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Fifth Column
The "Usual Suspects" awaiting President’s Visit
2003-08-21
President Bush will make his first visit to Washington state since the 2000 election on Friday to promote his environmental policies and raise money for the Republican Party, but protesters plan to haunt his short stay. Washington is part of a sweep he’s making through the Northwest. He’s going to rural areas — the Deschutes Forest in Oregon and the Tri-Cities area in Washington — to promote his environmental policy, but he’ll be stopping off for fund-raisers in Portland tomorrow and Hunts Point on Lake Washington on Friday. Already, protest banners are being unfurled and demonstrations are sprouting throughout the central Puget Sound region as his Friday visit draws near. Events are planned for tomorrow, Friday and Saturday in Seattle, Tacoma and Bellevue.
Get your banners, can’t have a protest without banners.
Labor, environmental, abortion-rights and anti-war groups are objecting to just about everything Bush does, including his economic, environmental and foreign policies. "We object to President Bush being in Seattle. We would like the Northwest to be a George Bush-free zone," said Hannah McFarland, a spokeswoman for the Majority Visibility Project, a group formed to protest the war in Iraq.
And they did such a good job of stopping that.
The King County Republican Party and other groups supporting the president are sponsoring a welcoming rally in Bellevue at the corner of Northeast Eighth Street and Bellevue Way from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. "They wanted to send a message they welcome the president," said Mary Lane, a spokeswoman for the state Republican Party. Plenty of other groups will be sending the opposite signal, including a group that calls itself the Eighth and Bellevue Way Committee. They will be competing for space with Bush supporters to protest a broad spectrum of the president’s policies.
They’ll be the ones with spittle running down their shirts.
Not far away, at Bellevue’s Crossroads Park, the Bremerton Metal Trades Council and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers plan a rally and then hope to greet Bush, if he drives to the McCaw home, by lining up protesters along the road leading to the residence. "He’s selling out the jobs in this country," said Mike Goddard, a spokesman for the group, which represents about 12,000 workers employed by private companies and government agencies. "It’s all about big business to him. He doesn’t care about labor. We don’t like what he’s doing."
"Nope. Nope. Never have. Never will."
The union plans to haul in up to 2,000 protesters by bus to the road leading to McCaw’s home, Goddard said. The event will last from noon to 2 p.m. The union, Washington State Democrats and other groups have a separate rally planned at Victor Steinbrueck Park next to Pike Place Market from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Environmental groups also are making the most of the president’s visit. Tomorrow, the Sierra Club’s Washington, D.C.-based executive director, Carl Pope, who will be following Bush up the coast, will join several environmental groups and Physicians for Social Responsibility in a Seattle news conference condemning the president’s environmental policies.
"Nossir. I don't like 'em."
Friday, at Jack Hyde Park in Tacoma, the groups will host a protest rally with speakers including Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma. "Tacoma provides a perfect storm of things Bush has been doing to us, from weakening protections for salmon streams to trying to weaken Endangered Species Act protections," said Kathleen Casey, with the Sierra Club in Seattle. "It’ll involve a broad spectrum of folks. And it’s not just about forest protection, but about the economy, public health and his failure to protect the overall quality of life in Washington."
"It's about his very existence! Oh, why, oh, why did I vote for Ralph?... But I'd do it again. Yes, I would..."
About 20 environmental organizations also have joined to take out full-page advertisements in newspapers in Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma, lambasting Bush for raising money in Washington while "wreaking havoc" on our environment, Casey said. On Saturday, the Majority Visibility Project, among other groups, plans to hold a rally at Myrtle Edwards Park in Seattle at noon and then march down Alaskan Way from Broad Street to Spring Street and back. They will be protesting "the world view of the Bush administration," McFarland said.
That’s their big problem, he doesn’t have a "world view", he has an American view. Board up your shops, and get the tear gas ready, it’s gonna be a busy weekend.
Posted by:Steve

#9  He's wreaking havoc, I tell ya!!! WREAKING HAVOC!!!

Posted by: tu3031   2003-8-21 11:52:51 PM  

#8  The only good that will come of this is that the envirogroupies tend to run around naked with slogans painted on their shapely firm little butts.
Posted by: SOG475   2003-8-21 11:34:10 PM  

#7  Bring on that Abrams tank! Liking that image in my head.... still remembering this in Seattle -- the riots against the WTO, on December 2, 1999 -- and this was with Clinton in charge -- had to bring troops in.. indeed...
http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/02/wto.05/

Yea... bring on the Abrams -- these folks started the 60's.. still live in the 60's.... how many organizations will be there? Hummm... maybe I can go and protest about my not having.........
Posted by: Me   2003-8-21 11:22:13 PM  

#6  "Of course, making the connection needs more neurons than are left after 30 years of smoking pot and drinking beer"

I can personally vouch that that is not true (although Merlot has replaced beer)....um..wait..what was the question?
Posted by: Frank G   2003-8-21 9:25:45 PM  

#5  Maybe George should drive through Washington in an Abrams tank, flanked on both sides by chain-gun wielding Bradleys.

It's easy and cheap to "oppose" or "protest". It takes time, effort, money, and an IQ above 20 to actually DO something about all the problems that exist in this nation. Unfortunately, the protest-mentality groups are also the ones that helped cause a lot of the problems that need to be solved. Of course, making the connection needs more neurons than are left after 30 years of smoking pot and drinking beer.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-8-21 8:57:39 PM  

#4  ...and "Free Mumia" signs. Those are a must.
Posted by: tu3031   2003-8-21 8:46:59 PM  

#3  I hope they have the giant puppets - nothing declares your seriousness on the issues like a giant paper-machier puppet
Posted by: Frank G   2003-8-21 5:49:50 PM  

#2  These asshats fail to note that Bush signed on to lower diesel emissions, which will be a substantial good for the environment. He also signed protectionist legislation for steel, timber and farms -- so much for the "anti-jobs" claim. And he signed an education bill that even Ted Kennedy liked.

Nope, these asshats are just card-carrying members of the Not-So-Vast-Left-Wing-Conspiracy, and just as goofy as the VRWC.
Posted by: Steve White   2003-8-21 5:14:09 PM  

#1  "his failure to protect the overall quality of life in Washington"

Now, where is that in the Constitution?
Posted by: Matt   2003-8-21 4:48:13 PM  

00:00