Boisean helps organize Million Muppet March | Boise, Garden City ...

Boisean Chris Mecham hopes adults and children will participate in the Million Muppet March Nov. 3. The puppet-themed march aims to rally support for PBS.

Photo by CHRISTINA BIRKINBINE ? Submitted by Chris Mecham

Chris Mecham doesn?t have a TV antenna or cable, so he watched the first presidential debate via live streaming video on a computer at his Boise Bench home.

Mitt Romney?s promise to end federal subsidies to PBS ? despite his affection for Big Bird ? ruffled Mecham?s feathers.

The 46-year-old Boise State University student grew up with ?Sesame Street,? and he?s a believer in the public broadcasting?s mission to help educate young children.

?I was 2 years old the year ?Sesame Street? came on,? he said Sunday. ?We lived in a white-and-pink trailer on the Utah State University campus, where my dad was studying mechanical engineering.?

He believes Romney was pandering to conservatives when he invoked Big Bird.

?Big Bird was just code for socialist indoctrination. It made me furious,? said Mecham, noting that he?d just finished reading Barry Goldwater?s ?The Conscience of the Conservative.?

During the Oct. 3 debate, he threw up a Facebook page advertising a ?Million Muppet March? and sent invitations to all his friends.

?I wanted to express my opinion in a way that was productive, and more positive,? he said.

Within minutes, the page had a couple hundred ?likes,? meaning viewers support it. Mecham also received a message from a PBS fan in Los Angeles named Michael Bellavia.

Bellavia, president of the animation studio Animax Entertainment, told Mecham that he had bought the Web address www.millionmuppetmarch.com ? and he wanted to organize a real rally, not just a virtual one.

The two men, who spoke on the phone the night of the debate, decided to team up in organizing a puppet-themed rally in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Nov. 3.

?We?ll create the biggest digital show of support we can, as well as an action in Washington,? Mecham said. ?Hopefully, people on both sides of the (political) aisle will see that there are people who support this particular institution.?

Mecham plans to stay with his cousin in Washington. He encourages those who can?t travel to the nation?s capitol are encouraged to hold rallies ? bringing sock puppets or wearing Big Bird costumes ? in their own communities.

The social media campaign has picked up steam, and now the Million Muppet March page on Facebook has nearly 18,500 ?likes.? Mecham became a public figure overnight, fielding calls from media outlets across the globe, including Reuters, the Hollywood Reporter and The Guardian newspaper in London.

?Someplace in New Zealand wants to talk to us,? he said.

Mecham said he has had to delete some hate speech against President Barack Obama on the march?s Facebook page. He said posts that used the ?N word? appeared after Drudge Report linked to the Reuters story about the march.

Mecham has also taken some verbal abuse by anonymous commenters online.

?I?ve been told that I need to move out of my parents? basement and to get a real job,? he said.

Mecham, who grew up in a Mormon family in Idaho Falls, said he owns his own house and car. He?s previously worked as a writer, and he shares some of the highs and lows of his life, including gaining sobriety after drug addiction, in a blog titled ?The Last Chance Texaco.?

He is currently studying political science at Boise State but would like to work in counseling or behavioral research.

Mecham said there are some issues he cares deeply about, but this is the first time he?s become a vocal activist. He?s been surprised at reaction in social media.

?Watching the whole thing explode. It?s like going off the rails on a crazy train,? he said.

Katy Moeller: 377-6413

Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/10/15/2310488/boisean-helps-organize-million.html

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