When I need to get my blood pumping, there are several ways to go about it. Most predictable is to go to the “Political” section of my music files. I have it shuffling on continuous play right now so I can listen to:

• Michael Franti, “Yell Fire” - I met Michael Franti when he was opening for Billy Bragg in Washington DC about 15 years ago. He was an angry, articulate teenager. Smart ass, smart man. He’s still angry. “They’re telling you to never worry about the future.” He very nearly throat sings in this song. I aspire to throat sing. Mother Jones Magazine chose this as one of its In Tune songs last month. You can listen / download at Anti. “Revolution nevers comes with a warning.”  The thing is, when there IS a fire, you have to yell fire.

• Black Crowes, “Soul Singin’” Rocky Anderson vs. Black Crowes remix from Head On Radio - “Holy shit!” I said when I first heard it. “I know that voice. That’s my minister.” There is Tom Goldsmith from First Unitarian Church introducing Rocky Anderson. (Unitarians = all of the church and none of the religion. I didn’t figure Tom was listening to the Black Crowes regularly, so I sent it to him. “What a kick,” he said. Hip dude.) I was there, and I’ve heard the speech many times since, but listening to this song does it for me. This speech certainly has made Rocky Anderson a popular guy. So what if he has ego. Anyone willing to get into politics really has to have massive ego, even if they disguise it. I think he may be pulling an Obama by spreading his approval around across party lines. I know Utah Democrats aren’t happy about this, but I suspect it’s part of his broader strategy. I’m not saying that works. I am just saying I listen to this speech, and I know I want to hear this man speak up on the national stage.

• Steve Earle, “The Revolution Starts Now” - I need to leave my ancestral condo and walk my 5% Democratic precinct to encourage registered voters to walk down the street to the church to vote. I made a map of my precinct showing where all of the voters are — masses of little red dots for registered Republicans, even more pink dots for the Unaffiliated, an impressive number of black dots for Unknown, four American Constitution Party, and two lonely Greens. Altogether, there are fewer than fifty Democrats. I made a map so I could see them clustered together. When I listen to this song, I think about my precinct. “I was running down the street in the town where I was born. . . .” I want to believe they would make community with those who live among them–with ME. I want to believe that we can work together if the disaster we’ve trained for comes. But, look, I say “them.” I can’t say “us” even though this has been my how since before I reached adolescence. “Revolution starts now, in your own backyard, in your own hometown.” Maybe my experiences with neighbors have deflated my high ideals of local community. “They all brought what they could bring, nobody went without.” A demographer for a national Utah campaign told me, 1) I live in the most reliably Republican-voting district in the Redest state, and 2) wouldn’t I be happier in Sugarhouse? Damn. Probably. I heard a nice Unitarian say he was single-handedly integrating Bountiful. I think of myself doing that in my town. I need my soul singing to be able to do this.

OK. Deep breath. Ask myself what’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding, then go encourage my neighbors to vote.

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Yesterday, my husband described a syndicated article in the morning newspaper that called the Republican Party an “extra-constitutional institution” and “quasi-governmental organzation,” making the case to lessen its power. Wow, I wanted to read that.

It turned out that this was just a letter to the editor about the differences between pro-Bush and anti-Bush rallies in Salt Lake City during the American Legion convention. I’m sorry to hear that this isn’t a nationally syndicated column, but it’s still a good read.

The Republican Party has become a quasi-governmental organization under the Bush administration. The evidence of this continues to mount, starting with overthrowing the 2000 presidential elections by conspiring to make mass challenges to opposition voters.

Read more of the letter from Nate Smith at the Salt Lake Tribune, and find out how he was kicked and threatened at the pro-Bush rally.

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As I arrived at the anti-Bush rally today in Salt Lake City, the giant puppet heads of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice were offloading. My daughter was thrilled to carry the Bush head. She stopped, looked inside, and turned to an adult to say, “There’s no brain in there.” So some say.

The Chain Gang puppets, stickers, spineless citations, and all were sent by the Backbone Campaign. We distributed these and Progressive Democrats of America “End the Occupation of Iraq” stickers for several hours. Very few people declined when I asked, “Do you need a sticker?”

One of the young, masked anarchists turned me down. (He’s my nephew. Maybe it’s personal.) Wow, they looked great. Apparently, the police liked them, too. Police filmed them and kept filming them, waiting for masks to be removed.

As a matter of fact, we were all filmed by the police. So, I decided to keep an eye on them back. I heard one tell another, “But he can’t pick a fight like that while he’s in uniform.” Someone was picking a fight? I didn’t witness that, but I heard other say that people (let’s call them “conservatives”) picked fights — physical fights as well as arguments along the lines of “you’re helping the terrorists.” I know the talking points say that, but do real people with minds of their own think that? I’m just confused where free speech and participation come into democracy for these people, though I know some of radical conservatives insist free speech is not in the constitution.

The whole issue of vocal democracy and exercise of free speech seems lost on some people. Granted, Salt Lake City citizens often have deep preparation for obedience to authority. No wonder Donald Rumsfeld, Condeleeza Rice, and George Bush have had to retreat to Utah to try to find safe ground in the state’s just-over-50% approval rating.

Joke is on them, though, since Salt Lake City itself is so Democratic that a Republican can’t get elected as Mayor. This is the home of Rocky Anderson (he of the 1-hour speech). Soon he won’t be mayor any longer (and surely neither will his hand-picked Republican), but I suspect he has much bigger ambitions than Mayor of Salt Lake City.

I have long wondered what marching does for us, and I think - after asking for a few decades - I can begin to answer. It shows numbers behind dissenting opinions. Yes. But, those numbers are filtered by media. I don’t think that is where the real power of gathering is. The power is in connection with others. Not just in me saying hello to people I know (and I do think I saw at the rally every person I know by name that isn’t related to me by blood), but in reaching beyond People Like Us. I talked to a huge variety of people.

It’s not easy living surrounded by people who not only don’t get you but seem actively to abhor you. There is power in building a connection with likeminded or similar-minded or openminded others before we pack up our giant puppet heads and go home to the sea of conservativism in our own neighborhoods.

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PROJECT: Make a giant puppet head. You can get detailed instructions from the Puppeteer Cooperative, or just start with a bicycle helmet and build a papier mache shape on top.

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