Rally/Protest

From Campaign for Better Health Care:

DOWNTOWN CHICAGO @ NOON
Federal Plaza - 230 S. Dearborn, Chicago 60602

EVANSTON @ NOON
Fountain Square
Corner of Davis St., Sherman Ave. & Orrington Ave.

Picture taken right at the start while the sun was still up.

I'll have some pictures to add once I get home [added!] but I just wanted to say that the HCAN people put together a great rally with several hundred people in the Federal Plaza.

William McNary led off with his usual rousing style. First Gov. Pat Quinn then Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and Congressman Danny Davis spoke passionately about the need for health care now and what to do to make sure it passes. A number of other people spoke -- everyone from Lou Lang (who was in wonderful form) to Alexi Giannoulias, Julie Hamos, Toni Preckwinkle, Lou Harris and David Orr.

If you're in the Chicagoland area, you can show the teabaggers "Brooks Brothers Brigade" what a real grassroots movement looks like by coming to the HCAN Rally in the Federal Plaza (8/4, 4:30p-6p).

I was in Berlin when the Wall came down and in New York during 9/11. One event was exceedingly good; the other was atrociously bad. I think I now have a third one that appears to be affecting me in a significant way, this one again on the good side -- namely, the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

I got an extra hour of coveted sleep thanks to the end of daylight savings time. The Calendar says 'November 4' but it's been more springlike than anything else.

I decided to stay local today, signing up for one of the neighborhood canvasses via BarackObama.com.

The Canvass was being run out of a field office in Cincinnati's 'Uptown' in a building that had just been opened a day or two earlier. When I got there, one of the Campaign Workers, Scott, was trying to get a few winks of much needed sleep on the porch of the place.

I saw a lot of old friends at the big and lively rally for Obama at the Broadway Armory on Sunday. Here's a shot of Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky addressing the audience early on.