(First, some housekeeping… Looks like the Couer d’Alene nightlife report isn’t going to happen. I wanted to write it from the perspective of current pop music lyrics and the top eight at 8:00 has already changed. Needless to say that it was very interesting and we had no problem getting slizzard. Next, for the report on the rest of our DC trip, you can visit my family blog. This is semi-private, so please put a note in the comments if you want the link.)
Randy and I arrived in town around 5:30 Friday night and immediately made friends with folks who “we’re here for the rally.” Saturday morning, we got up early to take the train into town. We arrived at about 8:30 and got a spot right in the middle along a fenced in area where emergency personnel, volunteers and trash collectors could walk freely. I scored a garbage bag off of a volunteer flunkie to hold our space while Randy tried to get Starbucks. He tried at 9am and it took about 2 hours (2 staff in the joint). I made a bathroom break around 11:30. No lines for the port-a-potties, but it still took about 30 minutes to go out 50 yards and back. We were pretty close to the front, so sound was never a problem.
There was a group of MIT freshmen in front of us holding a “Mad Tea Party” complete with tea cups, crumpets and rules (pinkies out!), but besides that at we were the youngest in our area. I drank some of the Tea Party tea (and was convinced I had ingested my first ecstasy…Then I watched the nerds and realized that they never, ever, ever would be that cool.) There were a lot of what I’m guessing to be parents that took their babies to rallies in the 60s reliving the moment together at 70 and 50 years old. Everyone was calm and friendly even when the show broke and we were all kind of trapped.
The night before Randy and I guessed who would be a part of the show. Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Billy Joel were amongst our guesses with a “hell yeh, America!” message. In reality, co-stars included: Ozzie Osbourne, Cat Stephens, Kareem Abdul Jabir, Anderson Copper’s tight black t-shirt, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow (can you do one of these things w/o them??), Tony Bennett and “a little girl”.
That was a lot of people who frankly aren’t that popular now, but served a great purpose-they were promoting peace. Though the Cheshire cat and the guy in the “legalize gay pot” t-shirt napped during their songs, these musicians contributed to the message I took away from the rally: let’s try to live together in peace. There was a lot of Fox News mockery in the crowd, but the show itself showed bad guys on both sides and explained why they feel the need to get there (ratings, 24 hours to fill, etc.) I do think it was a missed opportunity to tell folks to get out and vote, but perhaps that didn’t fit the “go in peace” message.
Of course the best part was the signs. Oh, the signs. Enjoy the slide show below…
