”

Over at RedState, people are claiming that two million protesters showed up. The police estimated the crowd at about 75,000.

I realised that the most disturbing thing about Willis’ photo essay is that the people whose signs he captured on film - OK, I'm showing my age; he probably captured them on disc - are allowed to own checking accounts, sign contracts, own passports and have children.

UPDATE - I've decided that my two favourite characters from Saturday's Mad On Washington are the old lady carrying a sign reading "Keep Government Out Of Medicare!" and a fellow in his late 60s who is in a YouTube video declaring to a questioner that he'll stop cashing his Social Security cheques when the government stops interfering in his life.