Last Sunday's Nash Rally Report

[Wiley50]

To everyone -- folks who were there and those who wish they had been:

It has now been a little over a day since we got together on the steps of the State Capital to start taking our country back. I am still very thankful for what we were able to accomplish with only 60 hours of preparation. The presence of all of us on those east-facing steps at high noon, your colorful signs telling it like it is and how it shouldn't continue to be, your voices saying what needs to be heard by everyone, all the way to the White House. IT WAS ALL GOOD.

And then to hear Channel 5 do a bang-up job of covering our main points, of capturing our message and broadcasting it, complete with the sights and sounds of the rally (with all of us shouting "That's the truth!" to the overwhelming evidence of election theft) -- what a great way to end the day. As those of you in Nashville know, Channel 5 promoted our story throughout the three hour "Survivor" finale as well as broadcasting the story on the 10:00 pm news. Then when I got up this morning, they were repeating the story on their morning show multiple times, complete with rally footage. And every time they ran the story, the last words out of their anchors' mouths were "election fraud." As an added bonus, our local National Public Radio affiliate also ran several stories on the rally, probably based on the invitation I had sent them earlier. So, guys, we not only reported for duty but we got our first "mission accomplished" -- to break the media silence about this election theft here in Tennessee. I probably had a half dozen friends talk with me about the television coverage today, some of them Republicans who were very uncomfortable about "the truth" as we know it. But also willing to stand up and be counted on the side of free and fair elections.
So I am writing all of you now to say that we definitely need to go forward with our next rally, this Sunday (12/19) at 2:00 pm, back on the east steps of the State Capital. This time, with a week to call in reinforcements, it would be nice if we had five times, ten times, even twenty times as many people there shouting truth to power. Please come back yourselves and please spend the next few days recruiting everyone you know to come back with you. I am working with Alma Sanford (the State Coordnator for Kerry/Edwards) and Corinne Ciocia (the new Communications Director with the Tennessee Democratic Party) to spread the invitation far and wide among people who worked hard to get Kerry into the White House and who won't back down now in the face of this election theft. I also hope to involve Bob Tuke with Tennessee Veterans for Kerry and other statewide political leaders in promoting our 12/19 gathering.

We also will reach out to Greens and Libertarians, Constitutionalists and Naderites, even principled Republicans who don't support having our elections stolen any more than we do. (By the way, some of my friends who attended our first rally are Williamson County Republicans who are as disgusted with Bush as we are.) We need to increase our numbers and to better reflect the full diversity of Tennesseans who love this country and who won't sit idly by and remain silent in the face of this tyranny. All of you know who those people are in your own circles, so talk with them and get them to the State Capital this Sunday. This is a rare chance to allow people who were sorry that they missed our first rally to get a "do over" -- and to make our second rally even better (and more mass media-worthy) than the first.

I will make up a short announcement tomorrow that you folks can print and post widely in your communities. But don't wait for that -- start recruiting folks to join us right away. To help you do that, the rest of this message discusses what we would hope to accomplish at our next rally and also provides links to some of the truly earth-shaking new damning information that is appearing now. Visit the links I have sent you, begin circulating them, and ask folks who will be coming (including yourselves) to send me an email ( [e-mail] ) so I can begin to get a handle on the size of our next gathering. We will need a better portable PA system next time and it would be nice to recruit some musicians to open the gathering. So if you have ideas or equipment, let me know. That goes for potential speakers also -- see the categories I hope to fill on our Sunday program below. I have also attached the notes I spoke from at the first rally, which includes the PowerBall examples we discussed.

So read and review what's below and attached, and look for my next message tomorrow. One last thing: I don't have all the email addresses for the folks who were there yesterday. So if you guys can communicate with folks who were there but whose email addresses are not listed above, PLEASE send them this message immediately and ask them to check in with me also ( [e-mail] ).

We have proven what's possible among committed, patriotic people on a moment's notice. I am excited by what we can accomplish together if we all work hard to make our next rally a big success. I know we can do it -- THAT'S THE TRUTH.
Now here's my earlier message to Alma, Corinne and Bob. LET'S ROLL. SEE YOU SUNDAY.
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To Alma, Corinne and Bob:

We need to get at least 1,000 people on the steps of the Capital this Sunday at 2:00 pm. I will put together the announcement and get it to you three later today. Please send it out to everyone possible tonight or tomorrow. Also, please help me find at least six speakers for Sunday (in addition to Alma and me -- and Bob, if you want to speak):

Republican
Green and/or Libertarian
Christian Minister
Veteran
Black/Hispani/Asian/American Indian/immigrant leaders
Senior Citizen
Current elected official (at either the local or state level)

I may be able to get a statewide spokesperson for the Greens to join us. My recommendation for the Republican is Scott Knapp, the 5th Congressional District candidate for Congress who has already spoken out against Bush. Burdell Campbell would also be an excellent speaker. Also, the female veteran (name?) who spoke up at yesterday's rally would be good. But any ideas that you have to fill any of these slots would be great. Each of us should speak for about 5 minutes. I can moderate and will focus just on the statistical anomolies this time. Please call me (931/682-2864) or email me ( [e-mail] ) to discuss your ideas. We also need to get a better portable PA system -- the megaphone didn't work very well on Sunday and I hope -- with a bigger crowd -- we will really need a bigger PA system this time.

Please read what's below, visit the links and then let's plan to make this Sunday's rally something so big and so broad-based that no one (even the Tennessean ) can ignore it. Bernie

[Wiley50]

1. Good TV piece 3 min US 20 sec Repukes

[Wiley50]

2. To the shower and then to Nashville

[Vidar]

3. Thanks for the report. Great job.