It’s been almost a year since Tea Baggers held an anti-Obama rally in the Michael’s Italian Beef parking lot. Time for a reunion! With the president coming into town this evening, the radical fringe was out in full force in the sausage mart’s lot this afternoon.

The inside of Michael’s Italian Beef was almost as crazy as outside—the place was packed with people trying to juggle giant protest signs and giant Italian meatball subs.

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Sausagemaker in Chief Michael Zokoych was in the back, washing dishes and dressing down a worker when I came in. “Yes sir, yes sir,” the employee repeated while pulling on dishwashing gloves. Michael is a hardy guy, he moved to Portland from Chicago 40 years ago and has been running his Italian meat shop for the past 35 years.

“Portland politics are becoming more like Chicago’s every day,” he said, taking a break from the dishes. “More and more aligned with government takeover.” Michael’s involved in local politics as a director of the Central Eastside Industrial Council—in his window hangs a Tom Hughes for Metro President sign and he says he would allow any political group to host an event in his lot. Rallies are a great way to meet new customers.

“It’s important to protect the free business enterprise in America. That’s what America is all about,” says Michael. And his thoughts on Obama coming to town? “I have no connection to that man’s politics, I’m not a socialist.”

As we talked, who should walk in the door but Tom Hughes himself. Michael shook his hand and Hughes explained to me that he wasn’t here for the Tea Party rally, just to get lunch. “It’s amazing to me, all this anger,” says Hughes. “I listened to hear solutions, but all I heard is anger.”

Photos of the rally below the cut!

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Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.

31 replies on “The Obama Insanity Begins: Photos of the Tea Party Rally at Michael’s Beef!”

  1. The worst part of this is that his Italian beef is crap. As a born/raised Chicago guy I say he needs to stop passing it off as tasty. And yes, foodies, I went back more than once hoping he could do right by the beef.

  2. I want the hysterical, incoherent left wing to fight the hysterical, incoherent right wing to their mutual deaths.

    Each of their headstones will be IN ALL CAPPS WITH SPELING ERRORS.

  8. Glaringly obvious that none of these people live in Portland. How did they find the time to drive here from Redmond? These hippies need to get jobs…and tihnk for themselvs

  9. It is political season in Oregon… after stopping by the Wyden headquarters to pick up Tom Hughes’ ticket for the Obama rally, Tom and I decided to have a quick hot dog lunch before getting back to fundraising… we didn’t take in the rally but it was interesting to wait at the counter with some folks who are seriously fired up about November 2nd.

    Jef Green
    Tom Hughes for Metro President
    http://www.VoteTomHughes.com

  10. You should ask the guy who wants us to forget what the media say how long it has been since he watched Fox News. You know, the most popular (and hence most mainstream) news outlet in the country.

  12. Isn’t this the same guy that was busted for growing pot in his business in the mid 90’s. I used to work for Wacky Willies when it was on 11th and would get lunch there from time to time. His girlfriend at the time got mad at him and turned him in.

    He looks older in this pic, but that was definitely him.

  14. The Tea Party really is diverse! I mean, you have old white people, middle-aged white people, white people with mustaches and without mustaches. You even have variety of obese white people.

    Nothing haunts my dreams like white people eating beef

  17. I ate at Michael’s once, long enough to hear him rant interminably about how “the teachers’ union is a terrorist organization” and quickly resolved not to subject myself to that flavor of stupidity in the future. After eating one of his lame sandwiches, though, it didn’t really take much heart to draw that resolution.

  18. I used to eat there when I was a KBOO volunteer. People warned me about his establishment. The people working there were nice, unless Michael was in and then they were terrified. The last time I ate there (a soggy sausage sandwich that tasted like dogfood) was during the 2008 election and he had Fox News blaring and was ranting to customers and employees alike.
    Up to that point, I was tolerant of his asshole-ness, but he really treated his employees like crap all the time. His place only makes it because there aren’t too many places nearby with regular sandwiches for a decent price.

  20. Actually, Michael, America exists “…to promote the general welfare…” according to our Constitution. Not a word about “free enterprise system” or “corporate capitalism” anywhere to be found.

    As an “originalist” student of our government, I deduce that the framers intended a welfare state. If you do not support that idea you do not deserve to live here.

  24. Hey, the tea party sucks balls, but as far as diversity goes, they don’t look any less diverse that the staff at the Merc, especially considering how many “conservatives” are closet cases.

  28. You know I’m the polar opposite of this guy in political terms, but I do respect him. You show up for a late night chicago dog and fries and engage him in politics, he will debate you. He’s got his beliefs, he stands behind them and he defends them. I like Mike.

  29. I wish I could get a clear view of the sign obscured by the “serfdom” one. It looks amazingly incoherent with tiny cursive font, no pattern to the alternating colors, underlines, parenthesis. It’s the crib notes on your forearm of protest signs.

  30. The last quote from Tom Hughes is all-telling.

    All this mis-directed anger offering no solutions is the kernel of a very sketchy movement, on the left or the right.

    At a different function some time ago, I asked one tea party guy about his position on funding public schools and he grabbed his nutz and said, “This is my position, RIGHT HERE.”

    I sort of doubt he’ll be able to fund much with THAT package.

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