  The last 24 hours have been truly magical. Last night our family went to the Boise Astronomical Society's star party at Black's Creek Rifle Range east of Boise. I brought my small 50mm Polaris Meade telescope and pointed it at Mars. The turnout was huge. The available parking was overwhelmed with cars. Suddenly people lined up by the dozens to see the Red Planet through my telescope. Even though Mars was low on the horizon, and my telescope is far too small to see any surface detail, it was clear that many people had never gotten a better view of Mars in their lives. Many expressed their feelings with "Wow" or "Cool", or simply "Thank you". Some asked questions, and it was quite wonderful to be able to share my knowledge of the stars with others.
This morning we got up early to drive to the Boise airport see Howard Dean on his campaign tour on the way to Portland and Seattle. A crowd of over 400 people turned out. I saw a number of friends and made new friends in the crowd. It was truly inspiring. Dean is just as powerful a speaker in person as he is online or on television. Dean promised to campaign in Idaho during the general election, and to help grow the Democratic party in Idaho. Dean said that the way to make this happen is for Democratic candidates to say what they think and stand up proudly for what they believe in. Even though I am independent I think a strengthened Democratic party in Idaho would be a good thing. Idaho is so Republican that politicians no longer really bother to campaign. It would be better if candidates of both parties had to actively campaign and address issues of the day to win the support of swing voters.
Dean also said that we need to do a better job of supporting the troops in Iraq. Those of us who are against the war shouldn't be angry at the troops, we should be angry at the Bush administration for sending them there and not getting them enough international support to share the burden of policing Iraq. As for the Bush administration increasing their stay and cutting their pay, Dean said "I think that stinks".
Near the end of his speech, Dean picked up an American flag, and speaking of the fact that John Ashcroft is coming to Boise Monday to promote the Patriot Act, said that the flag doesn't belong to the right wing of the Republican Party, it belongs to all Americans. I decided to go out and buy an American flag for the first time. I will put it up on my home this week. As soon as I can, I will get a United Nations flag to go alongside it, in honor of the UN workers who were murdered in Iraq while trying to help the Iraqi people. 
