Last weekend, Rick Perry and his followers of Republican Supply-side Jesus (not the real one), whipped their audience of 30,000 into a frenzy of hatred for everyone who disagrees with their extreme dogma. Embarrassingly, the stadium was less than half full, despite numerous plugs from the Republican Ministry of propaganda, aka Fox. At the same time, there was another rally of sorts just a few miles away with over three times as many attendees. Ironically, the people attending that one were victims of Rick Perry and and the Republican Party.

Houston’s biggest gathering on Saturday didn’t see national television news crews. It didn’t draw out protestors. It didn’t spark its own Twitter handle. And the event — which attracted an estimated 100,0000 people to a convention center just seven miles down the road from Gov. Rick Perry (R) and The Response prayer rally — had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with Texas families struggling through hard economic times:

“Some families camped out for hours to gain admittance into Houston’s first-ever, citywide back-to-school event at George R. Brown Convention Center, where free backpacks, school supplies, uniforms, haircut vouchers, immunizations, and fresh produce were provided.

Others were turned away.

“It was getting beyond capacity,” [Houstan Independent School District] spokesman Jason Spencer said. “If nothing else, it shows the need.”