Thousands Demonstrate at Orlando Tea Party

Glenn Reynolds has a great roundup of today's tea party protests around the country. Some of the folks attending the Orlando rally are boasting "John Galt" paraphernalia.

The photo above shows the son of one of Reynolds' regular readers, who sent in photographs along with this report:

I am an enthusiastic reader who has checked in with Instapundit nearly daily for almost six years. I thoroughly enjoy your perceptive comments and your quirky and often witty selection of stories and links, and I have cited you to my two sons often. One of them, Walker, is home for Spring Break from Stanford, where he is a junior. He is a libertarian, and he often finds himself philosophically isolated and lonely in Palo Alto. He and I attended the Orlando Tea Party this afternoon, and I have attached a photo of Walker there. While I am an inveterate issues nerd, always eager to read about and discuss political/economic/social issues, I have not been very active politically, so today was a rare treat for Walker and me. The crowd at the rally was friendly, enthusiastic, and good-natured, and we heard few comments directed towards the President or Congress that were nasty or personally derogatory.

Via Nice Deb, Central Florida News 13 has a report, "Thousands Rally Against Stimulus Plan at ‘Orlando Tea Party’."

Compare the tea party protests to the ANSWER marches around the country. Popular activism's alive and well, on both sides of the ideological spectrum. But which side will end up on the "ash heap of history"?

See also, Michelle Malkin, "Liveblogging the Lexington KY Tea Party" (via Memeorandum).; and Riehl World View, "Embracing The Coming Polarity Shift In American Politics."