DON'T BE ANONYMOUS

I protested the war before the war. My family thought I was crazy when I predicted what would happen in Afganistan. Who remembers all the big promises that were made to the Afghani people? We would rebuild that which we destroyed. We would provide alternative crops to replace poppies. We would keep the civilinas safe from the Taliban.

It was around that time that friends and family started taking sides. It was so bad that long time friends stopped speaking to one another. I got the idea to seek out 3 new people a day to talk to. Every human encounter was fertile ground; picking up grands at pre-school, store, vet, neighbors, lines of any kind.

Wearing an Impeach Bush shirt was the way I did this. I wear it everywhere. Once you make eye contact, it is easy to begin a conversation. You don't have to come on strong, just be yourself. Have a handout of some kind if possible. I had cards printed up with all the toll free numbers to congress on the back. (on line, Vista print, very cheap) Most of the time people seem grateful to have someone to share their thoughts with.

My network of individuals is over 200 now. Some have joined groups like moveon or code pink, but most just enjoy getting emails with action alerts.

Once, while driving to Camp Casey, a man wanted to argue with me at a rest stop. I remained calm and as we talked about supporting the troops, I asked him about Operation Helmet. He had no idea that the Bush administration's DOD had steadfastly refused to pay for these lifesaving inserts that are proven to mitigate TBI, (traumatic brain injury. At that time the singer Cher, was a huge donor to this project. He took all the information. A few months later, I got a call from this man. He told me that after verifying the information, he raised several thousand dollars at a family reunion for the fund. He and his formerly Bush supporting family now follow military spending bills very closely and they know who really SUPPORTS THE TROOPS.

Identify yourself. One person, one random contact can have more of an impact than you may ever know.