http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/9k8lq/i_bel... I'm not sure whether it took great sleuthing or not to ferret me out, I've had telephone calls from all over the country and emails from all over the world. It really is hard not to tear up reading gushing praise --- a little like overhearing one's funeral, I suspect, but the fact of the matter is . . . oh, go listen to Yule Brenner's speech at the end of the Magnificent Seven. Or think, single mother with a child who gets a terrible diagnosis and no insurance, yet keeps working, driving the others to day care . . .
no need to get maudlin, you get the picture. The reality is that I talked to a friend of mine before I went, and we discussed what I needed to do. This sounds so hokey, but my focus was Gandhi. I didn't really think anyone there would try to hurt me, and I knew that the others were intelligent enough to stop her if she hit me. But more than that, I knew that any blow struck at me would hurt them 1,000 times more than it could ever hurt me. The damage it would do to the self-esteem of the thousands in their movement that saw it would be sooooooo much more painful to them than it would to me. With that confidence, I had very high faith that nobody would do me any real damage. As to the police escort --- well, you can't arrange for that. The video was the final five minutes of a 30 minute walk. I did not know the two officers at the beginning of the video were there, so I really don't know how far along I was when they arrived, but the other 4 or 5 or 6 arrived later. Weren't they spectacular? Not that I'm under any illusion that being an old fat white guy didn't help in that regard. But that you so much for your kind thoughts. If you'd like to know how I would like to be honored, I'll tell you: go to
www.my.barackobama.com and that will put you into Organizing for America. From there, sign up and plug in your zip code and you'll be directed to events near you. Do that for me, and we're more than square. Edward Kimmel Takoma Park
