Demagnetize Tennessee Rally Huge Success

June 10, 2005

 

I said when I hatched the idea for the Demagnetize Tennessee rally if only a handful of people showed up I would take that as a sign to drop the issue and move on. Sometimes, as a talk show host, you get passionate about a certain issue and wonder if anyone else is with you.

 

On June 9, I got the message loud and clear.

 

When I arrived about 15 minutes before the rally I knew we were onto something big. There was already a sizeable crowd gathered at the Band shell at Centennial Park in Nashville. By the time the rally kicked off there were hundreds of people gathered. Despite what some in the media had predicted, this was not a Klan meeting. This was a cross-section of Tennessee – whites, blacks, Latinos. Genuine people with genuine concerns came to show their support for the cause and voice their opinions. Many waited in traffic and fought their way to our rally.

 

In the meantime, the Nashville Parks Department tried to discredit our efforts by saying we “lied” on our application. Despite the fact that we wrote “Immigration Rally” as the reason for the event, they seemed to think that was misleading since we were actually rallying against illegal immigration. I'm sure the pro-illegal alien rallies held there as well as the gay and lesbian festivals never came under such a microscope. It was further evidence of the political correctness that has tightened its grip on our state and local governments. June 9 we took a step in loosening that grip.

 

Someone asked me on the air the next morning how I maintained my optimism. I told her it was rallies like the one on June 9. Sometimes you feel like you're howling alone in the wind but when you see a crowd like that it does wonders for one's faith in the American system. You see, we didn't have a handful of people. We didn't have a couple hundred. Crowd estimates ranged from 1,000 to 1,500! There were no Klansmen to be found. That's probably why the two daily newspapers in Nashville completely omitted the rally from their papers the next morning. I'm sure they came armed with stories already written about an angry mob of rednecks hell bent on killing all the “furners.” What they found, I'm sure, baffled and amazed them.

 

We had three state senators and six representatives who addressed the crowd. We had Michael Leon, a first generation American and member of the Minuteman Project in California who relayed his experiences as a Latino fighting illegal immigration. The story the major dailies wanted was not there. Instead of reporting the positive truth, they chose to ignore the whole thing. A twist on the old saying – If you can't saying anything bad about somebody, don't say anything at all.

 

Illegal immigration, though not at the root of any one problem in society, is connected to almost every crisis we face today. Caring, concerned citizens who worry about the future of our state and our nation came out in droves to prove they're engaged and ready to act to make a difference.

 

At the suggestion of one listener who said he would be there with bells on, we encouraged listeners to bring bells; an audible symbol of our discontent. And bring, they certainly did. This may very well become the calling card of this movement in Tennessee. The next sound our general assembly hears when it reconvenes next year just might be bells. My suggestion: If you hear bells ringing, you better answer them. These people mean business.