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<div><font color="#000000">Lewiston Tribune, 1/18/04</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Thanks, McKnights!</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Mark Solomon</font></div>
<div><font size="+4" color="#000000"><b><br></b></font></div>
<div><font size="+4" color="#000000"><b>Family arms loyal
opposition<br>
<br>
</b></font><font size="+1" color="#000000"><i>By DAVID JOHNSON<br>
of the Tribune<br>
<br>
</i> MOSCOW -- For the McKnight family, it started with an idea
to channel a political statement into a means of raising money for
what they consider worthy causes.<br>
<br>
So they designed a simple black bracelet inscribed with "I
Did Not Vote 4 Bush" and contracted with a company in China to
manufacture it.<br>
<br>
Then Tony and Brenda, along with their three children, began
selling the wristbands -- first on the streets of Manhattan during a
Christmas trip to New York City, then on the Internet via eBay and
their own Web site.<br>
<br>
Sales were good, but nothing like what's happened in the wake of
an Associated Press story that ran last week.<br>
<br>
"Overwhelming," said Tony, a 40-year-old private
investigator who moved here recently from California with the
family.<br>
<br>
Over the past weekend, the McKnights had more than 100,000 hits
on their Web site and suddenly sold their inventory of 50,000
bracelets at $3 a pop. Another 55,000 bracelets have been ordered, and
the family is spending 18 hours a day mailing the bracelets and black
bumper stickers with the same inscription to buyers in all 50 states
and 10 countries.<br>
<br>
"As soon as that story hit, it was amazing," said
Tony. Friday, the family was thousands of dollars in debt with their
venture. By Monday afternoon, they were struggling with how to
properly distribute the incoming money to various groups and take a
modest slice of the action for themselves.<br>
<br>
"We didn't start it for money," says Tony. "But
there's clearly a lot of support for this."<br>
<br>
The Associated Press reported at least two other similar
ventures by people making blue bracelets with the words "Count Me
Blue" and "Hope" inscribed on them. At least one
pro-Bush bracelet proclaiming "Count Me Red" was also
reported.<br>
<br>
The striking success of their black bracelet, said the
McKnights, has been mitigated by a growing number of derogatory
messages via e-mail.<br>
<br>
"It's kind of confusing," said 8-year-old Kate.
"I like doing it, but it's a lot of work, and we get a lot of
hate mail."<br>
<br>
Tony and Brenda estimated they fielded more than 200 negative
messages over the weekend, some of them downright threatening.
"Take all your crap and shove it," read one message arriving
Monday.<br>
<br>
The older children, Alek, 18, and Sasha, 16, said they're not
surprised by the negative messages as much as they are heartened by
the positive comments and placement of orders.<br>
<br>
"I would say we're a liberal family," said Alek, a
senior at Moscow High School, adding that he's proud of his family's
willingness to exercise free speech and support progressive causes.
Although they haven't settled on the exact percentages, the McKnights
said proceeds from sales will go to groups like MoveOn.Org, the Sierra
Club, the Afghan Women's Fund, People for the American Way, the
American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations named on their
Web site.<br>
<br>
"It's fun, even if it's just putting stickers on little
bags," said Sasha as she packaged bracelets in the basement of
the family home. All five family members have been working to mail the
bracelets and bumper stickers and Brenda, 40, said she fears that
local U.S. Postal Service officials aren't prepared for what might be
ahead.<br>
<br>
"What comes next is really a big question," said Tony.
As of Monday night, the McKnight Web site continued to be active with
more than 104,000 hits registered.<br>
<br>
The main purposes behind the effort, according to the Web site,
is to help people "remain visible protesters to the policies of
George Bush," to raise money for "progressive causes that
will fight Bush's most destructive policies," and "to show
the world that not all Americans are to blame."<br>
<br>
Tony and Brenda confess they thought the effort would appeal to
the politically left but had no intention to rile the right. "I'm
just disturbed by this whole thing," said Brenda, who asked that
her photo not be taken. "I think I am
patriotic."</font></div>
<div><font size="+1" color="#000000"><br>
Tony called the bracelet a "subtle" and "peaceful
protest" that doesn't deserve to be "slammed for being
un-American." It's a spin-off of sorts from America cycling
champion Lance Armstrong's yellow "LIVESTRONG" wristbands
created to raise funds for cancer research.<br>
<br>
Some of the negative comments they've received, said Tony,
accuse his family of robbing from cancer research to support a
political point of view. Tony and Brenda insist the United States
remains a "nation divided," and half the country should not
be silenced because a small majority won an election.<br>
<br>
"In order for a division to be perpetuated, there have to
be two sides to start with," said Tony. The family thinks orders
for their wristbands may continue to grow through and beyond Bush's
second inauguration Thursday. "So the next thing we're going to
do is stuff more envelopes."<br>
<br>
It is, said the family members, an exercise in freedom of
speech.<br>
<br>
"You can't do anything about it," said Kate as she
fixed another address sticker to an envelope. "We're going to
keep on doing it, even if you don't like it."<br>
<br>
------<br>
<br>
Johnson may be contacted at deveryone@potlatch.com</font></div>
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