Deleted. Duplicate post.

[madfloridian]

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[madfloridian]

1. Estimates 350,000 to 500,000...Dallas Morning News.

I am really surprised at the coverage they gave.

"The most restrictive bill, which passed the House in December, would make felons out of illegal immigrants or those who aid them. Some marchers Sunday wore T-shirts that read "No HR4437," referring to the bill number.

But on a grander scale, the messages of the march were evident in the many banners that people carried, from "We have a dream, too" to "Fair treatment" to "I am a human not a criminal."

The march was notable not only for its size – 350,000 to 500,000 people, according to a Dallas police estimate – but for its organization and focus. Participants had been told to wear white shirts to symbolize peace, wave American flags and carry banners with positive messages.

And under a clear blue sky, they did."

[neoblues]

2. Great! Now if we could get some similar demonstrations

around the country, maybe at least one in every state... about election reform and securing the vote against fraud. What, don't we have enough people who really believe this is a problem?

The vote is just one example. Why don't we have large, regular demonstrations on a host of issues--the long list of issues Bush has been so kind in giving us?

At least we should have more anti-war (and anti-torture) rallys; though we desperately need the same level (vastly increased) of demonstration against the crippling tax-cuts/deficit/debt, and against the Bush efforts to create a lawless "Unitary Executive" (leaking for political purposes and lying about it, claiming the right to break the law by spying on Americans domestically, etc), and how about the "Patriot Act" (we must oppose encroachment on our civil rights)... and then there's our Healthcare Problems (lack of insurance/cost of insurance/cost of services and drug prices), and the Corporate Media (we need some balance in our media coverage) and... you all know the list of problems. They're all significant. They all need attention. Bush and Congress ignore us on all of them. We need to exercise our power to wake them all up!

[madfloridian]

3. There were huge marches for pro-choice and anti-war...huge.

Over a million for the Women's march, and close to it for a couple of anti-war marches.

The problem is that the media chose not to cover them.

[neoblues]

4. Yes... but, "Please Sir... May I Have Some More..."

I guess what I'm wanting is more; so much and in so many places that it cannot be ignored (and even if it is, enough large local populations directly witness them that the very absence of media coverage becomes painfully evident). Also, we have a number of issues that need attention, including via protest that just don't. I want to see a million(+) person rally in D.C. over vote fraud and voter's rights (if nothing else).

The war isn't going anywhere until we get some political power (ie. Congress). Immigration probably won't be resolved in any satisfactory way either, until again we have that power. As Democrats, we need to get some profound attention, as well as explicitly show our Congress that we are very serious indeed, on certain issues that are directly relevant to our chances for success in the elections. Two items seem most necessary... One is the media, and several huge rallies might help focus needed attention and influence Congress to start demanding restoration of the Fairness Doctrine at the FCC (and even if we can't resolve it soon, at least we get more people talking/thinking about it). Two, is electoral fraud, voter disenfranchisement and voter's rights. It may be even more urgent as it takes time to get changes made (and it's probably a couple of years too late already), but again, we have to get people to think about it (difficult and less effective than it should be due to the media problem) as soon as possible. As it is, we're facing an election in just a few months that may be no more secure than 2000 or 2004. It's awfully hard to beat imaginary voters that can be created out of thin air, instantly and on-demand... The only avenue open to us it seems is massive protest (regardless of imperfect effectiveness) and we've got to try, don't we? Do a majority of us think the electoral process is okay or has been fixed? If not, have we given up? Is this not worth a try?

It does seem to me that Democrats need the opportunity to take part and be involved in such rallies (if only for party unity, sanity and/or organization). If we had ten rallys across the nation every month--or even every week, I wouldn't say that's too much. One or two for the whole country every few months focussed on matters that won't change our elections (vote fraud) or chances (media), just isn't anywhere near enough--no matter how large, too few can participate.

(Trying to) Think Big (or is it just wishing Big).