vision2020@moscow.com: Re: Missoula Rally Against Wise Use Lies (fwd)

Re: Missoula Rally Against Wise Use Lies (fwd)

Lombardi Lisa Marie (lomb7741@uidaho.edu)
Sat, 11 Feb 1995 11:18:46 -0700 (PDT)

Well, folks, I did know about this. And anyone who wants to can go.
But, just FYI, the environmentalists are the people LEAST trusted on
natural resource issues nationwide, and especially in our region. And we
have been doing rallies for 20 years or more now, and the upshot is that
we LOST every single election last year except Pat Williams and Jim
McDermott in Seattle. SO maybe it's time we do something else. Maybe
it's time to think about why we want media, who is the audience, and HOW
BEST TO REACH THEM.

The audience is not the people who already think like us. We need to
figure out how to reach the folks who don't necessarily call themselves
E.s, but who nevertheless would be outraged at what is going on if they
knew. Yes, those voters from California who are moving to places like
IDaho and Montana because there's less crime, it's less expensive, AND
it's beautiful. Kansas has less crime, it's cheap and uncrowded; and
they are not moving to Kansas. They are moving here. It's their
enlightened self-interest to keep it pretty, because that's why they
moved here.

So we want to reach them. We need to. But instead, what do we do? What
do they see? Yet another rally, ho hum, the longhairs out there again,
change the channel. OR, worse, they hear us rant about the FOrest Service
who they have always thought were the good guys, and they think we are a
bunch of whiny angry assholes. Well, some of us are.

SO who are rallies for? Ourselves, make us feel good to gather en
masse. NOthing wrong with that, but let's not kid ourselves, they aren't
doing us any good and may do us some harm when we're talking about the
public eye.

I don't do marches or rallies anymore. This is why. I'd much rather
spend my time working on elections, and I wish to heaven some of you
would too. I am not interested in going down gloriously. Maybe I don't
have enough testosterone, I don't know. All I can see is we need to do
things differently, or we really are going to lose things I love and care
about.


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