Right Wing Nation

The Washington rally was all day. After the entertainment, there was some local politician, then Diana Irey, then Lynn Swann, then Tom Ridge, and only then, McCain and Palin. It was also the first rally after McCain announced Palin in Dayton, only two days later (that will be relevant in a moment).

Before I go on, you’ll recall that my crappy little Canon decided on the day of the Washington rally to stop working, so we had to buy a new camera in Washington. That will also be relevant shortly.

So I grabbed the new camera and headed out the door. After picking up the Mystery Blogger, we headed to Johnstown, some eighty miles away.

The Washington rally was held in a Minor League stadium. The Johnstown rally was in an indoor arena. When we got to Johnstown, the first clue that maybe leaving earlier would have been a good idea was the line of thousands of people all the way around the stadium, then way down the street. There were lines at Washington, of course, but nothing like the lines today. Talk about despair (that will also become relevant). It turned out that leaving earlier wouldn’t have made any difference, since we stood in line for maybe an hour before it started moving.

We didn’t grab seats. Instead, we stood on the floor, about 100 feet away from the podium on the stage. Ah, pictures! I know that’s what you’re thinking. Well, think again.

Today was the day I discovered that my brand new camera — rather, the lithium battery inside — bleeds power. Or maybe I accidentally left it on when I transferred the pictures from the first rally to my computer, and it doesn’t go to sleep. Anyway, turn the camera on, and it does nothing.

So no, there are no pictures, and that’s really irritating, because I could have gotten really good closeup shots, considering how close we were and the zoom on the camera. Of course, had I known, I could have picked up a new battery when I went to Wal-Mart early this morning, but I didn’t and the rally is over, so life goes on.

This time, there was no local entertainment, nor other politicians. Aaron Tippin came out and introduced Sarah, then she came out with Bristol, Piper, and Trig.

I’m glad to say that the rally was nothing like the one Bitter and Sebastian attended. It was well organized, if minimal, and ran smoothly once they started letting people in. There were about 20-30 Obamatrons across the street, but they were well behaved. There was to and fro shouting and chanting, but nothing beyond, although one of the Obamatrons was obviously confused. He kept yelling, “KKK!” so he must be under the mistaken impression that Robert Byrd is a Republican.

Sarah was good. Really good. The arena just went nuts. The Mystery Blogger and I agreed that she’s getting even better, and she was really good to start with. Remember the convention speech?

There were between 6 and 7 thousand there. I know this because the arena seats 6,000, and every seat was full, so there’s the minimum. The floor holds another 2,000 and somewhere between 1/4 - 1/3 of the floor was packed. So 6,000 and change.

I got a free Russell Brigade T-shirt (Boots on the ground!), and the Brigade was handing out free coffee and hot chocolate, too (if they’d been Democrats, the “freebies” would have come with “suggested donations.”) Course, this is Peterson’s district, but the 12th is next door, and I figure the most important congressional race in the state is Russell v. Murtha.

But back to the rally. First, it wasn’t a rehash of her convention speech. There were some new topics, like a spending freeze (can we all say “Thank God!” together?) and balancing the federal budget (say it again, folks!) What I really want to focus on, however, is the difference between the people at the rally and a great many in the blogosphere.

I am really fed up with two things I’ve been seeing a lot of lately: Whining, and this air of desperation that seems to have set in with some bloggers, but more, their commenters. I didn’t see any of that today, not in the people who drove to that rally (and some drove a lot further than we did). These people were enthusiastic. Pumped up. These people are not staying home on Election Day, and nobody was whining. And when I say I’m fed up, that’s vastly understating the case. It would be more accurate to say that all the whining and moaning really pisses me off, because I’d bet almost anything that 99% of these whiners and moaners haven’t donated a penny and haven’t volunteered. But of course, we all have a right to their opinion, so they tell us what McCain should do, and what he should not do, and they just need to STFU. Anyway, if I don’t stop now, I’m really going to start ranting, so I’ll stop. But check out the commenters at Hot Air, if you want to see all this whining and bitching and all this desperation in action. Me, I’m done with comment threads on those sites until after the election.

Nice drive back. Beautiful day, about 66, and not a cloud in the sky.