Sacramento rally backs invasion
3,000 show up to counter large-scale war protests in S.F.

Sacramento -- "Let's show those protesters in San Francisco that we support the troops!" a woman screamed into a megaphone outside the Capitol. Moments later Saturday, a sneering mention of the city gets a low-rumble "boooooo" from the crowd.

It was characterized as a Rally for America -- more than 3,000 demonstrators gathered on the west steps chanting "USA, USA, USA," waving dozens of U.S. flags.

The rally also was a response to the large-scale demonstrations in San Francisco. Organizers -- including a local news radio station that broadcasts live from the Capitol steps -- said many probably arrived at the rally simply because of disgust at the high-profile Bay Area demonstrations.

David Reynolds, 46, a truck driver from Sacramento, held up a sign that insulted the Dixie Chicks, a country band whose lead singer recently said she was ashamed of President Bush. As for the San Francisco protesters, Reynolds said he had "no sympathy for whatever karmas those people draw upon themselves.

"They deserve every last drop of it, because they are not thinking of humanity, only their selfish little egos and their own little crises and what they want right now," Reynolds said. "They have no big picture other than that they are right, and everyone else sucks."

The rally included cheers for soldiers and veterans mixed with patriotic marches from John Philip Sousa and religious imagery. The opening prayer praised smart bombs and precision-guided missiles and included an exhortation that "our armies are dependent upon you (God) as the armies of Israel depended upon you in the past."

"The freedoms we enjoy were paid for in blood. We have to realize that," said Craig DeLuz, chairman of the California Black Republican Council, who told the crowd that the Bible approves of wars against evil. "There are times when peace can only come through conflict."

The Sacramento demonstration was part of several pro-troop rallies throughout the country Saturday, including those in Chicago and Tennessee, many of them promoted by news and talk radio stations. Only a handful of peace demonstrators showed up at the Capitol rally, resulting in a few shouting matches.

"Go to San Francisco! It works better there," one woman screamed at another woman holding up a sign that read, "We Love France."

Certainly, there are many anti-war voices in Sacramento and surrounding towns. Several thousand people, from old-timer peace activists to lunch-bucket state workers, gathered Feb. 15 at the Capitol to protest the then-pending war.

A peace demonstration is planned for today at the Capitol.

But there are stark differences between the Bay Area and Central Valley, highlighted by a public opinion poll taken in February by the Public Policy Institute of California. When it comes to war and Bush, there are two states reflecting very different images of each other.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed in the Central Valley supported an Iraq war; 55 percent in the Bay Area opposed it. The president was given a favorable rating from 60 percent of Central Valley residents, while 60 percent of Bay Area residents disapproved of the president.

"People say, 'What's with California?' And I say, 'Which California are you talking about?' " said Mark Baldassare, research director of the Public Policy Institute.

The Capitol rally was one of several across the country supported by radio outlets owned by Clear Channel Communications, the nation's largest operator of news and talk stations. Clear Channel has described the demonstrations as "just patriotic rallies" initiated by Philadelphia host Glenn Beck and individual Clear Channel stations.

The local Sacramento station, KFBK, broadcast live from the Capitol rally, and its evening host, Mark Williams, was the master of ceremonies. His motto is: "It's not right vs. left . . . it's right vs. wrong."

Several other conservative groups and individuals sponsored the Saturday event, including Republican state Sen. Rico Oller, who took money from his taxpayer-funded office account to help pay for the sound system.

But the efforts by Clear Channel stations to promote the pro-troop rallies nationwide, then treat them as news events, concerns media analysts. One media observer questioned whether the rallies also serve to promote talk show host Beck.

"I am in favor of freedom of speech. On the other hand, it feels like self- promotion to me to get him more listeners," said Joan Deppa, associate professor at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. "That is the name of the game in radio, as it is in television,

which is to increase your audience."

Williams said a single listener suggested the rally in an e-mail to Beck that was forwarded to him. Williams said he contacted local conservative activists and began promoting it on the air, but said no corporate orders were given to hold a rally in Sacramento.

"This has been a genuine organic kind of thing," Williams said in an interview. "In fact, having the call letters involved was a last-minute kind of thing, once they realized there would be people here. This one pretty much grew up on its own."