If Grover looked like he does in the illustration above, that would’ve been great. He had an “outrageous” Soviet-era military uniform that he’d picked up in Afghanistan and was hoping to wear on Burn night; looks like he may have changed his mind.
When Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, wasn’t hanging out at an absinthe bar until 2:30 in the morning at Burning Man, he spent his time with Fusion. It’s hard to imagine what a suit-and-tie-toting DC insider like Norquist would look like in the middle of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for one of the world’s most extreme and experimental events.
“I brought some outrageous stuff,” he told Fusion. That included an old Russian uniform he got in Afghanistan and large collection of Cuban cigars.
What does Norquist like about Burning Man?
“There’s no mayor, no city council… If you leave people alone, they’ll figure it out. You don’t need the king to tell everybody what to do,” said the man known for his no-tax pledge. But the question you might be asking yourself: What does Burning Man think of Norquist? There was certainly controversy surrounding the conservative’s appearance at the event. Ahead of Norquist’s trip, Vice’s Tom Berman wrote, “I hope you chance upon some synthetic psychedelics. I hope you wind up lying on your back in the dust, eating peanut butter with a spoon…” and it gets worse from there. But we can tell you, Norquist did pretty well once on the ground. When asked if he was coming back, Norquist responded, “Oh, absolutely.”
He’s not just coming back. He’s planning to bring some big-name Republicans with him:
When Grover Norquist went to Burning Man, he had a dream. It was that Senator Rand Paul would be by his side next year. In a video exclusive, Fusion’s Cleo Stiller had a chance to pal around with Norquist — the founder of Americans for Tax Reform and a prominent conservative — at the event.
When asked who would be Grover’s ‘dream team’ at Burning Man, Norquist didn’t have to think twice: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). All Californians, go figure, except for one… a personal challenge from Grover Norquist to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). “I think if he came out here, he’d carry the art vote,” Norquist laughed.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) thought it would be fun to hint at a 2016 presidential run in his RSVP to a Burning Man event.
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, went to the desert festival this summer and recently asked Paul to join him there next year.
“Thank you kindly for the invitation, Grover. I’ll certainly consider it, but I think I might be pretty busy next summer,” Paul responded in a statement to Fusion, possibly a sign that Paul will be campaigning for president by the summer of 2015.
Norquist told Fusion that he’d like a “dream team” of Republicans to attend Burning man with him next year, including three California congressman: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Darrell Issa.
While Paul seems too popular to join Norquist’s team, Issa told Fusion he’d consider attending.
“It’s clear that festival-goers are strong proponents of liberty, as well as personal responsibility. I couldn’t agree with those philosophies more. I’d love to experience the festival firsthand,” Issa said.
The Democrats were well represented at the Burn too, with former Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich attending as a guest of Burning Man’s Social Alchemist Bear Kittay, who was part of Obama’s Presidential Campaign.
Just landed in Reno. On my way to #BurningMan. Speaking Thursday.
He gave interviews from the Playa about Obamacare, among other topics:
Despite previous claims of “counter-culture”, BMOrg are quite at home with the suits and politicians, and employ multiple lobbyists:
Governor Sandoval signing AB374 into law. Seated: Gov. Brian Sandoval; Standing from left to right: Adam Belsky, Counsel for BRC LLC; Robert Shirley; Tom Clark, Lobbyist for BRC LLC; Shannon Hogan, Lobbyist for BRC LLC; Jim Shirley, District Attorney for Pershing County; Sen. David Parks; Assemblyman & bill sponsor David Bobzien; Marian Goodell, Founder, BRC LLC; Raymond Allen, Government Affairs Representative for BRC LLC
Another recognizable political figure was spotted on the Playa this year too (photos by Jake Balakoohi):
Burning Man is starting to look more and more like the Default World.
