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

[ade]

That is fucking great! I hope they gas her like a badger!

-----Original Message-----
From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net]On Behalf Of fluw
Sent: 18 September 2008 22:14
To: gathering at misera.net
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."



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