海角大神

鈥�George Washington鈥� was there, decked out in revolutionary garb and waving a stylized liberty tree flag with the motto 鈥淎ppeal to Heaven.鈥�

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) of Minnesota and Rep. Steve King (R) of Iowa, both "tea party" favorites from Congress, were there, revving up the crowd with fiery speeches.

Victoria Jackson, former cast member of "Saturday Night Live," played the ukulele and sang, 鈥淭here鈥檚 a communist living in the White House.鈥� (Watch it .)

As some Americans scrambled to finish their IRS forms by the midnight tax day deadline, conservative tea party activists streamed into Washington 鈥� and to rallies around the country 鈥� to protest Obama administration policies, rising government spending, and what they see as threats to fundamental freedoms. In the nation鈥檚 capital, the main show will be Thursday night, when protesters gather at the Washington Monument for a long-planned Tax Day protest.

But earlier in the day, several thousand people gathered on Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Avenue, positioned part-way between the White House and the Capitol, for a celebration of free speech and protest. The mood was almost joyful on this sunny, summery day, as participants debated and discussed the issues of the day with each other, the media, and left-wing counter-demonstrators.

A sampling of the signs

Homemade signs proclaimed a variety of goals and sentiments: 鈥淭ry Eric Holder for Treason,鈥� said one, referring to the US attorney general.

鈥淩eelected? You must be smoking Reid,鈥� said another, referring to the Democratic Senate leader, who faces a tough reelection battle.

One sign advertised , pronounced 鈥淕o,鈥� for Get Out of Our House. 鈥淚t is time to clean out Congress!鈥� it announced.

鈥淪top the spending鈥� signs were common. So were the mass-produced yellow 鈥淒on鈥檛 Tread on Me Flags鈥� with the coiled snake, a symbol of American independence.

John Wagner, an environmental engineer from suburban Detroit, came out with his wife to 鈥渟end a message to Congress,鈥� he said. He鈥檚 also here for the 鈥済roup encouragement鈥� with other tea partyers and to encourage like-minded people to run for Congress.

Mr. Wagner is unwilling to use the correct name for his member of Congress 鈥� Rep. John Dingell (D), the longest-serving member, at 27 terms 鈥� and blasts him for, in his view, voting against the wishes of his constituents on health-care reform.

鈥淢embers of the House do not have the right, under the Constitution, to vote on their own views or on their party鈥檚 views,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 tyranny. That鈥檚 what our ancestors fled.鈥�

Wagner doesn鈥檛 know who he will support in November. 鈥淢aybe I鈥檒l vote for the Republican, depending on who it is, or the Libertarian or someone else,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I do know I鈥檒l go door to door in my district against [Mr. Dingell].鈥�

Mainstream misgivings

Dan Egtvedt, a pharmaceutical rep from northern Virginia wearing a 鈥淭ake Back America 2010鈥� T-shirt, says he was at the tea party protests on Capitol Hill last month on the eve of health-care reform鈥檚 passage, and is clearly still irked by the bad press the opponents of reform got. 鈥淭he claims against the tea party are false,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here was no spitting or racism.鈥�

Others at Thursday鈥檚 rally were leery of the media, too.

鈥淒uring the last administration,鈥� said Tom Miller, a retired steel worker from New Philadelphia, Ohio, 鈥渟ix people from Code Pink would show up at something, and they鈥檇 be all over CNN and MSNBC. I was here for the 9/12 protest last September, and the only one who covered it was Fox.鈥�

Mr. Miller and his wife, Debbie, juggled multiple signs. One said: 鈥淩epresentative Zach Space 鈥� You鈥檙e Fired.鈥� Another said: 鈥淥ne rotten Kenyan Spoiled the Whole Bunch of Democrats.鈥�

Miller denied that he鈥檚 a 鈥渂irther,鈥� a subset of conservatives who believe President Obama was actually born in Kenya and is not the legitimate president. But, he added, 鈥淚 would like to see his birth certificate.鈥�