Code Pink in Anchorage...

[Blue_In_AK]

From last night's local NBC evening news

http://www.ktuu.com/cms/anmviewer.asp?a=3972&z=1 (halfway down the page)

"Women across the country took to the streets, to the offices of Congress, and to embassies today protesting the war in Iraq. It included a small group of women here in Anchorage and that group included one woman who knows this war perhaps better than most.

Outside Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office they gathered with their signs, forming up and then going inside to deliver a petition signed by 100,000 people around the country. Among the group, Diane Benson, who delivered a more powerful message than signatures, the story of her own son.

“I’ve sat with the face of war. I’ve sat with young men and women without legs, without eyes, without faces even. You don’t forget that,” said Benson.

Benson’s son Latseen lost a portion of both of his legs in a roadside bomb in Iraq last November. He’s recovering at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. Benson has spent months helping him with his recovery."

<snip>

The article in this morning's newspaper stated that although the demonstration started with a only a couple dozen women, by the time the march was over, the group had swelled to about 75.

[bluerum]

1. I did not know that there were that many people in Alaska. eom

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Ha - actually, Anchorage has about 260,000 residents....

and the state about 600,000 total.

[Callalily]

2. With military bases

right there in Anchorage, I'd be curious to hear how this protest was received / perceived.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Generally, the peace movement gets very good press

up here, especially Channel 2 (NBC), KTUU, which has had a reporter out to favorably cover all the peace rallies and a symposium we did in October after the DC march. Also our local newspaper is more left-leaning than one might expect. The letters to the editor seem to run at least two to one against the Bush administration.

[mdmc]

5. 75 anti-war protester would be huge in Newburgh, NY.

This is a pretty big deal for Alaska, methinks. I don't know much about AK, except that there is no town named Sicely. There is no bourgh or arrowhead.