Annette John-Hall: Beyond the pale, tea and little sympathy

I have to say I was a little disappointed.

I gave up my favorite American pastime - shoe-shopping - to hang with some "true patriots" this weekend. Truth is, I expected more from them.

The invitation to the Independence Hall Tea Party (so what if everyone was invited) promised a ginormous flag-waving good time.

Sure, there was plenty of red, white, and blue. And requisite moans and boos every time our president was mentioned. There were a few people dressed in period clothing. And every other speech thanked our Founding Fathers. "Thank you, Mr. Jefferson." "Thank you, Mr. Washington."

But for all the talk about the grassroots movement sweeping the nation, the wind had more bluster than the 200 or so who congregated on Independence Mall to celebrate the group's first anniversary and its newly created political action committee.

"Take Back Congress," the event was billed.

Cold and bored, I could have done better on the Ride-the-Ducks sightseeing tour.

But maybe I wasn't mingling enough.

Even though I know I'm not included in their homogenous version of "We, the People," I waded in anyway - a chocolate chip in a big bowl of vanilla.

Unlike U.S. Rep. John Lewis, I wasn't slurred at or spat upon, though I did catch a little spray when someone yelled to nervous chuckles, "Where's your birth certificate?" after a speaker evoked the president's name.

Yawn. That material is played out.

But being white didn't get you off the hook, either.

"Boo!" yelled a pair of white tourists walking past the rally, as yet another tea party speaker slammed "illegals" as the bane of all of America's problems.

"Go back to Russia!" an angry tea partyer sneered at the couple, as if their "boo" had an accent, the wind whipping his giant "Don't Tread On Me" flag around him like a straitjacket.

But then the unexpected appeared. On the stage was another chocolate chip.

"Once you become involved with the freedoms that you have, you learn to love them. God bless the Founding Fathers!" said Republican James Jones, running for Congress in Bucks County, the only black candidate there.

He obviously overlooked the nine slaves who toiled nearby at President Washington's house - you know, those other freedom-seeking patriots.

Jones was on a roll until, caught up in the moment, he proclaimed, "No more health care!"

I'm guessing those Medicare-drawing true patriots on the government dole might have an issue with that.

Tea party hype woman Sarah Palin wasn't there to whip up the partygoers, but there was Republican Michelle O'Donnell, who hopes to take Joe Biden's vacant seat. She channeled Palin, right down to the red jacket and the Bumpit.

Palin-style drama, too.

The IRS has slapped a lien on O'Donnell for over $11,000 in back taxes. She's said her debt makes her "a more sympathetic" candidate. Talk about government protest.

And then there was the headliner, Big Jon Runyan, running for U.S. Congress in New Jersey's Third Congressional District. "E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!" the crowd chanted when he took the stage, glad to have him on their team now.

His playbook was simple. On health care: "We don't know if it's going to work." On political insiders: "We need to get people like Nancy Pelosi out." On people: "They need to take personal responsibility."

Like many of the candidates, Runyan waved a pocket-size copy of the Constitution. Nothing like a Founding Fathers cheat sheet.

"The Constitution is my playbook, and when you deviate from the playbook, you get your butts kicked by everyone around you," said Runyan, known throughout the league for breaking a few rules himself.

Before I left, I had to talk to the guy carrying the biggest sign on the mall: "Exercising Our 1st Amendment Rights Doesn't Make U.S. Racist!" it read.

A sign so big, the wind nearly knocked it - and him - over.

Turns out the guy is Bob Creedon, 49, of Hatboro, who admits he's never been involved in a political movement - until this one.

"All I've been hearing on the news is we're Nazis and we're racists because we're out exercising our rights. . . . They don't know me," he said.

Creedon says even though his wife and daughter voted for Obama, he voted for John McCain. He doesn't like the way health-care reform was done and is sickened by the government bailout of the car and banking industries.

"America is being pushed toward socialism," he says.

One on one, Creedon seems like a nice guy. He tells me he agrees with some of President Obama's policies, like sending more troops into Afghanistan. As a retired 27-year Air Force veteran, "I would never say a bad word about my commander-in-chief," he says.

But he did have a few more things to say, and the flip side of his sign said it for him.

"Obama, Carter, Pelosi, Reid, Clyburn, Rangel, Sharpton, Stop Using the Race Card."