John McCain and Sarah Palin are coming to your neck of the woods if you live near Philly tomorrow Monday 9/22 at 3PM.
When: September 22, 2008 3:00 p.m.
Where: Steps of the Delaware County Courthouse
201 West Front Street
Media, PA
Lets get as many people out in a "Pinocchio Posses" wearing pinocchio noses. We need to make the Liar label stick and this is one of the best ways to do it. Goes straight to the reptilian brain. Its a simple and effective visual image that undercuts one of McCain's strength his character. They did it to Kerry in 04 with the Flip-Flops now we can return the favor. Check out Pinocchio Politics and http://pinocchiopolitics.blogspot.com/ for more info. As well as below the fold
Take Action
Pinocchio Protests -- How to Bird-dog McCain/Palin
As a bird-dogger, your job is to show up at McCain/Palin events, and be a constant reminder that they have been systematically lying, and cannot be trusted. Your job is to brand them with the label "Pinocchio Politics." Get this message out to attendees, passersby, and above all, the media.
At a McCain/Palin event, you can take action inside and/or outside.
Going Inside
Enter the event looking like normal attendees. Don't try to bring in any big signs, and keep your Pinocchio noses hidden in your pocket.
Once inside, there's a few ways you can challenge the speaker:
- Sit together in one or two rows. Wait for McCain or Palin to tell one of their oft-repeated lies. A designated team leader will then give a signal for everyone to put on their noses. In unison, stand up and shout whatever slogan or chant -- say, "lies, lies, lies" -- you think works best. (Or if you want to be more subtle (and you can sneak your slide-whistles into the event), play them instead of chanting. Working in a team makes it easier for people to hold their ground when approached by security/GOP personnel. Perhaps you could make it an all-family outing.
- Same as #1 above, but the posse works in pairs, sitting in different parts of the stands, making a series of staggered disruptions. One team might get escorted out. Another team pipes up 5 mintues later.
- The silent option. Arrive early. Position yourselves in the front row aisle, close to the stage, or somewhere else very visible. At a signal from the team leader, put on your pinocchio-nose and stand up -- in profile to the audience/cameras. Say nothing. Just stand there. The goal is to place a subversive image in the eyes of viewers, and silently question the veracity of McCain's talking points.
Outside.
The goal here is to interact with attendees as they enter & leave the event, and to create a visually compelling tableau for the news media.
Everyone wearing Pinocchio noses, especially when all lined up in a row, can make quite an image. The more people the better, but 5, or even as few as 3, can make for a strong image. It immediately evokes the number of lies McCain tells, and the number of people upset with him for doing so.
You can also conduct a "Lie In" -- a call and response between a McCain stand-in and the rest of the team. "McCain" says a lie, and everyone else laughs (in a very visible way) after each one, maybe calling out "who are you kidding," etc. Or use the slide-whistles.
Things can get more interesting using props, as follows:
Buy or make a McCain mask and cut out a nose-hole. (Or do the same with a flat cardboard image of McCain.) Cover a long (whte or clear) balloon in "flesh-colored" panty-hose, and stick it through the hole. As each lie is spoken, inflate a little bit more. Accompany with a chant every time it inflates : "John McCain's Pinocchio -- With every lie his nose will grow!" At the end of the action, cap it off - "John McCain's Pinocchio -- Now his lies are going to blow!" And pop the balloon.