Replacing negativity

To the editor:

I wanted to publicly thank all those people who came to the “Rally to Restore Sanity-Wasilla” this past Saturday, and especially all the volunteers who have helped me these past six weeks. At the end of the rally we had a semi-official count of 325 people who attended, which greatly exceeded my expectations. That’s not to mention the 250,000-plus at the Washington, D.C., event and the additional thousands that attended satellite rallies around the country and the world.

Much has been debated in the national media about what this rally was about, what it was supposed to accomplish and what it did. For our local rally it was about having a community event where the rhetoric was drastically toned down, people of differing opinions could be in the same room without being angry, and negativity was replaced with reasonableness.

Some have criticized this as a waste of time. I respect those opinions, but I disagree. Any opportunity for a community to come together for something enjoyable that is not rooted in defaming others is good. After all, a community that can work together is a community that can thrive together. It helps to listen to one another first, that is how it starts.

Blake Merrifield,

organizer

Wasilla Rally to Restore Sanity