[kj] FW: DON'T DESPAIR: Fwd: Best antidote to election gloom!

[Karen Weil]

Thanks so much for this one, fluw!  
America isn't red or blue -- it's more purple than anything else!   : ) : ) : )

cheers, 

k.w. 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: fluw 
  To: gathering at misera.net 
  Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 2:13 PM
  Subject: [kj] FW: DON'T DESPAIR: Fwd: Best antidote to election gloom!










                [The] Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was to be held outside on

                the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage.

                Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a

                statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or

                men.  I had no idea what to expect.



                The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over

                coffee.  It made me wonder what other things have started with

                small groups of women talking over coffee.  It's probably an

                impressive list.  These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers,

                posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets.

                One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a

                long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host.  Turns out

                that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the

                people who planned to attend the rally "a bunch of socialist baby-

                killing maggots," and read the home phone numbers of the

                organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell

                them what they thought.  The women, of course, received some

                nasty, harassing and threatening messages.



                I felt a bit apprehensive.  I'd been disappointed before by the

                turnout at other rallies.  Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get

                25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to

                myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent

                by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have

                been made.  I confess, I still had a mental image of 15

                demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing "socialist baby-

                killing maggot" haters.



                It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in

                front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's

                trunk.  When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign

                wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the

                edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep!  I could hardly find a place

                to park.  I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and

                as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join

                in from every direction, carrying signs.



                Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years

                living in Anchorage.  The organizers had someone walk the rally

                with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not

                including the 90 counter-demonstrators).  This was the biggest

                political rally ever, in the history of the state.  I was

                absolutely stunned.  The second most amazing thing is how many

                people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by.  And even

                those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge

                crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.



                Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up.  He tried to talk to the

                media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who

                started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn't be heard. Then

                passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the

                Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs

                high.



                So, if you've been doing the math…  Yes.  The Alaska Women Reject

                Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got

                all the national media coverage!  So take heart, sit back, and

                enjoy the photo gallery.  Feel free to spread the pictures around

                to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does

                not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska, who know her

                best, have things to say.



                A bunch of pictures of that rally:




            I'm sorry--I don't know how to get the pictures into the body of the email.
            You'll have to open the attachments one by one--but they are worth it. I
            especially like "McPain & Failin."


            ------ End of Forwarded Message










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