Consider this. It is a weekday at 11 in the morning. VIDEO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[helderheid]

6,000 - 8,000 people showed up. Click the links for amazing pictures. Video below.

http://img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_242181004/xl

http://img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_242181037/xl

http://img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_242181138/xl

Rocky Anderson did mention election tampering and spoke very bluntly
and eloquently.

VIDEO: http://kutv.com/video/?id=[e-mail]

This is the mayor of Salt Lake City! Unbelievable. It restores
your hope, do listen, now, all the way through, as he names ugly truth
after ugly truth that we will not stand for any longer.

We must pursue peace as vigorously as the Bush administration has
pursued war! The crowd went wild.


EDIT TO ADD TRANSCRIPT:

Address by
Mayor Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson

Washington Square
Salt Lake City, Utah
August 30, 2006

A patriot is a person who loves his or her country.

Who among you loves your country so much that you have come here today to raise your voice out of deep concern for our nation - and for our world?

And who among you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation's leaders tell us the truth?

Let's hear it: "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"

Let no one deny we are patriots. We support our nation's troops. We are grateful to our veterans who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms. We love our country, we hold dear the values upon which our nation was founded, and we are distressed at what our President, his administration, and our Congress are doing to, and in the name of, our great nation.

Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.

A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience and deference to a dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating president.

That is not a patriot. Rather, that person is a sycophant. That person is a member of a frightening culture of obedience - a culture where falling in line with authority is more important than choosing what is right, even if it is not easy, safe, or popular. And, I suspect, that person is afraid - afraid we are right, afraid of the truth (even to the point of denying it), afraid he or she has put in with an oppressive, inhumane, regime that does not respect the laws and traditions of our country, and that history will rank as the worst presidency our nation has ever had to endure.

In response to those who believe we should blindly support this disastrous president, his administration, and the complacent, complicit Congress, listen to the words of Theodore Roosevelt, a great president and a Republican, who said:

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

We are here today as truth-tellers.

And we are here to demand: "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"

We are here today to insist that those who were elected to be our leaders must tell us the truth.

We are here today to insist that our news media live up to its sacred responsibility to ascertain and report the truth - rather than acting like nothing more than a bulletin board for the lies and propaganda of a manipulative, dishonest federal government.

We have been getting just about everything but the truth on matters of life and death . . . on matters upon which our nation's reputation hinges . . . on matters that directly relate to our nation's fundamental values . . . and on matters relating to the survival of our planet.

In the process, our nation has engaged in an unnecessary war, based upon false justifications. More than a hundred thousand people have been killed - and many more have been seriously maimed, brain damaged, or rendered mentally ill. Our nation's reputation throughout much of the world has been destroyed. We have many more enemies bent on our destruction than before our invasion of Iraq. And the hatred toward us has grown to the point that it will take many years, perhaps generations, to overcome the loathing created by our invasion and occupation of a Muslim country.

What incredible ineptitude and callousness for our President to talk about a Crusade while lying to us to make a case for the invasion and occupation of a Muslim country!

Our children and later generations will pay the price of the lies, the violence, the cruelty, the incompetence, and the inhumanity of the Bush administration and the lackey Congress that has so cowardly abrogated its responsibility and authority under our checks-and-balances system of government.

We are here to say, "We will not stand for it any more. No more lies. No more pre-emptive, illegal war, based on false information. No more God-is-on-our-side religious nonsense to justify this immoral, illegal war. No more inhumanity."

Let's raise our voices, and demand, "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"

Let's consider some of the most monstrous lies - lies that have led us, like a nation of sheep, to this tragic war.

Following September 11, 2001, the world knew that Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible for the horrific attacks on our country. Our long-time allies were sympathetic and supportive. But our president transformed that support into international disdain for the United States, choosing to illegally invade and occupy Iraq, rather than focus on and capture the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.

Why invade and occupy Iraq? Vice President Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice represented to us, without qualification, that there were strong ties between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

In September, 2002, President Bush made the incredible claim that "You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam."

President Bush represented to Congress, without any factual basis whatsoever, that Iraq planned, authorized, committed, or aided the 9/11 attacks.

Our President and Vice-President, along with an unquestioning news media, repeatedly led our nation to believe that there was a working relationship between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government, a relationship that threatened the US.

Even last week, when I met with Thomas Bock, National Commander of the American Legion, I asked him why we are engaged in the war in Iraq. He said, "Why, of course, because of the 9/11 attacks on our country." I asked, "What did Iraq have to do with those attacks?" He looked puzzled, then said, "Well, the connection between al Qaeda and Iraq."

I was shocked. Here is a man who has criticized us for opposing the war in Iraq - and he is completely wrong about the underlying facts used to justify this war.

Not only has there never been any evidence of any involvement by Saddam Hussein or Iraq with the attacks on 9/11, but there has never been any evidence of any operational connection whatsoever between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

Colin Powell finally conceded there is no "concrete evidence about the connection." "The chairman of the monitoring group appointed by the United Nations Security Council to track al Qaeda" disclosed that "his team had found no evidence linking al Qaeda to Saddam Hussein." And the top investigator for our European allies has said, `If there were such links, we would have found them. But we have found no serious connections whatsoever.'"

President Bush himself finally admitted nine days ago during a press conference that there was no connection between the attacks on 9/11 and Iraq. It's terrific that the President has now admitted what others have known for so long - but where is the accountability for the tragic war we were led into on the basis of his earlier misrepresentations?

Besides the fictions of Saddam Hussein somehow being linked to the 9/11 attacks and his supposed connection with al Qaeda, what was the principal justification for forgoing additional weapons inspections, failing to work with our allies toward a solution, refraining from seeking additional resolutions from the United Nations, and hurrying to war - a so-called "pre-emptive" war - in which we would attack and occupy a Muslim nation that posed no security risk to the United States, and cause the deaths of many thousands of innocent men, women, and children - and the deaths and lifetime injuries to many thousands of our own servicemen and servicewomen?

The principal claim was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction - biological and chemical weapons - and was seeking to build up a nuclear weapons capability. As we now know, there was nothing - no evidence whatsoever - to support those claims.

President Bush represented to us - and to people around the world - that one of the reasons we needed to make war in Iraq - and to do it right away - was because Saddam Hussein was seeking to build nuclear weapons. His assertions about Saddam Hussein trying to purchase nuclear materials from an African nation and about Iraq seeking to obtain aluminum tubes for the enrichment of uranium were challenged at the time by our own intelligence agency and scientists, yet he didn't tell us that!

Ten days before the invasion of Iraq, it was proven that the documents upon which President Bush's claim about Saddam Hussein trying to obtain uranium was based were forgeries. However, President Bush did not disclose that to the American people. By that failure, he betrayed each of us, he betrayed our country, and he betrayed the cause of world peace.

Neither did the vast majority of the news media disclose the forgeries - until it was far too late. It took our local newspapers here in Salt Lake City four months - until after President Bush declared that major combat in Iraq was over - to report the discovery that the documents were forgeries - and, therefore, that there was no basis for the false claims about Saddam Hussein trying to build up a nuclear capability. By its failure to promptly disclose the forgeries, the news media betrayed us as well.

Had the American people known we were being lied to - had President Bush informed us that the documents were forged and that he had no other basis for his claim - had our nation's media done its job, rather than slavishly repeating to us the lies being fed to it by the Bush administration - our nation may well not have allowed the commencement of this outrageous, illegal, unjustified war.

To President Bush, to his administration, to our go-along Congress, and to our news media, we are here today, demanding, "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"

Then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."

Undisclosed by President Bush or Condoleezza Rice was the fact that top nuclear scientists had informed the Administration that the tubes were "too narrow, too heavy, too long" to be useful in developing nuclear weapons and could be used for other purposes. Dr. Mohamed El Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, agreed.

So much for the phony claims of Saddam Hussein building nuclear weapons - the primary claims justifying the rush to war.

What were we told about chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction? These claims were as baseless and fraudulent as the claims about nuclear weapons.

President Bush told us in his January 2003 State of the Union address that Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. Then, in May of 2003, he made the outlandish statement that, "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told us, "We know where the are." Vice President Cheney and then-Secretary of State Powell also joined in the chorus of lies and misinformation about weapons of mass destruction.

Of course, no stockpiles of biological or chemical weapons were found. Bush Administration Weapons Inspector David Kay noted that Iraq did not have an ongoing chemical weapons program after 1991--a conclusion remarkably similar to statements made by Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice before the 9/11 attacks - and before they sacrificed the truth in the service of promoting the Bush administration's case for war against Iraq.

On February 24, 2001, less than 7 months before 9/11, Colin Powell said that Saddam Hussein "has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors," said Colin Powell.

And in July 2001, two months before 9/11, Condoleezza Rice said: "We are able to keep his arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt."

It is astounding how they changed their claims after the President decided to make a case for the invasion and occupation of Iraq!

To think that we could be lied to by so many members of the Bush administration with such impunity is frightening - chilling. Yet these imperious, arrogant, dishonest people think we should just fall in line with them and continue to take them at their word.

The truth has been established. Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks on the United States. There is no evidence of any operational ties between Iraq and al Qaeda. And there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

What a tragedy, leading to greater tragedy. We are fed lie after lie, our media reinforces those lies, and we are a nation led to a tragic, illegal, unprovoked war.

We are here because of our values. We love our country. We cherish the freedoms and liberties of our country. We don't call those who speak out against our nation's leaders unpatriotic or un-American or appeasers of fascists. We have good, wholesome family values. In our families, we teach honesty, we teach kindness and compassion toward others, we teach that violence, if ever justified, must be an absolutely last resort. In our families, we teach that our nation's constitutional values are to be upheld, and that they are worth standing up and fighting for. Our family values promote respect and equal rights toward everyone, regardless of race, ethnic origin, and sexual orientation. In our families, we teach the value of hard work and competence - and we are left to wonder about a President who, after receiving an intelligence memo about the threat posed by al Qaeda, decides to continue his month-long vacation - just before the 9/11 attacks on our country.

As we demand the truth from others, let us also face the truth. Our government all too often has not cared about the human rights of people in other nations - and it doesn't really care about democracy, unless it leads to the election of those who will do our bidding.

Consider the irony regarding the claims that Saddam had chemical weapons and, because of that, we needed to rush to war in Iraq. When Saddam Hussein was using chemical weapons - first against Iranians, then against his own people, the Kurds - our country provided him with biological and chemical agents and equipment to make the weapons. Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush refused even to support economic sanctions against Hussein for his use of weapons of mass destruction. What did our nation do in response to Hussein's use of chemical weapons, killing tens of thousand of people, when he actually had them? We befriended, coddled, and rewarded him - with government-guaranteed loans totaling $5 billion since 1983, freeing up currency for Hussein to modernize his military assets.

Perhaps those in the US government who aided and abetted Saddam Hussein to further US business interests, while he was gassing the Kurds, should be sharing his courtroom dock as he is being tried now for crimes against humanity.

No more lies, no more hiding of the truth, no more wars that more than triple the value of stock in Dick Cheney's prior employer, Halliburton - and which, as of last September, has increased the value of the Halliburton CEO's stock by $78 million.

We are patriots. We're deeply concerned. And we demand change, now.

No more lies from Condoleezza Rice about whether she and President Bush were advised before 9/11 of the possibility of planes being flown into buildings by terrorists.

No more gross incompetence in the office of the Secretary of Defense.

No more torture of human beings.

No more disregard of the basic human rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention.

No more kidnapping of people and sending them off to secret prisons in nations where we can expect they will be tortured.

No more unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans.

No more proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that would, for the first time, limit fundamental rights and liberties for entire classes of people simply on the basis of sexual orientation.

No more federal land giveaways to developers.

No more increases in mercury emissions from old, dirty, dangerous coal-burning power plants.

No more backroom deals that deprive protection for millions of acres of wild lands.

No more attacks on immigrants who work so hard to build better lives.

No more inaction by Congress on fixing our hypocritical and inconsistent immigration laws and policies.

No more reliance on fiction rather than the science of global warming.

No more manipulation of our media with false propaganda.

No more disastrous cuts in funding for those most in need.

No more federal cuts in community policing and local law enforcement grant programs for our cities.

No more inaction on stopping the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

No more of the Patriot Act.

No more killing.

No more pre-emptive wars.

No more contempt for our long-time allies around the world.

No more dependence on foreign oil.

No more failure to impose increased fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.

No more energy policies developed in secret meetings between Dick Cheney and his energy company cronies.

No more excuses for failing to aggressively cut global warming pollutant emissions.

No more tragically incompetent federal responses to natural disasters.

No more tax cuts for the wealthiest, while the middle class and those who are economically-disadvantaged continue to struggle more and more each year.

No more reckless spending and massive tax cuts, resulting in historic deficits and historic accumulated national debt.

No more purchasing of elections by the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.

No more phony, ineffective, inhumane so-called war on drugs.

No more failure to pass an increase in the minimum wage.

No more silence by the American people.

This is a new day. We will not be silent. We will continue to raise our voices. We will bring others with us. We will grow and grow, regardless of political party - unified in our insistence upon the truth, upon peace-making, upon more humane treatment of our brothers and sisters around the world.

We will be ever cognizant of our moral responsibility to speak up in the face of wrongdoing, and to work as we can for a better, safer, more just community, nation, and world.

So we won't let down. We won't be quiet. We will continue to resist the lies, the deception, the outrages of the Bush administration. We will insist that peace be pursued, and that, as a nation, we help those in need. We must break the cycle of hatred, of intolerance, of exploitation. We must pursue peace as vigorously as the Bush administration has pursued war. It's up to all of us to do our part.

Thank you everyone for lending your voices to this call for compassion, for peace, for greater humanity. Let us keep in mind the injunction of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Tags: George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Congress, Iraq, torture, dissent, patriotism, Salt Lake City, Recommended (all tags)

ROCKY FOR PRESIDENT.

If you agree, go here www.abc4.com

[helderheid]

1. kick for the transcript

[midnight]

2. "We must pursue peace as vigoursly as Bush has pursued

War"-Bring them home.

[helderheid]

3. ROCKY FOR PRESIDENT!

[Sydnie]

4. Now, send those links off to Keith Olbermann

and get this man some national air time!

Thanks for representing for us at the event today too.

[helderheid]

5. Thank YOU! Yes, KO play THIS!!!

[helderheid]

6. He deserves front page DU time too (HINT HINT) ;P

[helderheid]

7. kick for crowd stats

[helderheid]

8. THIS WAS AS GOOD AS KEITH OLBERMANN'S - pay attention please

Utah counts too! :)

[helderheid]

9. I'm about to go to bed but I ask 3 things: watch it, recommend it, kick it

[helderheid]

10. 2 more recommends. THIS HAPPENED IN UTAH. UTAH!!!!

[helderheid]

1 more

[Lars39]

11. K&R

[helderheid]

12. thanks Lars!!

[Change has come]

13. This is important

I'm half way through watching this video. This is the Democratic message we've been waiting for.

Good Job Helderheid (and Mayor Rocky)!

This is as *Must See* as Olberman and front page material.



*oops

[helderheid]

15. THANK YOU THANK YOU! I totally agree. Rocky for PRESIDENT that important.

[helderheid]

14. So we won't let down. We won't be quiet. We will continue to resist

So we won't let down. We won't be quiet. We will continue to resist the lies, the deception, the outrages of the Bush administration. We will insist that peace be pursued, and that, as a nation, we help those in need. We must break the cycle of hatred, of intolerance, of exploitation. We must pursue peace as vigorously as the Bush administration has pursued war. It's up to all of us to do our part.

[helderheid]

16. this baby got to the greatest page. I AM GOING TO BED!! :)

[EST]

17. Powerful - wonderful!

This speech should be given by a lot of people - it is an absolute blowout.

[Independent_Liberal]

18. K&R!

Right on Rocky!

:patriot:

[sce56]

19. We need to get on that poll!

http://www.abc4.com/
Do you agree with Rocky Anderson's decision to protest during President Bush's visit this week?
YES:15.8%

NO:84.2%

KICK

[Felinity]

58. Please consider making this a separate thread.

I wonder who has been voting up until now. The "no's" are too overwhelming to be real.

[Canuckistanian]

20. This man makes me believe there's a real American spirit again

Finally, people are speaking out. REALLY speaking out against tyranny, incompetence and greed.

Welcome back, America. We missed you.

[Hamlette]

21. I was there, but the best part?

I missed the evening protest to go to play bridge. There are 8 of us, we've played bridge together for 20 years. We didn't plan it and didn't see many of the others at the protest but each of us was there. All 8.

Let's hear it for my little "old" ladies bridge club! (Bet you a nickel tomorrow night's bridge club, the "working mans bridge" club, I will have been the only one to go even though they are Bush haters as well.) Well, at least we girls were all there.

[Change has come]

22. Beautiful.

Thank you so much. In the most "Red" of States. Indeed. :toast:

:patriot: A Salute from your neighbor

[Hamlette]

23. I know a secret about our mayor too. . .

he's a godless commie pinko.

True fact.

Here in the land of Zion, the mayor of Salt Lake is an atheist and pretty much a socialist. Prolly not a commie but I love the phrase. He attends the Episcopal church (where the liberals go in Utah...at least those who don't dare go to the Unitarian Church..now those guys really are godless commie pinkos!) now and then since he was elected and doesn't say he's godless much these days but I've known him for years (our paths have crossed professionally many times over the last 30 years) and he's a true freethinking skeptic.

Howdy neighbor....Idaho?

[Change has come]

24. Nevada

By way or Wyoming.Got you surrounded! This was one of the best speeches I've ever seen.

godless commie pinko :toast: Indeed!

[IronLionZion]

44. I love it when a godless atheist goes to church

and there is nothing quite so unholy and evil as helping your fellow humans to live a decent life.

[Hamlette]

91. huh?

tell me I'm reading you wrong but you seem to be saying that only people who go to church help their fellow human beings.

If so, don't start with me. I've been reading too many books on the religious nut cases in the ME who want to kill in the name of Allah. And that all the religious nut cases in the US put Bush in office. Yeah, real holy.

In my experience, freethinkers are much more generous, "holy", compassionate, giving and "Christ like" than the religious people I know who wash away all their week's sins by showing up on Sunday.

If that's not what you meant, nevermind.

[IronLionZion]

106. no, that's not what I meant at all

my points:

1. how can Rocky be a godless atheist if he goes to church?

2. Democrats care about their fellow human beings, which happen to be good values to hold.

3. Many so-called "christians" do not hold these values and still manage to bash Democrats as being godless commies.

I apologize for any misunderstanding if it wasn't clear.

[Hamlette]

114. lots of godless atheists go to church

in my town, most go to the Unitarian church and lots go to the episcopal church. they do it, imho, because they want social acceptance. going to church does not "make" you believe in god.

agree, I see dems as closer to the teachings of christ.

[helderheid]

29. Hamlette, did you happen by the Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus table?

I was there wearing a "Paint Utah Blue" shirt with my 3 year old.

[Hamlette]

93. where was the table?

I came in from the North side (my office is on 3rd and state street) and didn't even make it to the half way mark of the city and county building.

It was truly old home week for me...I kept running into people I protested with during Vietnam and haven't seen for years. (Which is probably the real reason I didn't hear Rocky.)

We did pass by the tables on the North side on our way to Sha Sha's for lunch. (We didn't march to the federal building.) I noticed a couple of tables cause I"m always on the hunt for great political buttons. My current favorite one is "Make the scary republican go away" which I gave to my son. I need another one for me.

Would have loved to have met you. And your daughter. I'm a real kid nut. But the good kind of kid nut, not the Karr kind of kid nut. :)

[fooj]

25. Wow.

There's something in the air...

[chat_noir]

26. A demand for truth: Mayor's blunt criticisms focus war debate

Tribune Editorial

Rocky Anderson cast himself in the role of truth-teller Wednesday, and Salt Lake City's mayor delivered a bravura performance.

Anderson's stage was the anti-Bush protest at Washington Square. He leveled a blistering attack on the Bush administration's dubious reasons for going to war in Iraq (Anderson called them lies), its disrespect for the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions, its arrogance, its greed, its secrecy and its multifaceted incompetence. In the main, his indictments rang true, though one could quibble with details.

Anderson's theme was the administration's prevarications, and his antidote, which he developed into a chant for the crowd, was "Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"

The news media, including this newspaper, did not escape the Democratic mayor's righteous wrath. He accused news organizations of "acting like nothing more than a bulletin board for the lies and propaganda of a manipulative, dishonest federal government." In doing so, he said, the news media have not lived up to their "sacred responsibility to ascertain and report the truth."

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_4263470

[helderheid]

31. fanTASTIC!

[leftchick]

27. woohoo!!!!

That is FANTASTIC!!!!!!

:woohoo:


k&r!!!

[helderheid]

28. GOOD MORNIN' leftchick!

[leftchick]

35. GOOD MORNIN" helderheid

Go SLC!!!! I caught a little on CNN where Ed Henry is reporting the 2 THOUSAND people cheered bush when he arrived. And there is a protest scheduled later where a couple of thousand are expected. Damn librul media!

[helderheid]

36. there were at least 3500 at LAST year's rally. This year was about TWICE

that!

[soup]

30. Recommendation #32!

No More!
No More!
No More!

Incredible.

Thank you, helderheid.

[Z_I_Peevey]

32. Thank God.

Finally, the truth will be spoken all across the land.

More! More voices! More truth!

K&R

[helderheid]

33. One of the best speeches ever... right here in UTAH!

[marions ghost]

34. WOW

:kick:

[Hubert Flottz]

37. I'd LOVE to see him take on Hatch!

I think he'd win.

[helderheid]

38. I'd like to see him in the Whitehouse! Pete Ashdown was selling

"Nutcase" bumper stickers at the rally. He's a GREAT candidate: www.peteashdown.org

[Hubert Flottz]

39. I can almost stand Bush better than Hatch...

I'd LOVE to see Hatch get his walking parers.

[Hamlette]

95. Ashdown had a dinner at the Alta Club and rasied money for

the Utah Food Bank Wednesday night.

I remember a time when Utah was VERY blue. We had a dem governor and legislature until the 70s sometime. Sad. They say it was the abortion issue that turned mormons red.

[tomp]

40. k&r because...

...he called them liars, because he ably demonstrates the style of approach that is not only possible but is required. timid dems take note. i expect this type of language from EVERY politician who wants my support.

[Mad_Dem_X]

41. HOLY COW

Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :applause: :patriot:

[Mad_Dem_X]

42. "Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism"

LOVE that line!

[helderheid]

43. Me too!!

[CrispyQ]

45. Fantastic!!

So many excellent points in this speech!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

k&r

[dogday]

46. Mayor Rocky is fantastic

I hope more and more will have the guts to stand up and make their speeches now.... Thanks for sharing this, I really enjoyed his speech......

[IronLionZion]

47. Wow, and right in the belly of the beast.

The most reactionary right wing state in this country.

If a guy like Rocky can win election and re-election in Salt Lake City, then we can win anywhere. He and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas are proof that you can do anything you put your mind to.

Good for him for speaking out like this. I still can't believe this is coming from the land of Orrin Hatch. Whoa! Rocky was raised as a mormon!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson

[helderheid]

49. ROCKY ROCKS!

[karlrschneider]

48. Definitely kicking this!

...

[helderheid]

50. I am still listening to it - I missed it yesterday - WOW WOW WOW!!!

In our families, we teach the value of hard work and competence - and we are left to wonder about a President who, after receiving an intelligence memo about the threat posed by al Qaeda, decides to continue his month-long vacation - just before the 9/11 attacks on our country.

[Felinity]

57. Shout out to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

I am assuming from your comments that you are a member of the Mormon faith. I have been a little perplexed about the political climate in Utah heretofore, because I have never met a Mormon who was not a stand-up human being worthy of respect (I'm sure there are "bad Mormons" but I haven't met one).

So c'mon, Mormon brothers and sisters, step up and fight for the truth. You've got this incredibly courageous mayor in SLC (Mormon or ex-Mormon, you did elect him) so get behind him and show the rest of the nation how strong and great the people of the State of Utah are. We in the other 49 states need you--please wake up to this reality and show us what you are really made of. Be an example of the message of Jesus, which if I recall correctly, is something about Peace, or Love.

"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."
"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."
"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."
"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."
"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."
"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."
"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."

Love Ya! :grouphug:

[helderheid]

74. Afraid not - I was raised Quaker (and a Utah native!) I know many fine LDS

Democrats though

[hedgehog]

51. We need this man!

the Wikipedia article says he's quitting politics after this term to develop an advocacy group. Let's hope he changes his mind!

By the way, what does the banner behind him say?

[helderheid]

52. I'm not sure what it says. He's going off to work on saving the

environment.

[hedgehog]

53. I figure the White House is the best place to do that!

Just look at how much he cleaned up the political environment with one speech!

[helderheid]

54. Rocky for President!

[QuettaKid]

56. K&R . nt.

.

[porkrind]

102. I'll second that!

:dem:

[savemefromdumbya]

55. Wow!

[gasperc]

59. Wow, damn, and out of UTAH no less

hope this guy becomes a star

[helderheid]

60. He will if bloggers and internet activist send this video to everyone we

know!

[JimDandy]

76. The anti-War/anti-B*** protest in SLC, UT made the national news!!

They ran a clip on Rocky's speech. Tom Goldsmith, the Unitarian minister, was great also.

The petition to indict B***, which was the reason for the march to the federal building (where Senator Hatch's office is,) was never mentioned on either the local or national news, though. I was one of the two loud-mouths at the front of the march yelling, "NO MORE B***!"

[helderheid]

77. Hi!

:hi:

[marions ghost]

90. right

I am sending THIS one around, you may be sure....thanx for posting this Helderheid. If this can happen in Utah then it can happen anywhere. :bounce:

[BuelahWitch]

61. Not only the time but the place

A red state that is more or less ruled by the Mormon church. For them to get those kinds of numbers is astounding! I agree, Rocky for President!!

[fishwax]

62. thanks for posting this

I'll have to come back later when I have time to listen/read in full, but knowing his track record and skimming through it, I have every confidence that it's outstanding.

And another big kick, toast, and recommend for rocky anderson :kick::toast:

[bleever]

63. The light is shining in Utah!

Woo hoo!

That's very exciting, helderheid. Wish I was there. What a speech!


:woohoo:

[grizmaster]

64. That speech should be repeated LOUDLY by ever dem

loudly and often, until it gets past the MSM


Now THAT is what I call a fighting dem.

[Serial Mom]

65. We need a President named Rocky who is a peacemaker!

Loved this! Is this now a beginning of getting rid of this mis-administration?

[madokie]

66. That was an excellent speech. Just what all needs to hear

Thanks for the post, I would have missed it otherwise for sure.

[spanone]

67. Go Rocky....you think Bush* will meet with this Rocky???

:rofl:

[marions ghost]

68. Everybody look at this video

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Serial Mom]

69. Kick for the Afternoon - this and KO's comments are a must!

:kick:

[SnoopDog]

70. Very moving speech...!

[Roxy66]

71. Is Rocky getting ready to run?!!

[nosferaustin]

72. I was there!

It was an amazing turnout, it was an amazing speach. I took a load of pictures, just haven't had time to upload them.

[helderheid]

75. Hey I was hanging out at the Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus table

until about 12:15 with my 3 year old daughter - did we meet?

[nosferaustin]

88. never made it over

But we may have met at the county convention at the Progressive Caucus meeting.

[Change has come]

113. Welcome to DU

Please share your pictures when you get time. :patriot:

[nosferaustin]

116. have a few pictures up here:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/552723011pZJefv

I'll try to post more later.

[opihimoimoi]

73. He said it all....let the Truth Begin.....

To unravel the mess that is Bush/The GOP CROP/ the Neocons/and the PNACers....

[NoSheep]

78. That poll has been seriously freeped. Help! Go to abc4.com

I can't believe anyone would not agree with Rocky. I just can't believe people are this damn stupid!
:mad:

[helderheid]

79. Freeeeeped is right!

[Sherman A1]

82. Yes, we need to get on the poll

and Jack Cafferty's Question for the last hour. Time to "POUR IT ON"!!!!

[Sherman A1]

80. Superb!!!

Agree with everything the man said of course, but wasn't it refreshing to listen to a fairly long speech built with complete sentences and not featuring stumbles, bumbles and mish mashes of the language.

This was just Smokin'

Yippee!!!

[helderheid]

84. He is an exceptional public speaker and a very nice man. I watched the

debates between Kerry and The Decider at his home for a fundraiser before the 2004 selection.

[Fridays Child]

81. Inspirational! K&R!

[never cry wolf]

83. Awesome speech, thanks for posting!

This guy must be a DUer or a Randi/Malloy (RIP) Listener.

[AntiFascist]

85. This speech is on par with KO's recent commentary...

What an excellent way to describe right-wing Bushbots: as "morally treasoness"!
K&R

[helderheid]

86. It's like a one two punch!

[gully]

87. "Rocky" I've not heard of you before today, but NOW I won't forget you.

"Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism."

If this guy can draw THAT kind of crowd under the circumstances, he' someone to keep an eye on.

[MelissaB]

89. Fantastic! Just finished watching.

:kick:

[rndmprsn]

92. WOW! K+R

[lonestarnot]

94. Beautiful!

[orpupilofnature57]

96. Hatch must dread this guy, God Bless him , Utah should be proud!!

[Mr_Spock]

97. Another one wakes up and realizes that something is seriously wrong

...and has the guts to speak out about it.

[Homer Wells]

98. Just

WOW

K&R

[earth mom]

99. ROCKY ROCKS!!!

ROCKY: :yourock:

Wow, just wow. I don't much about Rocky but given this kick ass speech, then

HELL YES!!! ROCKY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bounce:

[marions ghost]

100. another kick

for a kick ass speech

[astonamous]

101. K & R It felt great to be out there with so many like minded

Americans in the beautiful state of Utah!

Trudy
www.richardpryor.com
www.pryorsplanet.com

[helderheid]

103. hey you!

:hug:

Did you happen by the Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus table?

[astonamous]

109. No...never made it to that side.

I was with others and for some reason we sort of stuck right in the center. And I had to leave right after Mayor Anderson spoke because of an appointment. I met some great people there though. A nice couple visiting from Austria and this guy that said he was from Nigeria.

Trudy
www.pryorsplanet.com

[helderheid]

111. Ah well - I actually missed the speech as my 3 year old got fussy

[Cha]

104. This says it ALL!

"We must pursue peace as vigorously as the Bush administration has
pursued war!" "The crowd went wild."

Thank you, Mayor Rocky, from the bottom of my heart!

[Cobalt Violet]

105. 97th K. & R.

Great stuff.

[bloom]

107. This ought to be pinned for a week.

To make sure everybody sees it. It's fantastic. I love it.

[helderheid]

112. thanks bloom! Maybe the front page ? (insert innocent bashful look)

[cosmicdot]

108. No more BFEE!

K&R

[PhilYerHead]

110. Kick ass

Where is the Council of Mayors?
Are there more?
We've got one more newsday before the weekend.
Please, one more mayor before America slogs into the Sloth Day Weekend.
I'm writing my mayor right now. Join me.

Phil

[marions ghost]

115. keep kicked

:yourock: Rocky

[helderheid]

117. can do :)

[durrrty libby]

118. Thank You I can't wait to watch it n/t

:loveya: :yourock: :applause: :hi:

[helderheid]

120. it is soooo inspiring!

[marions ghost]

119. kick

:kick:

[bleedingheart]

121. The mere fact that people do not back his 1st Amendment right

to free speech is ridiculous....the poll on that web site is shocking.

His speech is great!!!

[VOX]

122. Awesome! Can we bottle Rocky's mojo and give it to all Democrats?

I sure wish we could. Rocky was ***smoking*** and didn't miss a point.

From Salt Lake City -- who knew? :shrug:

[JimDandy]

123. Kick n/t

[marions ghost]

124. one more time

Anyone who hasn't seen the video of this speech--do it.

[helderheid]

125. Thank you :)

[helderheid]

126. off to bed - favorite recent thread kick

[Serial Mom]

127. New Day Kick - Rocky and KO's comments are a must!

:kick:

[me b zola]

128. Rocky for President!!

Wow. Many, many great things about this speech. This is the first American elected official that I have heard to tell the truth about US complicity with Saddam.

(...)
Consider the irony regarding the claims that Saddam had chemical weapons and, because of that, we needed to rush to war in Iraq. When Saddam Hussein was using chemical weapons - first against Iranians, then against his own people, the Kurds - our country provided him with biological and chemical agents and equipment to make the weapons. Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush refused even to support economic sanctions against Hussein for his use of weapons of mass destruction. What did our nation do in response to Hussein's use of chemical weapons, killing tens of thousand of people, when he actually had them? We befriended, coddled, and rewarded him - with government-guaranteed loans totaling $5 billion since 1983, freeing up currency for Hussein to modernize his military assets.

Perhaps those in the US government who aided and abetted Saddam Hussein to further US business interests, while he was gassing the Kurds, should be sharing his courtroom dock as he is being tried now for crimes against humanity.
(...)

Thanks helderheid, for all that you do. I really appreciate the transcript because I can't view video on my 16th century computer. :D