We were’t too surprised to hear that some liberals had got together to hold a protest of Grover Norquist. After all, his Americans for Tax Reform has grown into a formidable lobby in Washington and the Wednesday morning conservative strategy meetings he hosts have become legendary in political circles.
However, in a city where political protests can seem dime a dozen, a few things caught our attention about a protest planned tomorrow. First, the organizers planned to hold their protest just before the weekly meeting at 8:45 a.m. directly in front of Mr. Norquists’s offices – in a nondescript office building at the corner of 20th and L Streets NW smack in the heart of the busy Golden Triangle BID. Second, the activism is spearheaded by Working Assets, a San Francisco-based company that donates funds to a variety of left-leaning organizations. The organization decided they so liked a graphic combining Norquist’s famous anti-tax quote with an image of a flooded New Orleans they decided to raise money to purchase an billboard truck to bring it to D.C. Third and lastly, it seems the entire thing was thrown together by an individual they refer to as their “Activist in Residence” – Andrew Boyd – the founder of the street theater group Billionares for Bush.
Although we’re not sure what to expect tomorrow morning, Boyd has assured us the organizers will provide any early-rising protesters donuts and other refreshments. We have also heard Norquist’s building, 1920 L Street NW, has warned tenants “the building will be ‘locked-down’ as if it were after hours” requiring the tenants to use their access cards to enter the building, in order to “ensure the safety of all tenants and building property.” Our take: protests like tomorrow make us glad we walk to work.