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Edited on Sun Aug-08-04 06:17 PM by jmknapp
Ultimately there were about 200 (conservatively) of us protesting across the street from where Bush spoke at the Aladdin Shrine temple.
It started slow about 10:00, but people kept trickling in. Large contingents from Planned Parenthood and AFCSME boosted the numbers.
Around 10:00, three hours before the arrival of the Dark Lord, there were just a four of us across the street from the hall, but a cop made us go down the street further. There was some local media interviewing the other three people (from Planned Parenthood) and I could see this cop was getting anxious hovering around us but I guess not wanting to interrupt the news crew. I could hear him on his walkie talkie ("This is supposed to be a secure area and people are standing here!"). Anyway, after the news crew finished we moved as directed.
The motorcade finally came by about 12:30 and by that time said throng had developed and there were all kinds of signs and banners and flags and drums, much chanting and some street theater (play the George Bush "Wheel of Misfortune" game!). There was a "billionaire" in top hat and tails, with a well-stuffed waistcoat of dollar bills, some sticking out. One guy dressed up as Pinocchio.
One extremely bellicose guy was leading a bunch of chants. One time he suddenly yelled, pointed to a suit and said "look at the Secret Service agent everybody." The suited one had a transmitter in his ear and a lapel pin with some symbol on it. The suit got ticked off and started telling the chant leader something and the chanter told him to "fuck off." I though that telling a SS agent off was pretty brave, and said so to a black guy in sports clothes next to me who was standing with a red-headed woman also casually dressed. That guy said, why do you say he's a SS agent, you don't know what you're talking about. Definite attitude. Anyway, turns out that both were undercover Columbus cops, along with the redhead. This became evident later. At least three undercover cops working the crowd (and there were more suspicious-looking people in suits like one guy who could have passed for Dan Quayle, pacing around). Why they need to put undercover cops in the crowd is beyond me. They all seemed to have an attitude problem about the protestors too.
There were Bush supporters in the crowd too (less than 10%). One woman had brought her three little daughters each with bow in hair and with signs that said "We love the President." They also had flip-flops that said on the soles "I (heart) GW." They were pretty bored-looking, and it was funny when some hippie/pagan chicks who brought some hula hoops asked the girls if they wanted to use them. They had a blast.
Some Republican asshole was running around trying to pick verbal fights with all and sundry. Somebody told me that he was a "plant." He sure stayed until the last dog was hung. He had a hands-free mike and earpiece and was always hovering around the center of action.
A portly older Vietnam vet (self-proclaimed) was mouthing off about Kerry faking his medals. I was worried about him, he seemed about to pop a bood vessel. He told a news reporter "Kerry should be shot or hung as a traitor, not be running for president." Another time a cool guy from the Sierra Club was calmly debating him and the guy flipped out and started taking off his shirt so we could see his scars. He was wild-eyed.
There was group of people from the Techneglas factory that was just closed in Columbus a few days ago (400 jobs outsourced overseas, factory closed with zero warning).
Best sign:
No CARB diet:
No Cheney
No Ashcroft
No Rumsfeld
No Bush
The class distinctions were interesting among the ticketed Republicans. So, so whitebread and well-coiffed. They were all dressed to the nines like they were going to church. Abundant navy blue-suited women. They probably bought most of those suits with money made during the Clinton boom.
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