Open Thread – Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
What a great day. It’s been a whirlwind trip to say the least. Running on no sleep and lots of coffee. Both are catching up to me at the moment but I’ll leave you with one of the many pictures I shot at the rally in DC today. Rally-goers sit on the steps of the Smithsonian Museum.
Heading home to Alaska tomorrow morning, and then the final rush to election day!
Really FUN rally…lots of great people…funny good signs…good music…and the speech at the end by Jon Stewart said it all for our country.
Best part for me though was meeting so many mudflats folks!!! Love them all!!
I sent eyewideopen some pictures my friend took to post here (I may try later…but always have a hard time figuring out how to do it)
includes a great group photo..with many though not all folks
and Ripley…a great picture of your sign!
Will try to post my pictures later today. I am so sore..thankfully I go to yoga this am so that should help these old bones
VOTE today…Let us prove all those pundits dead WRONG
It sounds as if all had a memorable and fabulous time…it was so neat to be able to access it on my iPhone –just as if I were there…only not…!
What a weekend! Bubbles nursed me through a night of illness…..I recovered, and Ripley, bubbles and myself set off from NY at 3.10am Saturday morning. Much hilarity was had on the way as we discussed what we would do if we ever met Palin…… Cool
We arrived in good time in DC and decided to get breakfast. I of course didn’t have the good sense to order tea and toast, I went for bacon and potatoes!!!
Three minutes later I knew I was in trouble….just as all the mudpups were arriving. However, I was determined to soldier on and off I went to the rally. I spent most of the rally lying on the ground…..I did get up for the wave though!!! About an hour before the rally ended, I decided to take advantage of fawnskin’s kind offer to go back to her hotel room. I just wish she had told her husband….it was kind of embarrassing when he came in and found me asleep on the sofa!
Anyway, I felt so much better then and off we went to the party. BenLomond gave good advice about G&T’s.
There are so many people I want to mention. Judi, ..she was full of energy. Aleshia…another wonderful person, we had a great chat. Greatgrammy and hubby were also fantastic. Futurexpat and prisoner no 6…thank you for your coat during the rally. Ayerishgrlll…you will probably never know how much that rub on the head meant to me. Deep Blue, it was so good to meet you again, I don’ t know how you keep looking younger.
PSminidiva and Russell…..you know you are welcome to visit me anytime in Ireland.
And then on to the Alaskans….that was simply wonderful. I met Iseevillages (sp) and Scout…we were kindred souls. And of course I finally got to meet AKM!!
Thank you so much fawnskin for hosting the party.
Can’t forget MonaLisa…she came back to the hotel with me and we tried to figure out the size of the crowd before she sang me to sleep. Toora loora something…
Final hugs to Forty Watt and Mr Forty Watt….I really wish I could have spent more time with you later.
🙂
Politico has a nice little Palin piece, and the next step for the GOP –
but of course its by anon. sources so therefore must not be true
snip]
“There is a determined, focused establishment effort … to find a candidate we can coalesce around who can beat Sarah Palin,” said one prominent and longtime Washington Republican. “We believe she could get the nomination, but Barack Obama would crush her.” [ end snip
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/44449.html#ixzz13zzCPoNw
Doesn’t Politico more or less lean republican, anyway..????
To all who are getting home and reporting how great the rally was….I can’t wait to hear all about and see the wonderful pictures you all took. I felt connected by watching it on tv. Comedy Central reported that they had over 4 Million people linked to their live feed! Many millions were “there” thanks to the internets (and CSPAN!).
Ripley, I’m dieing to know what your sign said! 🙂
OMG, I forgot to post the link here! LOL http://twitpic.com/32sdyo There ya go!
Hahaha! That is awesome! So glad you were there to represent those of us who couldn’t be. Love your sign and glad to hear it was such a hit. You should be like Stewart and Colbert and say “billions” took pictures of it. Thanks for posting the link. 🙂
Thank you….I feel like I was there…so many cool photos…!
Ripley is finally at home, in my jammies, after nearly 8 hours in the car today! Most of that time was spent with two lovely people.
The rally was something I cannot even begin to find words for yet. I took some great pictures. I am hoping that whomever took a picture of me with my sign sends me a copy! LOL I swear that 1000 people took pictures of my sign at the rally, before the rally and after the rally as I walked holding it over my head most of the day…ow, my arms! But well worth the smiles and laughter it brought.
Thank you all. Hanging out with AKM was a true pleasure. And something I had always wished to do, but never thought it would actually happen. Very cool.
Re-meeting some pups, and meeting others for the first time was extraordinary. Deep Blue is awesome at giving a bunch of tired, lost-ish, walking-back-from-the-afterparty directions!!! Oh the stories that will be told…..
We were all one, there. All 250,000 of us. At times, I felt as if they were speaking to me, singly. It was powerful.
More later.
So sorry we could not find any of you—-the crowds were massive! I did send AKM photos of us, we were on the South side of the Mall near the second Jumbotron. I kept looking for a scarf and pin that matched my own, but the closest I got was to astonish a college student who was wearing the same scarf!
DC Metro broke their all time record for riders on Saturday—-825,437. Not all attended, I’m sure, but many of us were dropped off right at the Mall and didn’t need to use the Metro. At least 5000 by DCRallyBus and another 10,000 by HuffPo.
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Metro-Set-New-Saturday-Record-106410733.html
So sorry to have missed Deep Blue and AKM and all of you.
OHHH!!!!! I wish you would have come to the meet-up after the rally! Most of us got separated from the large group we came as, but we all came back together afterward! The forum really is the place to get updates on this sort of thing. I’m sorry to have missed you, my friend!
It was so funny that I actually saw you there. It was nice to meet you in passing. Straddling some blankets.
No way that I thought that I was ever going to see any mudpuppies. Didn’t see anyone else, though.
What an event! I am so glad that I was able to make the trek from Arizona. Totally amazing the number of people there — in the trees, under the trees, on top of outhouses, in the streets. I’ve never been in such a big crowd in my life! Totally transformative moment. Loved every minute of it!
Arrived back home today in time to pass out candy to trick or treaters.
Happy Halloween to everyone!
Thanks again Ripley for the transport and the chat in the car, I really enjoyed it. So glad to hear you made it home safely. I hope you only crossed the bridges you needed and not any more!
Bubbles is safely in bed….we started and finished the Baileys. 🙂
Cassie, I’m so sorry to have missed you.
AKM, hope you are home by now. Who’d have thunk that it took longer to fly from Anchorage to NY than Dublin?
OOOHH, Bubbles,
After RussellSQ and I met you all, we were envying your trip back to the city. We decided you 3 would be great “road trip” companions! On our way back to PA we remarked, “Hmm, wondering what’s going on in the Bubbles-Irishgirl-RipleyCt car?”
Loved meeting you all, PEACE
dear pups. Irishgirl and i are back in New York. Ripley is a superb driver and a fun companion on the road. i am deeply grateful to her for making what might have been an arduous journey into a grand adventure. we have many things to tell you but we are both a bit tuckered out.
before i turn in i just want to say that mudpuppies rock! we made many new friends for our blog and we met some people along the way that now consider themselves pups right down to their black and yellow scarves… to all of you. welcome.
you will hear about our impressions of the rally and you will see pictures but what i can’t relay to you is the reality of AKM surrounded by her pups. the love and respect given and received. the joy of meeting one another at long last. the hugs and kisses exchanged. so achingly wonderful.
Fawnskin and Spouse…thank you.
Kimosabe, Fox Comedy is trying to pretend that there was no rally. They feel that if they dont acknowledge the rally, it didnt really take place! Collectively delusional, the whole lot of them!!
The local Fix channel here in DC covered the rally on the evening news: “A man was hurt on the Metro escalator on his way to the rally”. Then 5 minutes about the escalator accident, and on to the Redskins.
bwahahahahahahaha. This is funny with a capital F.
http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2010/10/31/joe-miller-doesnt-know-how-that-naked-justin-beiber-slide-show-became-his-screen-saver/#comments
Gotta read it even if only because the title is so brilliant. Language alert, as always with the crazy like a fox TBogg.
I will say, though, that the whole Breitbart/KTVA palin-instigated drama is much more newsworthy. I keep wondering when the “lamestream media” is going to get tired of her b.s. and bust out the big guns, do some real reporting. Of course she also said that KTVA were being Murkowski lackeys when doing this nefarious evil deed, so it would be nice if the Murkowskis took the gloves off as well. But one has to wonder wth she was doing talking up issues like child molesters knowing that up until that point nobody had really noticed that particular scandal in miller’s closet of paranoia skeletons. Is a section 8 a discharge for the nutters in the service? Is that what is in miller’s service record? Is that why he’s “severely disabled” in his own words?
Drinking crazy from the firehose again.
That is hilarious.
I just got a call from Bill Clinton urging me to vote for Scott!
Whoa! Democrats, breakin’ out the ‘big guns’ for the big guy! Go Scott!
ME TOO!
Pictures of the signs I meant. Sheesh!!
Mona Lisa, thanks for those amazing pictures. It looks like everybody had a safe, sane, and wonderful time. Cannot wait to hear other experiences and see other pictures.
From BBC.co.uk:
But there was the occasional banner supporting President Obama. And there were plenty attacking the Tea Party. A mock presidential ticket of “Palin, Voldemort, 2012” left little doubt about its bearer’s leanings.
I can’t wait to hear about your rally experience. I was there yesterday but there was sooooo much going on and so many people that I never did find the group I was supposed to be meeting there.
Actually those steps are at the National Gallery of Art, which as we’ve had to remind people all the time, is not part of the Smithsonian: I work there! 🙂
But I had taken the weekend off to get some rest during my radiation therapy for my breast cancer; however, I spent Saturday down at the Rally too. So much for rest!
That was the largest crowd I’ve ever seen ( and I did not attend Obama’s Inauguration because I felt overwhelmed by the potential crowd size) and they were all so mellow and good spirited. The proof is in the pudding. I remember the Tea Baggers’ march a year ago in Sept. and what a difference: they were hostile and superior.
Being surrounded by all those positive, happy people had to be good for your recovery, too! All that happy energy bouncing off your body…good stuff! 🙂
Here’s my slideshow of the 180 rally signs I saw!
http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r29/mlhollums/Rally2RestoreSanity%20Signs/?albumview=slideshow
Wonderful collection of signage! I’ll have to watch it again to decide on favorites.
” I Support Barak ‘ Who’s Sane ‘ Obama ” was a good one!
also liked :
” What do we want ? Patience !! When do we want it ? NOW!!!”
Thanks for sharing Mona!
Thanks, Mona Lisa for sharing. Good to see all those smiling faces. If they are anything to go by, it looks like you had a great time!!
MonaLisa, I hope you do not mind but I posted your collection on Delaware Liberal, with attribution. http://www.delawareliberal.net/ .
I don’t mind at all, TanteF! Everyone should know how many clever, reasonable, SANE people there are in this country!
I only wish you could share with them this happy, humming afterglow I’m still feeling, as well! 🙂
It is fun hearing about the rally, watching it and especially seeing the huge turnout from ‘sane’ folks across the nation. What a magnificent difference in the rhetoric we’ve become accustomed to during the past two + years. It truly gives me hope in the turnout we can look forward to in the upcoming election and having results that will lean more in our direction.
Thank you fellow Americans that were on the Mall.
Awesome! Thank you for posting.
The more pictures I see of the signs, the more I have to admire the creative, intelligent, grammatically and punctuationally accurate people who made these signs. What a delightful and humorous contrast to the signs we saw at the Beck HypocricyFest and other TP rallies.
So many happy, REASONABLE people!!!
Thank you…I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one…!
I can not wait for AKM’s report and pic’s of the rally.
I attended the Wasilla Rally, what a fun time!
I was invited to join a fellow mudpup and spouse to attend the Wasilla rally.
What fun and really well planned.
When I arrived they had a local band playing they were pretty good even though a little loud for me that early in the morning.
I was surprised at how many people were there, I am not good at this but i would say over 200 people attended. And every age group was covered.
They had a giant TV screen and broadcast the CSPAN feed.
I really was appreciative that the PTA had set up a refreshment stand with coffee and donuts, juice and muffins.
The students had a fund raiser going with bumper stickers, I bought 3!
The crowd was just happy and mellow and all seemed to really enjoy watching.
I really had a great time.
I had to leave right after the broadcast portion so I don’t know what fun was had after I left.
I want to give a big thank you to the rally planners what a great job they did!
What a beautiful way to spend the day in the Valley!
I love the show of people restoring politeness and congeniality to peaceably assembled fellows.
The PTA got involved? I’m touched. That’s awesome.
I will have to ask my uncle if he was there…….. My mother was just telling me the other day about him seeing a neighbor friend at a tea party rally (my uncle there to gawk, not because he supports that stuff) and the neighbor saying he was there because those people just seemed, you know, so much happier than the liberals. I wonder if my uncle is still friendly w/that guy….?
My uncle has lived in Wasilla for over 30 years now, and we lived there way back when, almost 30 years to the day come to think of it!
Glad that you had fun, it is always so wonderful to find little pockets of sanity when living in double-down crazy times.
Media Matters’ Brock Challenges Palin To Release Tapes
WALLACE: You’re saying. Wait a minute. You’re saying — I’m not saying you’re bringing this story — you are saying that local reporters in Alaska conspired with the Murkowski campaign to put out false information about Joe Miller?
PALIN: I am saying, and we have it on tape, that CBS reporters of — in the affiliate up there in Alaska, on tape, are saying let’s find a child molester in the crowd as supporter of Joe Miller, let’s blast that. Let’s concoct a Ron Paul moment there. Let’s find any kind of chaos so that we can tweet an alert saying, “Ooh, there’s chaos. Joe miller got punched.”
Statement by David Brock, CEO of Media Matters: “Sarah Palin has made serious accusations of journalistic malfeasance. Either Palin accurately described the tapes, or she did not. America’s news consumers need to know the truth about these serious accusations. The public in Alaska needs to know the truth so they are fully and correctly informed before they cast their ballots Tuesday. Palin has a responsibility to release the full, unedited tapes publicly and to all media.”
yes she does…
and to ALL media…
or she can forever shut up and go paint her toenails or something just as useful…
And if one her “we” is that nasty piece of goods Breitbart who is tooting up the same story, she is on thin ice…
http://bigjournalism.com/pjsalvatore/2010/10/30/anchorage-cbs-affiliate-caught-on-voicemail-conspiring-against-alaskas-gop-senate-candidate/
No one ever said reporters were very bright.
The point is not whatever the hell the reporters are talking about, it is that they’ve given ammo to the crazies to fire up their base.
As alaski pi says, Breitbart is all you have to know. He has a record of falsifying and editing tapes.
If the tape is accurate, this gives credence to Miller in that people will wonder if all the other stuff that has gone to print about him in the past few months might also be inaccurate.
Not pro Miller – have already mailed my absentee ballot off in favor of McAdams.
…and let’s be sure to see/hear the ENTIRE tape …with details on how it was recorded.. Acorn once, Shirley twice, but let’s not go Faux a third time….
I love the smell of icebergs in the morning! Either SP is lying her cottage cheese bottom off, as usual, or she is telling the truth! Either way, somebody is gonna get hit with that iceberg!
It’s not too much of a stretch to think Alaska’s media have been working pretty hard to support their corporate buddy Murky and hammer Joe Miller. This is something we can agree with Palin on.
I find myself in alignment with Tea Party concerns about corporate establishment–only not their convoluted proposed solutions, which end up also being part of big $$$.
Scott McAdams is the solution.
Actually, there may be a third option – Brietbart could be using Palin the same way he used FOX.
When the Shirley Sherrod incident happened, Brietbart released his doctored and edited tapes to FOX, who ran with them without verifying source or context. Breitbart could very easily have done the same thing with Palin. Everyone knows how volatile she is and how she’s on even more of a hair trigger than usual these days. If he wanted this to hit the media hard and fast, the quickest and most effective way to do that is to ‘leak’ the edited tape to Palin and let her do the rest.
She could be telling the truth as far as she know it because, as we all know, she shoots her mouth off first and asks questions later!
The thing is they didn’t find a child molester or report that someone punched Miller. They didn’t report that anything happened at that rally. I listened to the tape and I think they were joking around with each other.
What it sounded like was the ‘pleasure of fiends’…. i.e.: devilish joking –
just close the spaces below:
http://bo oks.goo gle.com/books?id=8U49ADLcL0EC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=pleasure+of+fiends&source=bl&ots=1vNhlkCth8&sig=tN5zvxeTD8aWz3rbCRS051G_kZs&hl=en&ei=hK7NTNyWF4__ngeErr30Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=pleasure%20of%20fiends&f=false
In other words, making fun of someone… yeah, the Republicans have NEVER done that!
I wasn’t able to watch via the internet for the entire event, but what I did see I truly liked. I am glad so many Mudpups were able to be there, and really, really want to see some pix, soon!
On a slightly more serious note, I did notice that neither Stewart or Colbert wore a bulletproof vest, something Beck most certainly did do. Shows who the real paranoid is, and makes you wonder why, oh why Beck thought he needed to do that?
Best wishes to all who went, get rested, and have a beverage of one’s choice. Then tell us all about it!
Well, the people at this rally were for sanity. The people at Beck’s event? Not so much.
Precisely Slipstream! Yet, if they were “real” Americans at Beck’s little party, what did he have to fear? I think he’s just living up to his own delusions… 🙂
No armed guards either!
No one was handcuffed?
It’s just another way to ramp up the fear in the audience and show Beck is a player. Beck tells the truth, so his life is in danger. Many of his followers are into solving problems through physical force. They can’t imagine that other groups would actually prefer to solve problems some other way, so when they see controversy, they also see physical danger. They feel that their lives truly can be at stake because moderates and liberals don’t agree with them. And they can point to acts of violence by the radical left–Earth First!, burning SUVs at dealerships, destroying labs that use animal testing, and so on. What’s a little harder to find for radical left are instances where the violence is directed towards a person, though that’s there, too. The other is that the mainstream left and even many radical left groups distance themselves from these people. Democrats don’t court them and try to make them their “base.”
How many people do they guesstimate went?
Not fox news style, real live scientific, fact based, elite colleges guess ta mite.
I don’t want this 6,000 number either!
I’ve seen an estimate that came out via CBS that put it at 200K with a 10% margin. And then figure all the people that couldn’t even get close.
The Park Service said way over 200,000.
There were some estimates from the UK coverage that said about 250,000. Since they’re not even American media, they would have no reason to bump the numbers up or down.
Most of the estimates I’ve seen have been in the 200-250,000 range. In other words…lots and lots and LOTS of people!!!
I haven’t heard anything about a flyover estimate done in the same way that the Beck rally was counted by CBS. Anyone else hear if that was done?
leenie – I think that’s the link I’ve been seeing over on google news. CBS might even have it posted on their site. the 200K number seems to be fairly consistent.
Then there are all of the satellite rallies to figure.
The other thing that has been making me smile – the number of reports saying that everyone was just so dang nice and friendly. Even in the back areas where people couldn’t see or hear anything going on up on stage, everyone just made the most of it , got along and had fun.
Now we’ve just got to find a way to stay focused and determined ( and oganized!) while also being the nice guys.
I can tell you that there was no room even to take a step once you were in your spot anywhere in the middle of the crowds. My legs were so sore from standing in my little assigned space, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
See link below at 32.1 rer: breaking the record for DC Metro Saturday use.
Could not go but watched on C-span with my teenage son (I have not watched TV or even a movie with him in ages!!). My daughter who is in college watched as well with a large group of students. The crowds in DC were huge but I have the feeling many many more people followed as well on TV.
Had an awesome time at the Rally,and meeting AKM and fellow Mudpups..Really appreciated Mudstock – such beautiful and courageous souls – wish everyone safe travel back!
I hope to remember who took the picture of us and then get a copy! LOL Good to meet you!
100 Signs at the Rally 4 Sanity :
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-100-best-signs-at-the-rally-to-restore-sanity
Awesome!
Those were great!
“I am not a coyote. I’m you.”
I am not a moose either.
Thank you for those, they were wonderful…!
I thought Jon Stewart’s speech at the end was fantastic, and spot on.
I tried to find the song that Stewart and Colbert (tried to) sing and send it on to my guys, I thought it was hilarious. The only youtube on it was put up by a guy who has major problems with the whole rally and thought the song was terrible and ridiculous.
Well, it was terrible and ridiculous in a grand way. There were many comments under the video, a few like me, who thought it was great. Many, like him, seemed to have checked their brains somewhere else. (Fox perhaps?_
Anyhoo, looking forward to more pictures and your take on it.
Get sleep you’re going to need it for the next two days!
I liked the little Stewart / Colbert diddy. Had it stuck in my head for quite awhile.
Struck me at one point that the tea party folks would probably have loved to have at least half of that song for their own. If that refrain had been introduced at one of their Palin rallies, they’d all be singing it this morning. Must’ve driven them crazy to have those words sung at a rally that they didn’t quite understand but knew that it must be anti-American somehow.
Literally just walked in the door, back from the rally. It was PHENOMENAL!!! I had the time of my life!
Lemme upload my pix of the signs I ‘collected’, and I’ll post a link here!
This looks way cool!
http://www.yusufislam.com/redroom/#
Good morning friends in Alaska! From a friend in Maryland. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0TInLOJuUM&feature=related
Here ya go. Some killers:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-100-best-signs-at-the-rally-to-restore-sanity
Flag
Awesome.. I…also too like the sign I saw: “I masturbate and I VOTE!”
LOL!
My personal favorites:
I am using my inside voice. (I’m a teacher…gotta love that one!)
On the whole, I am rather gruntled.
WWJD
Who Wants Jelly Donuts?
Loved the signs
Come on Peace Train. (oojh ahh ooh ah ahh)
Vote.
Confess that I got a little cranky (yes, I know it was part of the show) but I wanted to hear the whole song. Here’s a Youtube of back in the younger days:
Cat Stevens – Peace Train (live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjSHazjrWg
About 3 yrs ago, my Sis had taped a show on ?Home Box office?, a special (fantastic!!!) of Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) explaining why and how he dropped out of the business. How hurt he was that there were bonfires burning his tapes and his music.
What I found so profound was that Yusuf and his Wife were using the residuals from his music to fund schools for girls to be educated in the Middle East. I always thought he was awesome, but that just blew me over.
Maybe it was 5 yrs ago, time flies. But I sure wish they would re-run that Home Box Office tape. It was so unbelievably good.
When the Iranin/Persian thang want down, Cat : Yusuf, keep me keeping.
Love you and your family Yusuf. You are amazing. Past, present and future.
Thank Kath, Cat’s song still rings true.
Yusuf,, your song will always reverberate thru the ages and sing true.
Interrupting “Peace Train” didn’t seem all that hilariously funny at the time, but the “train medley” was IMO the best musical part of the show.
O-Jays, Tony Bennett, Father Guido Sarducci- the elder Statesmen rocked!
Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) And Ozzy Osbourne sing at Rally to Restore Sanity and or Fear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2pfapM8H7Y
Yes, that must have been quite an adventure! AKM and many of our Mudpups got to see Cat Stevens. Hope you can sleep on the planes AKM, give Buf a smooch for me too, also!
Just for fun, Google Cat Steven’s 70’s: Peace Train and then Wild World, it will hurt so good.
Cat Stevens, merci beaucoup from the bottom and tip of my heart and soul. God bless you for your musical magic. (the Wild one is our actions right? Oh Baby baby it’s the wild one….)
Yusuf – Cat Stevens did a re-recording of Peace Train after the events of September 11, 2001. It was available then as a free download. It is an excellent recording, updated for the times. His last 2 CDs as Yusuf are very good, also, too!
Shower, rest, fly, rinse and repeat everything but the fly business then let the good stuff commence. (Pictures Mudpups, pictorials with running commentary, thanks in advance). 🙂
Wow, just jealous with anticipa…….tion wow.
Get rested and refreshed and hug Buf and then tell us in your brilliant way about the amazing experience. And dont forget the other pictures. I am waiting in anticipation. (Rubbing my hands together).
Get all the sleep you can, and I hope you had a great time!
Can hardly wait for the rest of the story! Hope you can sleep on your way home!