I learned something new at Rantapalooza today...
Forget the bath towel. You should always travel with a cardboard cutout of President Bush. He's a true rock star.
Well. I'd like to thank everyone who braved the mean streets of Chinatown and its approximately 1 inch of slush. Yep, it was the Winter Storm That Is Gonna Kill Us All Wasn't. I would also like to thank the many kind friends of Rantburg who sent their good wishes and hard-earned dough to Fred to help make the day a success. We did justice to your donations!
The Inaugural Rant-a-Palooza was a low key affair at a very homey Irish bar in snow-swept Washington. I arrived first, carrying the President folded up in a clear plastic bag. I was immediately accosted by one of the other bar patrons; he rushed over and demanded (in a delightful Irish accent) to know where I got Dubya. I told him I got the prez at Party Mart in Gaithersburg. He introduced himself as Brian, and wanted to know if I knew of any other inaugural events. "Funny you should ask," says I...
What I don't know yet is that Brian is a person of some notoriety. He is the General Secretary at Communists for Kerry He and his comrades in New York spent many happy hours this summer in counterprotesting the Bush protests. Yes, proletarians, the revolución will be blogged. I ask Brian to help me set up the President, two more gents (Dennis and Mike) amble over from the bar, and the waitress comes by to see if we are thirsty yet.
"Why yes, we believe we're ready for our first round. Cheers, all!"
We've just got the Prez up on his feet when the word goes out: "Officer on the deck!" Fred has arrived, but without the customary motorcade and security detail. He looks around, sees we've already dented his PayPal account, and orders himself a beer. The two gents from the bar greet him in Russian--they're linguists who are fairly new to RB and haven't posted much...yet.
Over the next half hour, various and sundry Rantburgers arrive: JackAss Festival, TomnownotquitesoAnon, JAB, and my friend from the MSM. Dan calls in with his regrets; he's already at the airport to go back to school. But the rest of us don't really notice as it's time for another round and The Toast.
My cell phone starts to ring as Alaska Paul and Barbara Skolaut call in to join for the toast. We gather 'round the President and drink to four more years, to Rantburg, and somehow Ronald Reagan sneaks in there as well. The paparazzi takes some pictures, the President goes off to other parts of the bar to meet his electorate, and Rantapalooza gets underway in earnest.
I wish I had some more stories to share with you, but as they say, "What happens at Fado, stays at Fado." No bail or bribes were necessary, however, and there were none of those Bangladeshi-style "crossfire" incidents, praise Allan!
We all agreed that we'd like to do this again when the weather is more accomodating, and I highly recommend getting out from behind the keyboard from time to time. 'Twas great fun.
Thanks again to Fred, for providing us with such a fine playground; and thanks to the Rantburg community for making it such a great place to be. (And the part I forgot to put in the toast...thanks to all our employers who so kindly look the other way, heh). Congratulations, George W. Bush. Four more years! |
