GOP 2004: E&P's Party Grrrl Meets Triumph the Insult Dog

By: Jennifer Saba Hundreds gathered outside Sotheby's auction house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in late afternoon today to protest a party for Tennessee delegates sponsored by the American Gas Association. The reason for the uproar: the party was also in honor of the late music legend Johnny Cash, not often associated with Republican causes in recent decades.

E&P's party grrrl didn't make it through the door of what was sure to be one of the odder bashes of the week. Instead, she hung out with the crowd, which included roughly one journalist for every two protesters.

Among the group, and perhaps the most inspired of all reporters present: Triumph the Comic Insult Dog. The puppet, created by Robert Smigel, wandered around the crowd, microphone in paw, posing the kind of questions few dare to ask. Actually, Triumph did less asking and more insulting. Leave it to a puppet to heckle the hecklers.

Most were happy to play along. One guy, who kept insisting he was dressed as a "patriot" but looked more like a pirate, was asked if he was related to Captain Morgan. A doughy looking protester in a top hat was an open target. Triumph made fun of his glasses (noting they were something that Elton John wore circa 1978) and his unruly facial hair.

Despite the presence of about 50 police officers, the afternoon was festive, as many of the same protesters seem to be making the circuit. It was unclear how many in the crowd really cared about Cash. Yet, they took up the cause, along with those who felt passionate about the singer, including the Dead Kennedy's Jello Biafra, who reminisced about the early punk days in San Francisco.

The true Cash diehards were most likely dressed in black with rockabilly flair, carrying cardboard cutouts of guitars that read, "The GOP exploits our loved ones, first 9/11, then Johnny Cash." One woman wore a straw hat with a piece of paper that said "Who's next? Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix?"

A sheet of Cash's lyrics was passed around with such songs as "Folsom City Blues" and "I Walk the Line." Woody Guthrie and Merle Haggard also made the play list. The singing was kept to minimum though. Most often heard: the re-cycling of a Cash classic: "Let the Republicans fall into/a burning ring of fire ..."