Horn Honkers Send Anti-Education Message
The following photo appeared on the front page, top of the fold, of the City
Paper in Nashville on Wednesday, May 16, 2001.
The joke was on them... In later April, tired of the rantings and misinformation
of the talk show hosts, TFT supporters developed a very visual message of what
the horn honkers are really standing for - further cuts in an already under
funded education system. By mid-May, after weeks of preparation, it rolled out
of the garage (It's mounted on a trailer to be hauled behind a truck) and into
their horn honking parade.
With outrageous slogans such as, "The schools are going down in flames, and
we don't care," "We'd be 51st if we could," "No income tax - More bake sales,"
and "Abolish the Schools - They Cost Too Much," the burning school bus was hauled
round and round the State Capitol much to the dismay of the opposition. Television
crews were many, and inside the Plaza, the bus (We call it M.T. Bus... distant
cousin of M.T. Plate) was the buzz in the hallways.
Steve Gill and other radio personalities were miffed by the action. Several
people approached them (and called their on-air phone numbers later) asking
them why they were against education, which annoyingly they had to deny any
affiliation with the unwanted float. On several occasions since then, the bus
has been hauled out to join in the horn honking parades.
On it's last visit in August, anti-tax reform protestors attacked the float, tearing off some of the side panels. Fortunately, TFT recovered the missing side panels. M.T. Bus is now sitting in a very understanding member's yard, awaiting repairs for it's next journey.
Despite the fact that TFT sent out press releases to most of the Nashville
media about M.T. Bus, it was not until several months later that the talk radio
hosts figured out that it was TFT behind their unwanted guest. We're still laughing.
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