National Reports

Austin TX - April 27, 2001

News from the University of TX at Austin's new library

Today, over 200 good patriots showed up in Austin, Texas, to welcome former Governor Bush as he dedicated a new library at the University. We were kept too far away from the ceremony to even see it, as he was padded by tables serving hors d'ouvres and drinks to a thousand paying guests. Then between the tables and guests and the intrepid honoree were rows and rows of public school buses and state troopers and barricades. Alas, we missed what was surely an articulate speech. I do give Mr. Bush the benefit of the doubt and refer to his stutterings as "articulate" if he doesn't clutch his own throat while trying to speak.

Early, there was some confusion as we were directed from place to place and had a little difficulty getting together in one place. In fact, I don't yet know how many may not have ever found us, as I was sent around buildings to four different destinations before finally finding one that worked. We were met with a very fiery bunch from the Austin Democracy Coalition. I spoke briefly with three reporters from the Austin Statesman, and as I arrived here at Gina's in San Antonio tonight, I find that I'm quoted, but it's badly confused. I was carrying a sign saying, "AWOL -- please try it again, Mr. Bush." One of the reporters asked me what that meant and I explained how at the heart it referred to Bush's eight months of unexplained absence from the National Guard. Somehow, as it was written up, the journalist concluded and wrote that I was protesting Bush's joining of the National Guard instead of going to Vietnam. I am afraid he may have missed the real intention - that Mr. Bush would be doing us a great favor if he'd pull his AWOL trick at the White House.

I was interviewed by the local TV station that carries Fox News, but I doubt the interview will be played tonight. The young woman who interviewed me commented that the controversy over the election itself was now over, since it had been recently shown that Bush did indeed win Florida. I had to explain to her about the Miami Herald article and that results from the larger consortium (NY Times, Washington Post, and CNN) were not yet available.

Within shouting distance, the thousand paying guests were queued up as they entered their area, very slowly. One woman approached me to say, "You really have your nerve." After I agreed with her that yes, I thought I did, she lit into Clinton, and the vacuousness of her objections grew with amazing speed. She left, then returned for a second round, huffed off again, and came back for thirds. She was REALLY angry when she left the third time, after I explained that she just didn't understand the potential of all this, how handy it would be if - in 4 years - they could simply announce the winner in October, saving us the trouble of going to the polls in November. As far as I know, however, there was little friction between the two groups. That may be because we outnumbered them about ten to one. There was also a small Taiwan contingency with signs saying, "Thank you, President Bush." Wished I'd had some old mushroom cloud posters with me.

One of everyone's favorite chants seemed to be, "Hey, hey, hey, Why are we so far away?" Someone from Austin's Democracy Coalition had a bullhorn, and after it was over, a woman who works on the twelfth floor of the building behind us came down to tell me that we were so loud they couldn't hear Bush on TV.

Wish our numbers had been bigger, but we were loud and energetic, and it was great to meet people previously known only online. And it was one more chance to remind them that we're not going way.

Lisa

Kalamazoo MI - March 27, 2001

News from Western Michigan University

Incredible. Imagine 500+ protesters lined up along the sidewalk in front of the auditorium were his Fraudulency was speaking. Bongo drums' playing chants rebounding off the side of the building. Signs with every slogan imaginable, a huge float with a CO2 container on a trailer driving up and down the street. Cars passing by honking their support, municipal buses, some drivers honking support with passengers raising their fists in support or clapping at us.

For complete report & pictures see http://www.legitgov.org

Portland ME - March 23, 2001

Two hundred protesters give "Back-door Bush" a frosty reception in Portland, Maine

Governor Bush snuck in and out of Maine on Friday, but despite his secrecy and a spring blizzard, 200 protesters showed up to greet him. The White House had given the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce only two weeks' notice that the UnPresident would be speaking to them on March 23. A small blurb mentioning the event appeared in the local papers on Monday, but no details were given on where he would be speaking. The Chamber of Commerce told callers that they "weren't at liberty to say." The information could be found on their web site, however, so word quickly spread among those interested in protesting. What I wonder is, wouldn't the White House normally want people to know the details of a "presidential" visit? Because you would think that they would want people to come and try to at least get a glimpse of the their new "president," wouldn't you? I remember when I lived in New Hampshire a few years ago that Vice President Gore came frequently to speak and there was certainly never any secretiveness about any details of his visits.

Il Bushe's smirking countenance was not seen by any of the protesters, but most of us did see his car. He arrived, by way of back streets, at the Salvation Army shelter and made a brief tour. Then he went around half a block by car and went into the back door of the auditorium where he was speaking. The streets were all blocked off. A tent was in place in front of the door and we saw the black SUV with flags drive into the tent. We were about half a block away. The tents of the flap were then put down, so that he could exit the SUV in private and enter the building. Is this standard security procedure or is he just afraid to face real live American people? The protesters chanted "Back-door Bush!"

Some local news was there and a couple of radio stations did interviews with a few protesters. Two photographers from the Associated Press took my picture because they liked my sign which featured two pictures of Smirky showing his usual comical expressions.

When the people who had come to hear Mr. Bush speak came out at the end of the speech they had to walk pretty much single-file between barriers. Protesters were lined up and chanting on either side of the barriers. Both the Bush audience and the protesters were generally friendly, though, because Mainers are pretty laid-back type people. Most of the audience people smiled and laughed at the humorous signs. Only a very few looked angry or said things like, "Show respect for the President!" I'll bet those were the same people that showed zero respect for President Clinton! I noticed that the majority of people in the audience were men and most were wearing business suits, so many of them might have been Chamber of Commerce members. The crowd appeared to be all white, which isn't surprising since Maine is 98% white. But I was surprised to see that maybe only 20% of the group were women. Most of the women wore business dress, as well, but a sizable number of them had a sort of "conservative Republican" look about them. Sort of a "Katherine Harris" look, with silk scarves and Monet-type jewelry, but not quite as much make-up.

There were only two counter-protesters there and they held up Bush-Cheney campaign signs. Many people speculated that perhaps they were paid to be there because they didn't seem too serious, they were just laughing the whole time.

It was interesting to talk to many of the protesters. People had come from all over Maine and a few had come from Boston. Their signs represented various causes like nuclear disarmament, the environment, the stolen election, taxes, health care, the sanctions against Iraq, and many others. Many people joked that the new administration is so bad that they had trouble even deciding which terrible, destructive policy to protest!

After about 3 hours we all went home with extremely frozen fingers and toes. It had stopped snowing, but it was still cold. We were glad we had gone to protest. As one of the protesters wrote in an email afterwords, "We can't let Bush, his coup leaders, and the American people forget that what happened in the election was wrong and ultimately damaging to freedom and democracy. Our demonstrations won't change the past and, by themselves, won't change the dangerous course we're headed on. But they provide a necessary service: to be the memory and the conscience for a nation too easy to hypnotize, too quick to forget.

Connie

Los Angeles CA - March 22, 2001

Good news from the front lines. Local Hispanics joined anti-Bush protestors at Morningside Elementary. Very few Shrub supporters. Supporters and critics of Mexico's Vicente Fox comprise largest group.

National media brought in via alternate entrance to ensure they wouldn't see us. Local media got an eyeful. Mrs. Shrub, and those that accompanied her, also got an eyeful of protest signs.

The Occidental College (private college, we were kept off campus) event was strictly a photo-op for Mrs. Shrub. College newspaper staff mentioned that there is an active, progressive student organization on campus. However, this photo-op event was staged during semester break most likely to avoid student confrontations. The community at both sites were overwhelmingly supportive of anti-shrub protestors. More details to follow by others.

Hector

Report from Jamie - moderator trustthepeople-la, countercoup.org

edwin pondered rather cosmically today:
The whole world will be on our side. We are just very sensitive souls who are ahead of many others in what will become a movement of earthshattering proportions and epoch-making results. Of this, I have no doubt at all.

As we were protesting outside occidental college at the laura bush appearance today in los angeles....dozens of cars drove past and honked or gave us a thumbs up. only two people showed any disdain for what we were doing. just shows you.....the majority agrees.

we were only about 18 people total (hey, a work day at 2 pm?)....with 4 pathetic bushies across the street. but we were interviewed by the LA times, the NY times and the college paper....and a student from the college who was working over there brought us over a flat of bottled water! he said "water for the good guys" and he wasn't even going to give any to the bushies. that totally blew me away....amazing. then he said something that told the whole story....that this whole laura bush appearance is just a media dance, that it meant nothing....you know why? because it was totally ineffectual and there was no opposition.....it's spring break and *no* students were even there! and, he said, if there had been.....the place would have been crawling with protesters!

that made my day :-)

jamie (reporting from the west coast front)
-quoted in the LA TIMES

Orlando FL - March 21, 2001

It is always cold when he comes to town. Cold and gray as death, even in the middle of a sub-tropical spring. Here in Florida, where just last week, a lengthy spell of balmy weather had begun to drive the chill from the Gulf, a late season frontal system brought the Unholy Alliance of wind, rain, cold, and George Bush to Orlando. (Is anyone starting to see a pattern here yet? The only thing that seems to be missing from the Right Wing Road Show is a plague of locusts, but perhaps they are saving that for the Summer Tour.)

There are maybe fifty of us this time; not an army, but we outnumbered the "They-Lack-Passion" freepers by about four to one. We stood on a corner at the entrance to the Convention Center, waiting.

I don't know what I expected when he arrived. Quite honestly, I thought the streets would be lined with the usual assortment of the curious and the fervent. I thought that we would have to thrust our voices above the din of the dutiful who usually show up to lay hands on famous people and ask for autographs. However, the people who were going somewhere when his entourage finally went by pretty much just kept going. Had it not been for our incessant "Jail to the Thief" protest , there would have been no sound at all. Even the freepers had moved on at that point, no doubt hoping to catch a final, fleeting glimpse of his retreating tailpipe.

The window to his car was rolled down when he passed. No doubt he thought we were fans. Anxious to set the record straight, we greeted his perplexed countenance with a dizzying array of signs, (my favorite was a large banner that read, "Bush is Illegitimable"), an upside down flag, and some heartfelt vitriol.

Afterwards, we planned to follow him to the Cuban American Club on the outskirts of Orlando - just in case he didn't get the message the first time. (Repetition is often a useful tool for educating a slow learner.) My husband and I were the first to arrive. Actually, we were the only ones to make it through the roadblock, as shortly afterwards, the police closed all entry and exit points to the road which lead to the Club.

Resigning ourselves to protesting alone, we opened our coffee and made a serious dent in the box of Dunkin' Donuts my husband had bought to feed the troops. After about twenty minutes, a chill crept through the car, the clouds passed over the sun, an eerie silence descended, and you guessed it, Junior's limo crawled into view.

As he passed by, we paused in mid-crueller and silently hoisted our middle fingers high into the air, (just like a candlelight vigil without the candle). As I write this, I cannot help but think how this must have looked from across the road - two middle-aged people, parked at an abandoned gas station in a Dodge mini-van with a "My Child was an Honor Student." bumper sticker on the back, flanked by Secret Service, just eating donuts, drinking coffee, and well, flipping off the (p)Resident.

Carol Schiffler

Panama City FL - March 12, 2001

Bob writes:

I got to the Marina Civic Center by 8:30 A.M. and had already done my first interview with the Panama City News Herald.

I stood at the entrance to the Marina and it was cold, super windy and very overcast and in fact we would be under a tornado warning till 3 P.M., yet it didn't rain.

I was there for an hour and getting lots of visible support for my statement, before the Secret Service wanted me to move to the area set aside for protesters, which was by an old Air Force Jet, and after some persuasion they moved us further towards the Civic Center where we could be seen.

At first I was by myself and then joined by a very nice guy from Rochester, N.Y. touring America and also wanted to protest Bushit for his own reasons on the phoney tax issue.

Then we had a third guy show up,who left and then came back later with his dog.

All in all we had 20 protesters, but no more than 14 at any one time.

Our "Bush Stole The Election" banner also stole the show itself, for the Bushit fans trying to get into this 2500 seat center had to wait in line and see the banner from across the street, as well as the media who then came over to talk.

But I didn't think I saw that many folks go into the Center itself.

But since this is Bushit's first official to Florida since the election theft, our banner took center stage, that this is still 'ground zero' and also that we weren't going to let him off the hook on any level with Gore winning the State and Bushit stealing the election.

I was interviewed by the following media and please check their web sites for what comes out of it.

The Walton Sun, weekly, a photo.
Tampa Tribune, interview and photo.
Ch. 13, local NBC affiliate that gets to Dothan, Ala.
Fla. News Channel interview which goes to 8 t.v. markets in Fla.
CNN does Video along with ABC, NBC and Fox Networks.
St. Pete Times Interview.
Dallas Morning News Interview.
New York Times Interview.
Washington Post Interview.
Associated Press Interview.
United Press International Interview.
Agence Presse International (France)
Houston Chronicle Interview done with others protesting.
Washington Times Interview.
Comus T.V. Interview which can feed any t.v. station in the world.
Pensacola Radio doing feed for National Public Radio, an Interview.

Not too shabby at all.

Mr. Caleb of Panama City, who once ran for City Commissioner and got 14,000 votes told me he was at the Tyndall Air Force gathering for Bushit earlier and Bushit sounded like the leader of the 'banana republic' and not President of the United States.

Caleb added that Bushit's tenacles reach out to the Median Drug Cartel with one of its leaders living here, and that the 'faith-based groups here are 'fronts' for money-laundering.

Of course Bushit's mantra is 'let the people spend their own money', but my approach to the media was as follows:

1. The Nose Dive in the economy is directly related to Bush stealing the election, no 'tax give-a-way' to the rich would overcome, no matter how many how many times he played this charade.
2. Gore won the election based on Sat's. Palm Beach Post story of Gore getting 784 votes using the Broward County standard ,which Katherine Harris accepted and the U.S. Supreme Ct. was demanding, and therefore Bushit stole the election, requiring a federal investigation by Ashcroft. This is the missing link in all of the discussion which most of the pundits simply do not get as yet.
3. That we would protest at the "Oscars" on 3/25/01, to present Bushit with 'Best Actor' in a 'coup d'etat' and to rally Hollywood to help us run a candidate against Jeb Bush, which would be a national campaign that would also expose George W. Bushit and our slogan would be: "I WOULDN'T STEAL YOUR VOTE" (nor put an oil well in your back yard). This is the key issue for all candidates to beat in taking back Congress from the deadwood of the existing Democratic crapheads who've betrayed us all with their silence on this Grand theft.

The media seemed to get off on it, and Jack Nichols of Gaytoday.badpuppy.com reports seeing a brief but obvious picture of yours truely and my buddy from Rochester with the "Bush Stole The Election" on CNN already.

So here's the kicker. We had one obnoxious guy offer us cigarettes if we'd leave and another told me to go back to Miami and one other surly comment, and that was it.

Of the hundred or so waiting for Bushit to arrive,this jerk has to 'sneak' in by the rear of the Center to avoid us 14 protesters and also his own supporters, which many of them would have shown up for any President and are not really behind Bushit.

In fact I had many thumbs up support from folks driving by us.

So this is how the White House treats the people, once again with contempt and lack of trust that even here in the Panhandle, Bushit has to come into the rear door to escape any real contact with the people that isn't super managed.

Bushit proves our case, more than anyone.

Victory big time.

Even here, the folks are on our side, as they were at "Bike Week" in Daytona.

Today there were also protests in Jacksonville, Orlando and West Palm Beach against Bushit.

It's only the beginning. Oh one guy did call me and the banner "pitiful"!

I'd take this home run anyday in exposing this fraudulent and illegitimate resident of the people's White House.

Bravo to Panama City. It was fabulous.

On to the "Oscars" on 3/25/01.

Wanna help keep this enormously successful momentum going?

Yours Faithfully,
Bob Kunst

Plainfield NJ - March 15, 2001

For more information please visit the web site. This protest was also supported by DemocracyMarch.org who was represented by Cheryl Guttman.

Mike