American Protests



Bush will need 7 fresh Supreme Court Justices to get Selected the next time!!


This is a good refrigerator piece to smile to in hard times.Let Us Not Forget The Inaguration Egg

...On Inauguration Day I had switched to C-Span because I was growing sick of the commentators yakking it up or cutting away every time Dubya's motorcade came across one of the many thousands of robbed voters who booed him. C-Span was showing just sound and pictures, no talk. Then it happened. I had to look twice to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing. But there it was. So beautiful and so appropriate on this dark day.

The egg. That wonderful angry egg.

I remember the feeling of satisfaction seeing that blessed projectile slamming into his limousine. I tried to remember, did Clinton get egged at his inauguration?

No.

Did Reagan or Bush Sr. get egged at their inauguration?

No.

But there it was. And soon it was joined by another, and another. I remember wishing that the limo would be turned into a raw, dripping obscenity on wheels but soon the driver realized what the gas pedal was for and they sped off.

In the crazy days since 9/11, it's been difficult for some folks to re-visit the anger and sense of despair we all felt that day in January. For some reason, some people feel that Dubya woke up on Sept. 12th and became FDR. The media kept telling everybody that he had somehow "grown into the presidency" while we all shook our heads and said "Excuse me??" The underhanded way Bush had stolen away the will of the American people caused many to speculate as to what really happened on that tragic day last fall. We were and are being constantly told how united we are without ever once hearing somebody, anybody, speak on behalf of the misgivings many are having concerning all this mess. We find ourselves identifying with a roach like Trent Lott when he said in 1998 he could support the troops without supporting the president.

But unlike Senator "Toupee" and his jab at Clinton, it is not blatant partisanship which makes us question the actual motives in Bush Inc.'s policies. It's because we simply do not trust him or any of them! They do not now, nor did they then, have anything resembling a mandate. Yet they continue to prey upon our weakness and grief over September 11th to try to make this country an ugly place. Whether it be a unified hatred for all things Muslim or foreign to the wanton rape of this country in the name of "security." From the plundering of our civil liberties in order to advance a government sponsored form of xenophobia to the denial of access to information concerning who really runs this administration.

Bush and Company have desecrated the memory of lost souls in September by using them as a vehicle to do what we wouldn't have allowed them to do prior to that horrible day. And every time somebody says "wait a minute" they have the audacity to point to the wreckage in NYC and say "this is why. This is why we want you to stay paranoid. This is why we are going to raise pollution limits. This is why you must spy on your neighbor. This is why you should stop asking questions about Enron. This is why I'm going to make Daddy rich with weapons the military says are useless and out of date. This is why you shouldn't pry into exactly how terribly I screwed up." It's not even a matter of reading between the double-speak anymore. They are being shamelessly conspicuous about it. And, so far, they're still getting away with it.

So we go back to Democratic Underground, Bush Watch, Democrats, Bartcop and BuzzFlash.com to make sure we're not going crazy. We watch garbage passing as news on television and wonder if these journalists are really that stupid or merely being manipulated. We zip back to Liberal Slant, Common Dreams or America Held Hostile because we crave to hear the voices of those who speak how we feel. Or we run to MWO and FAIR just to be sure somebody else knows that Rush and O'Reilly are ignorant shills. It's so easy to begin to feel like we're alone and that nobody is hearing how we feel. Then writers like Moore or Carville come out with something that reminds us that we're not crazy. That we're not alone. So what if Barnes and Noble or Borders hide these books in the back of the store. That doesn't stop us from bringing them back up front where they belong does it? That's right. That's what I did. They only had five copies of "Stupid White Men" left so I brought them up front and placed them on top of O'Reilly's and Buchanan's books. I like to call it "Stealth Activism." Try it out sometime because I guarantee you'll feel better.

There are signs recently that the worm is beginning to turn. Daschle and others, including some Republicans, are beginning to ask questions and put up roadblocks when it comes to Bush's War. People's tolerance for the secretive operation that is Bush Inc. is starting to fray and wear thin; much like the cheap flags they spent $14.99 for back in September. No matter how much the "freepers" have tried to discredit Moore's book, it's still a number one best seller. Things are starting to change for the Smirking Chimp (yes, another good site to check out) that we've been forced to call "Mr. President." Spring will be here soon and somehow it feels like this winter wasteland of a sham presidency may thaw with the ice and snow as well. Like a woodland pond in April the ice will thin and George and Company will fall into the still frigid waters. It would make a great Hallmark card.

"Sorry to hear of your loss...you Thief!"

But, alas, we know Bush won't give up. Not easily. He's going to keep on going, and the media is going to keep on white washing and we're going to keep on getting frustrated. The little fortunate draft dodging AWOL-er is going to keep nauseating us with his "Let's Roll" garbage while the folks from Fox will still become orgasmic when they speak of Bush's leadership qualities. That's when we need to remember January 20th. That's when we need to embrace the above mentioned and other web sites which remind us we're not alone. That's when we need to remember "The Egg." That's when we need to go to the local bookstore and practice a little "Stealth Activism." Trust me. You really will feel better. --David Jenkins MORE.

(BushWatch)


'Chorus of Dissent' greets Bush at St. Pat's Parade by Chris Geovanis/CIMC 5:37pm Sat Mar 16 '02 (Modified on 9:34pm Mon Mar 18 '02) article#8742

George Bush was greeted with catcalls, jeers and ‘carols of dissent’ at his appearance at Chicago’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, sparking glares from political officials on the parade reviewing stand and outrage among Republican Party loyalists who had gathered to greet ‘Dubya’. Photos by Chris Geovanis & Dick Reilly/CIMC.

U.S. President George Bush was greeted with catcalls, protest signs and ‘carols of dissent’ during his appearance at Chicago’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 16, sparking glares from political officials on the parade reviewing stand and outrage among Republican Party loyalists who had gathered to greet ‘Dubya’.

Saturday’s anti-shrub actions included caroling by a group of activists assembled under the moniker the ‘Chorus of Dissent’, as well as a contingent of anti-war cyclists and pockets of protesters waving anti-administration and anti-war signs and banners along the Columbus Drive parade route.

“We’re here to protest the illegitimacy of this presidency and the awful policies of this administration,” said one ‘Chorus’ member. “Bush’s war on terrorism is really a war to protect corporate power at the expense of free speech and human rights,” said another protester.

Protesters came armed with a sweeping array of banners and signs that denounced Bush’s ties to the Enron debacle, called on the Bush regime to free hundreds of mostly Arab and East Asian detainees, condemned the administration's 'war on terrorism', and -- in a nod to the St. Patrick’s day holiday spirit -- derided the Bush/Cheney/Ashcroft ‘Axis o’ Evil’.

One particularly visible and powerful sign was drawn to mimic the ‘These Colors Don’t Run’ logo that has sprouted up across the country -- and reframed to say ‘These colors don’t bleed -- the innocent do.’

Chorus of Dissent participants spent more than an hour at the main reviewing stand singing tunes that included ‘We Should Impeach the Bogus King’ (sung to the tune of ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’), ‘Georgy, Georgy is a Fascist (sung to the tune of ‘Glory, Glory, Hallelujah’), and ‘The Shady Bunch’ (sung to the tune of ‘The Brady Bunch’).

Republican Party loyalists at the reviewing stand tried to drown out protesters by shouting them down, telling them to go back to Afghanistan, jeering the invocation of free speech rights, and chanting ‘U.S.A! U.S.A!’ as Bush disembarked from his limousine. Bush opponents were undeterred, and continued to sing and chant relatively unmolested after Bush and his entourage hastily left the area.

Protesters passed out literature that documented a host of legislation, policies and funding cuts the Bush administration has rammed through since Dubya took power that they argue hurts the environment, displaced workers, the working poor and others. Those policies include cutting $39 million in federal funding to libraries; cutting $35 million for doctors’ pediatric training; revoking rules to reduce arsenic in drinking water; cutting 50% from research into renewable energy; Bush’s abandonment of a campaign pledge to invest $100 million for rain forest conservation; cutting 86% from a program that funds care for people without insurance; cutting $200 million in work-force training for displaced workers; cutting $700 million in capital funds for public housing repairs; Bush’s closing of the White House Office for Women’s Health Initiatives & Outreach; Bush’s gutting of the White House AIDS Office; and the Bush regime’s refusal to fund continued clean-up of a uranium-slag heap in Utah.

Many parade attendees -- outside of irked Bush loyalists -- seemed to welcome the protesters’ message.

One woman stopped to talk to 'Chorus' participants and said, “I want to stand by you all. The war in Afghanistan is stupid and terrible, and it’s really good that you’ve come out here to speak out.”

Another man with his wife and child stopped to talk to the protesters when he saw a sign of Bush with his lips sewn shut and ‘Enron’ tattooed to his forehead. “Man, that Enron thing is really something, with all those people losing their pensions. I’m unemployed myself so it’s good unemployment benefits are going to be expanded, but these guys in Washington -- all they do is talk, talk, talk while the rest of us struggle.”

http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=8742&group=webcast