The Bush/Cheney Coronation 2005 Blog

by redjade Fri Jan 14, 2005 00:16

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) will honor fallen U.S. military personnel and Iraqi civilians with its traveling memorial display: Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War, which will be on display at the National Cathedral on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 17, and at the National City Christian Church from January 19-21.

AFSC, an international social justice organization, created Eyes Wide Open to memorialize the lives lost in the war in Iraq. In addition to the more than 1300 pairs of boots, a 24-foot “wall” of names and incidents of Iraqi civilian deaths confirmed during the conflict and 1000 pairs of shoes representing a small fraction of the Iraqi civilians killed in the war are also on display.

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 17, 2005, Eyes Wide Open will be inside the Washington National Cathedral.

more text:
http://dc.indymedia.org/feature/display/112227/index.php

official site:
http://www.afsc.org/eyes/

by redjade Fri Jan 14, 2005 00:21

Adhering to principles of nonviolent action, thousands of Turn Your Back on Bush participants will literally turn their backs to Bush at a set time as he rides along the Inaugural parade route. Until the moment the action begins no one, including the participants, will know who is taking part in the action.

http://dc.indymedia.org/feature/display/114221/index.php

by redjade Fri Jan 14, 2005 00:28

by Drew Poe

The group ANSWER is holding a counter-inaugural event at 9:00am January 20th, 2005. And this is my own personal un-endorsement of ANSWER’s event. Some will say that this sort of “disunity” looks bad, that we should not let “petty” squabbles distract us from our primary goals, etc. Well, sorry, but it is not “petty” at all anymore. And “disunity” is inherent in ANSWER’s own event and calls to action. Finally, until this is aired publicly and settled, it will be the real “distraction”.

[....]

The most offensive part of ANSWER’s counter-inaugural announcements is the explicit call for activists NOT to attend the other events. This is absolutely inherent in what ANSWER is saying -- they insist, repeatedly, that protestors must be at ANSWER’s event by 9:00am. They stress the importance of 9:00am as an arrival time, they pound it into your head when you read their information on their counter-inaugural announcements. 9:00am -- the very starting time of DAWN’s events, a time that was announced well in advance of ANSWER’s events. ANSWER planned their event explicitly to conflict with DAWN’s events, that is absolutely clear and any attempt to deny this is illogical. The time-frame of 9:00am is important to ANSWER, is the important time to show up, precisely because it is the time they chose as the call to arrive at THEIR events!

http://dc.indymedia.org/feature/display/114057/index.php

by Bobie Johnson Fri Jan 14, 2005 13:07 bj0114 at sbcglobal dot net

and our Troops are coming back Homeless; waiting for claims and benefits to be processed up to 3 months, how can they demand they return combat pay, while their limbs were left in pieces, spread over the battle fields of Iraq;

How can they celebrate, when so many are homeless and suffering?

How dare they demand that the Funds from Homeland Security be wasted on this disgusting, STOLEN ELECTION!

There is NOTHING PRESIDENTIAL about what this Administration is doing, NOTHING!

All THIS amounts to is a Shin Dig for a:

Successful STOLEN ELECTION
Sponsored by the
STOLEN FUNDS of Homeland Security of Washington DC

by Howard Scott Pearlman Fri Jan 14, 2005 14:52 howardpearlman05 at yahoo dot com

May our gracious God give Bush and Cheney the awful Fate that they have earned.

Amen


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/howardscottpearlmanmusic.htm




STAR SPANGLED BANNER
(Francis Scott Key and Howard Scott Pearlman)

*** The Fourth Verse ***
* Of The Star Spangled Banner *


Oh thus be it ever when all men shall stand

Between our loved homes and war's desolation

Blessed with beauty and peace may our heavenly lands

See the light up above and become more than nations

But if struggle we must for the cause that is just

May we choose as standards those that all men can trust

Then the Star Spangled Banner in honor shall wave

Among the lands of the free and the home of the brave

Francis Scott Key
and
Howard Scott Pearlman


Copyright 1989 Pearlman

http://www.soundclick.com/util/streamM3U.m3u?ID=1714563&q=Lo

http://www.soundclick.com/util/streamM3U.m3u?ID=1714563&q=Hi

by redjade Fri Jan 14, 2005 15:14

Helen Johnston is an 80-year-old retired pediatrician who hardly considers herself much of a risk for being sued.

That's not how her insurance company sees it, however.

Johnston is losing extra coverage she bought years ago while she still practiced medicine - not because she's a retired doctor, but because she is active in Francestown politics.

The Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Co. sent her a letter last month notifying her it is not renewing her $1 million umbrella policy next month because of "the political positions the insured holds."

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0113-12.htm

by redjade Fri Jan 14, 2005 15:16

The National Park Service has agreed to give thousands of anti-war demonstrators a prime spot along President Bush's inaugural parade route that will allow them to protest during the procession.

The anti-war group A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is planning to erect its own bleachers in the space, an open plaza on Pennsylvania Ave., just a few blocks from the Capitol building, said Brian Becker, national coordinator for the group. The bleachers could seat up to 1,000 people and the park service estimates up to 10,000 could fill the space standing shoulder to shoulder.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0113-13.htm

by An observation Fri Jan 14, 2005 17:52

IT IS OBSCENE TO WASTE 50MILL. IN THE CORONATION.
IN THE LIGHT OF TSUNAMI, WAR IN IRAQ, LACK OF ARMOR FOR OUR TROOPS, WE LET BUSH SPEND 50 MILLION TO BOOST HIS EGO.
IF BUSH HAS MORE COMMON SENSE HE WILL DONATE THIS MONEY, EITHER TO GET MORE ARMOR AND EQUIPMENT TO OUR TROOPS, OR TO RELIEF VICTIMS OF THE TSUNAMI.
AND ALL THOSE COMPANIES EXPORTING OUR JOBS TO INDONESIA, THAILAND, INDIA, SRI LANKA HAVE NOT CONTRIBUTE A DIME TO HELP THE WORKERS THEY EXPLOIT.
THE WORLD IS GONE MAD. AND WE ARE DOING NOTHING.

by John Fri Jan 14, 2005 21:22

Now reality is imitating art. This bit of news informing us that all performers at bush's coronation party are
intructed to avoid looking directly at the dictator, off to the sides or making any sudden movements seems
to be lifted from the pages of George Orwell's 1984. When people are ordered to behave in a severely
proscribed manner in front of a so-called "leader" because he demands it of them and they do not question
his wisdom or his policies, it is no longer a question of whether this country is or is not becoming a corporatist
police state but of how far down the road of tyranny this country has already traveled at this point. The moron
monarch's edict spelling out what kinds of physical movements they may or may not make and what directions
the performers and presumably the spectators themselves are restricted to turning their heads in has nothing
to do with fighting terrorism and everything to do with bush displaying tyrannical power and control over large
groups of people. How much longer before bush also starts to issue decrees describing what facial
expressions are state approved and prohibited in his presence? And the obscene cost of his coronation
ceremony at a time when he has plunged this country into an illegal and immoral war in Iraq is something that
all tyrants do. It is of little consequence to the tyrant and his regime how many of his soldiers die or are injured
in his wars of conquest or how many innocent people his wars murder in other countries. The only thing that
matters to him is that he is treated like royality and is obeyed unconditionally. All tyrants like george w. bush
and their regimes do not seize power to protect their country or their people from external threats like they
proclaim to. They pursue power for the sake of having sheer power and being able to exert control over their
peoples. This was one of the essential messages of Orwell's 1984.

For those who have not read George Orwell's 1984 yet and want to read it online, here are some web addresses
for 1984 online:

http://www.eng.buffalo.edu/~smf7/175/booktoc.html
http://www.msxnet.org/orwell/1984.html

by john cameron Fri Jan 14, 2005 22:58 blackhe at bigpond dot net dot au

DIVINE DEMONIAC EMPIRIC WAR PRESIDENT SUPREME.
WITHIN THY EYES METHINKS MADNESS DOES GLEAM. j.c.

by redjade Sat Jan 15, 2005 15:02

The union representing nearly 4,000 workers at 14 upscale Washington, D.C., hotels has reached a tentative agreement with the hotels on a new three-year labor contract, both sides said on Friday.

The negotiating committee for Local 25 of the Unite Here union -- which had threatened to strike Saturday ahead of Thursday's Presidential Inauguration -- has strongly recommended that the deal be ratified,

John Boardman, the union's chief negotiator, said the new contract is the "best settlement ever in the history of Local 25." Further details will be available after union members vote on the package early next week, he said.

[....]

The union had threatened to strike in the midst of inauguration week, when hotels will be inundated with extra guests as well as holding dinners, balls and other events.

by redjade Sat Jan 15, 2005 15:27

President Bush's second inauguration will cost tens of millions of dollars — $40 million alone in private donations for the balls, parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of money, what could you buy?

• 200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq.

• Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children in regions devastated by the tsunami.

by redjade Sat Jan 15, 2005 15:53

Despite false claim, his star rises
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/01/11/despite_false_claim_his_star_rises/

The man who insisted that President Bush make the claim that Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium for nuclear weapons in Africa is poised to assume a top State Department job that would make him the lead US arms negotiator with Iran and North Korea, according to administration officials.

-- -- -- -- --

Halliburton Unit Wins Contract in Iran
http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getmailfiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2005/01/12&ID=Ar00103

A subsidiary of Halliburton, the company Vice President Cheney ran between 1995 and 2000, won a contract this week to develop a much sought-after oil and gas field in Iran, a country accused by the White House in recent months of covertly developing nuclear weapons.

A Halliburton spokeswoman, Wendy Hall, confirmed to The New York Sun yesterday that the subsidiary, Halliburton Products & Services Ltd., won the contract first announced on Iranian TV to develop phases nine and 10 of the south Pars oil and gas field. The Halliburton unit, headquartered in Dubai, is reportedly the target of a grand jury investigation regarding possible violations of an executive order barring American companies from substantial investment in Iran’s energy sector.

by redjade Sun Jan 16, 2005 00:30

Corporations and corporate executives contributed 96 percent of the $17.8 million collected so far to pay for various inaugural festivities and functions, according to a new analysis by Public Citizen. Of the 127 contributors to Bush’s Presidential Inauguration Committee, 121 are either corporations or their chairmen, CEOs, presidents or owners. Together, their donations amount to $17.1 million, Public Citizen found. The fund has an overall goal of raising $40 million.

“This inauguration is bought and paid for by corporate America,” said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. “These businesses consider such gifts to be investments, with payback expected. Not surprisingly, many of the corporate givers received huge legislative and regulatory favors from the first Bush term and are looking for even more over the next four years. They also get invited to events, where they can schmooze with Cabinet members and administration officials and lobby on their issues.”

Corporations by law are barred from direct contributions to presidential candidates and campaigns. However, they are under no similar restrictions in attempting to curry favor from the administration by financing the president’s inaugural events.

by redjade Sun Jan 16, 2005 14:30

Booklet That Upset Mrs. Cheney Is History
Published on Friday, October 8, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times
Archived at
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1008-05.htm

The Education Department this summer destroyed more than 300,000 copies of a booklet designed for parents to help their children learn history after the office of Vice President Dick Cheney's wife complained that it mentioned the National Standards for History, which she has long opposed.

[....]

Cheney led the charge on the original UCLA draft. In a widely read opinion piece published in 1994, she complained that "We are a better people than the National Standards indicate, and our children deserve to know it."

The standards contained repeated references to the Ku Klux Klan and to Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the anti-Communist demagogue of the 1950s, she said. And she noted that Harriet Tubman, the escaped slave who helped run the Underground Railroad, was mentioned six times.

But Revere, Lee, the Wright brothers and other prominent figures went unmentioned, she said.

by redjade Sun Jan 16, 2005 16:21

from http://Sinkers.org

from Sinkers.org

by pc Mon Jan 17, 2005 02:08

its was quite interesting (if you got a broadband etc) to follow the RNC events in NYC live via webcams and indymedia radio, trying to find similar broadcast of inauguration

http://inauguralmap.com/
detialed interactive map with links to webcams, wifi etc

http://www.inaugurationmedia.org/

http://www.dc.indymedia.org/
also portland and newyork indymedia's

by redjade Mon Jan 17, 2005 16:43

Prohibited Items

Firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition (either real or simulated), explosives of any kind (including fireworks), knives, blades, or sharp objects (of any length), aerosol sprays, coolers, thermal or glass containers, mace, pepper spray, sticks, poles, pocket or hand tools (such as a leatherman), packages, backpacks, large bags, duffel bags, suitcases, laser pointers, posters, signs, placards (including supports structures), animals other than guide dogs or service dogs assisting handicapped individuals, strollers, chairs, umbrellas, alcoholic beverages, and any other items at the discretion of the security screeners that may pose a potential safety hazard.

http://www.uscapitolpolice.gov/pressreleases/2005/pr_01-13-05.html

by pc Mon Jan 17, 2005 22:24

http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2005/01/107313.shtml

http://radioactiveradio.org/
http://radio.indymedia.org/

the other webstreams are: pdx radio
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/static/pdxradio.shtml

and radio volta from philadelphia, pennsylvania and
critical mass radio network http://criticalmassradio.net/

by redjade Tue Jan 18, 2005 13:26

In April, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced that al Qaeda terrorists might strike during this week's presidential inauguration festivities in Washington. The warning was part of a drumbeat sounded by U.S. officials throughout 2004 that terrorists were seeking to launch attacks both during and after the election season.

Nine months later, the threat level has been lowered, and Ridge, speaking at a news conference last week, said there is no evidence of a plot to disrupt President Bush's inauguration.

You can panic less now

by redjade Wed Jan 19, 2005 16:01

The scandal sheet:
Here are 34 scandals from the first four years of George W. Bush's presidency -- every one of them worse than Whitewater.

By Peter Dizikes

Subscription required
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/01/18/scandal/index_np.html

archived at
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.politics/msg/74fef0cfbc7295f0?dmode=print

1. Memogate: The Senate Computer Theft
2. Doctor Detroit: The DOJ's Bungled Terrorism Case
3. Dark Matter: The Energy Task Force
4. The Indian Gaming Scandal
5. Halliburton's No-Bid Bonanza
6. Halliburton: Pumping Up Prices
7. Halliburton's Vanishing Iraq Money
8. The Halliburton Bribe-apalooza
9. Halliburton: One Fine Company
10. Halliburton's Iran End Run
11. Money Order: Afghanistan's Missing $700 Million Turns Up in Iraq
12. Iraq: More Loose Change
13. The Pentagon-Israel Spy Case
14. Gone to Taiwan
15. Wiretapping the United Nations
16. The Boeing Boondoggle
17. The Medicare Bribe Scandal
18. Tom DeLay's PAC Problems
19. Tom DeLay's FAA: Following Americans Anywhere
20. In the Rough: Tom DeLay's Golf Fundraiser
21. Busy, Busy, Busy in New Hampshire
22. The Medicare Money Scandal
23. The Bogus Medicare "Video News Release"
24. Pundits on the Payroll: The Armstrong Williams Case
25. Ground Zero's Unsafe Air
26. John Ashcroft's Illegal Campaign Contributions
27. Intel Inside ... The White House
28. Duck! Antonin Scalia's Legal Conflicts
29. AWOL
30. Iraq: The Case for War
31. Niger Forgeries: Whodunit?
32. In Plame Sight
33. Abu Ghraib
34. Guantánamo Bay Torture?

by redjade Wed Jan 19, 2005 16:13

Touch screens more likely to be flawed, analysis finds
January 16, 2005
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-cundervotes16jan16,0,2251697,print.story

Florida's touch-screen voting machines performed better in the Nov. 2 presidential election than they did in the March primary, but were still outmatched by older voting devices that use pencil and paper ballots, according to a South Florida Sun-Sentinel analysis.

Voters using the ATM-style voting machines in November were 50 percent more likely to cast a flawed ballot or have an unregistered vote in the presidential race, compared to voting machines employing simple paper ballots.

by The Devil and George Warmonger Bush - The Black House Bullies aka Texas Energy Cabal Thu Jan 20, 2005 05:55 666 Bomb Iran Dr, Langley Virginia Black Op Box 66666-666 666-War-Iran Ext. 666

Never mind the Shamefull Coronation of His Unholiness. As I speak His Unholiness is making preparations for War against Iran. Special Ops and Black Ops are busy scouting out Targets for Bombing raids. Draft Boards are being Secretly Activated, even though Bush says there will be no Draft. These Wars have a way of affecting even those who are not involved.

by Steve Thu Jan 20, 2005 13:30

I hate Bush just as much as the rest of you but some time you have to defeat - no scratch that - UTTER AND COMPLETE ANNIHILATION!
Not only did the bastard steal the last election
took advantage of a 9/11 grief to bomb the hell out of Afghanistan and Iraq and kill hundreds of thousands of innocents, lied and lied and lied, tore up the American constitution, undermined the UN and ignored Kyoto.
HE GOT AWAY WITH IT!
HE GOT HIMSELF LEGITIMATELY ELECTED SECOND TIME AROUND!
Don't be fooled by his bumbling idiot routine.
This man is simply the most cunning coniving ruthless and unscuplous the world has EVER seen.
THERE'S NO ANSWER TO HIM!

Remember Revelation: "Who is like HIM?WHO CAN MSKE WAR WITH THE BEAST?"

by David Thu Jan 20, 2005 14:29

So is any protest planned for this evening in Dublin? Anyone fancy heading down to the American Embassy?

by Upcoming events reader Thu Jan 20, 2005 14:52

David the protest was at the GPO from 12 - 2 today.

by aunty beeb aunty lucy & dr potter - all together now = regime change Thu Jan 20, 2005 16:36

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1394393,00.html
Mr Blair has urged Mr Bush to adopt a more concensual approach in his dealings with the other nations of the earth. And he spoke about it to Aunty Beeb and The Guardian-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4190279.stm

Meanwhile on the other more meaningful side side of reality, on Rafeal street in my local town, which is in the predominantly asian immigrant zone, today I saw a pigeon who couldn't lay her egg, she had become stuck to some waste and the egg was dangling from her underside. She could barely fly and the workers on their lunchbreak found it "most odd" not having seen such a thing before. Thereafter I observed all the little tortoises in the tortoise shop stand in a line with their backs turned to the tourists looking in the shop window. The shopkeeper confirmed that he had never seen such a thing before, "they usually just move about munching lettuce or trying to shag each other" he said. Because I didn't have a top range digital camera with we, I couldn't take photographic evidence of these occurences you'll just have to take my word for it.
In other animal realm news -
A young wolf was found dead at the gates or Rome last week, authorities who have not seen a wolf for more than 70 years were very surprised theorising that such a thing they had never seen before might be due to the Wolf losing his way.
Corriere de la Serra blamed a "pirate car" on the young animal's demise.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sfr/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=5473491
A middle aged whale of 12 metres length turned up dead in Cadiz on monday.
http://www.larazon.es/noticias/noti_soc32646.htm

by David Thu Jan 20, 2005 16:40

I wouldn't have been able to attend anyway.

by ??? Thu Jan 20, 2005 16:45

where the only options in life are being conscripted into an army permanently engaged in total war, or becoming one of the most fanatic raving desperate to forget party goers in Europe?

by redjade Thu Jan 20, 2005 18:00

so, what are we gonna do about it, huh?

by redjade Thu Jan 20, 2005 18:32

....& Remembers the Names of the Dead


photo series at
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=68315

by swswsws Thu Jan 20, 2005 18:43

I guess next April?
This April?
Nah

by via pandagon Thu Jan 20, 2005 19:20

"I'm more concerned about bringing down our casualties than bringing down our numbers," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said in an interview with PBS television's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" program. "And it is worth saying that since June 1, there have been more Iraqi police and military killed in action than Americans."

by redjade Thu Jan 20, 2005 20:20

→ From: http://www.moveamericaforward.org
''This calls for straightforward action by the people of the United States to protect our national interest. Americans must demand our government remove the United Nations from our borders and cease serving as the major financial supporter of an organization that has veered from its original purpose.''

Watch the Video
(2megs/Windows Media Player)
http://www.moveamericaforward.org/video/stingy-hi.wmv

by redjade Thu Jan 20, 2005 21:44

What transfer?
from Albany NY Newspaper
http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2005/01/20/news/opinion/edit02.txt

In defense of the extravagant inauguration ceremonies in Washington this week, President Bush said in a television interview that it was important to celebrate a "peaceful transfer of power," thus demonstrating again that coming up with a fitting phrase is not among his many strengths.

Transfer of power? Who had the power before, and who will have it from now on? Isn't it the same George W. Bush?

by redjade Thu Jan 20, 2005 21:52

3:15PM: Much of the first 3 blocks of Pennsylvania has a significant anti-Bush presence, hard to pick pro-bush demonstrators out of some segments.

3:05PM: Spot in the fense near 14 and Penn, near Willard Hotel, where they've rattled the fense, gotten it knocked over or bent over twice, MPD pepper spray. Extra police are being deployed to this area.

2:57PM: Unconfirmed reports of 4 arrests at 8th and D NW

2:56PM: Pepper sprayed anarchists at 11th and E NW

2:52PM: Protesters at 14th and Penn have been "contained" -- surrounded by the police, according to one call.

2:50PM: Some anarchists at 14th and Penn are trying to pull-down barricades, break through check-points. Check-points are being closed-down by the police. Protests at 16th and H going well. (20 people laying on ground)

2:33PM: Flags being burned at 14th and Penn. Some callers report there has been a fight of some sort between anarchists burning a flag and a Bush-supporter trying to take the flag from them.

1:50PM: Possible splinter group heading from D & 7 to Capitol area. Riot police lining the streets at Penn & 14th and maybe 1,000 anti-bush protesters in the area there.

1:45PM: Police car at Counter-Inaugural space has left, what appears to be a plainclothes cop is still hanging out by the front access.

1:43PM: "Gas" at 7th and D NW being passed out [to police], say some.

http://dc.indymedia.org/

by direct hit Thu Jan 20, 2005 22:54

''A snowball melts on the side of a limousine as Vice President Richard Cheney waves during the inaugural parade in Washington, January 20, 2005. Flag-draped coffins and anti-war chants competed with pomp and circumstance on Thursday at the inauguration of President George W. Bush along the snow-dusted, barricaded streets of central Washington.''

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050120/ids_photos_ts/r2804950212.jpg

by anne bolyne Thu Jan 20, 2005 23:36

eh? eh? eh???? mr "packed lunch war monger scandal man".

by pep r Fri Jan 21, 2005 00:36

this is the war coming home

by redjade Fri Jan 21, 2005 00:45

Anti Bush crowds at Inaug near Bush Limo

Mic overhears protestor....

Quicktime (6megs)
http://toolz.blogs.com/toolz_of_the_new_school/files/fuck_bush_on_cnn.mov

- - -

by the way, the riot are continuing in DC as of almost midnight Ireland-time and dc.indymedia.org is down - sandiego indy has more

by R. Isible Fri Jan 21, 2005 00:50

All the Reuters pictures show individuals being taken out of the crowds by the police captioned with the information that "a heckler is led away by police". Ah, the sweet smell of Freedom and Democracy.

Police men leading away a very dangerous suspect (no doubt).

by R. Isible Fri Jan 21, 2005 00:57

CBS's coverage is of the "the crowd is hushed as the fragrant princess steps from the Royal Coach in a time-honoured ceremony" variety. Toward the bottom of their front-page article (see link) they deign to mention that there were protests.

Following the link there, one gets a picture of very small protests in geographically distant locations (Louisville, KY etc) (500 is mentioned twice and 30 once) and a single protestor during the inauguration is mentioned (whereas the Reuters coverage gives the impression of much greater protests):
"At the inauguration itself, a man with a very loud voice yelled "boo" several times at the president from a front section and was removed, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss. It happened right at the end and Mr. Bush had to have heard it. "

by R. Isible Fri Jan 21, 2005 01:04

confirms that protestors are being led away for heckling. I don't get it: you don't have the right to say whatever you want in the Land of the Free where there is Liberty for All?

# 12:35PM: One arrest reported on "P circle," P street near Dupont or Logan? Choppers and police cars heard converging on an area near Logan/in Shaw.
# During Bush's speech, Code Pink held up banners "Bring the troops home" and shouted. Police immediately took them away. After that another group shouted, they were taken away. 2 more protests following that. Members of the audience appluaded the police actions, shouted "USA USA," and some through snowballs while other people tried to block cameras from covering the protesters. Public radio noted this very briefly, and the CNN noted and covered none of it as far as we can tell. AP Photo

by redjade Fri Jan 21, 2005 01:06

Caught in the Middle
A fellow spectator helps Department of Homeland Security employee Penelope Campbell flush her eyes after she was accidentally hit with pepper spray

WashingtonPost

Whoops

by R. Isible Fri Jan 21, 2005 01:38

Or, a psyops along the lines of "even Dick Cheney is searched at airports, it's normal"?

by redjade Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:40

No room for progressives on cable news inauguration coverage
http://mediamatters.org/items/200501210001

Media Matters for America inventoried all guests who appeared on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC during the channels' January 20 inauguration coverage. Between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Republican and conservative guests and commentators outnumbered Democrats and progressives 17 to 6 on FOX, 10 to 1 on CNN (not including a Republican-skewed panel featuring Ohio voters), and 13 to 2 on MSNBC. Moreover, the rare Democrat or progressive guest usually appeared opposite conservatives, whereas most Republican and conservative guests and commentators appeared solo or alongside fellow conservatives.

by redjade Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:51

Kerry alleges voters were 'suppressed'
January 18, 2005
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/kerry/articles/2005/01/18/kerry_alleges_voters_were_suppressed/

"Thousands of people were suppressed in their efforts to vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways," the former Democratic nominee told an enthusiastic audience of 1,200 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston.

"In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while Republicans [went] through in 10 minutes. Same voting machines, same process, our America," Kerry said.

by redjade Fri Jan 21, 2005 13:18

Quote:
Don't look at me, I ain't callin for no assasination
I'm just sayin, sayin
Who voted for that asshole of your nation?

http://www.foolfactory.com/haus/movies/Public_Enemy_SON_OF_A_BUSH.htm

by redjade Fri Jan 21, 2005 14:14

Ten minutes after telling his fellow protesters to stay safe, Gil Kobrin lay huddled in the slush and mud as two anarchists repeatedly kicked him in the back.

How he got from point A to point B is simple enough. Kobrin, accompanied by a dozen members of the conservative group ProtestWarrior, crashed a rally of hundreds of anti-Bush demonstrators at Meridian Park in Washington, D.C. Holding aloft signs that read "Say no to war unless a Democrat is president" and "Not to brag, but Bush won, so shove it!" they had set off earlier on inauguration morning in search of their opposites.

[....]

"Dude, you got your ass kicked," one of them taunted at the ProtestWarrior group. Several anarchists, their bile neutered by the police presence, resorted to creative hand signs. It brought to mind something Kobrin had said in an earlier interview: "Ideally it should be a nice, cordial, open dialogue."

Some in the anti-Bush crowd said they resented the fact that ProtestWarrior's "man bites dog" schtick eats up a disproportionate amount of press attention.

"They're taking the media away from us!" exclaimed one angry protester.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24488-2005Jan20.html

Protest Warriors Website
http://www.protestwarrior.com/

by john throne - labors militant voice Sat Jan 22, 2005 19:48 loughfinn at aol dot com

The scum of the earth gathered together last week in Washington. The racist head of the US supreme court swore in the racist Bush in the presence of the thousands of corporate bribers and the white house is in the hands of US corporate bagmen for another four years. It would have been no different in any
fundamental way if the Democrats had won. So called US democracy.

Too harsh about Bush and co? The Bush family have been bagmen for the US
corporations for centuries. In the process they laundered money for Hitler and the Nazis. Cheyney does not go so far back but his company Haliburton was a major force pushing for the war in Iraq, the current and past slaughtering of Iraqis and are systematically robbing the US military while young working class Americans are dying for lack of sufficient supplies and armour. The Bush and Cheyney children were in their thousand dollar gowns in Washington not fighting in Iraq. They have plenty of protection alright.

And the lobbyists. They are in Washington in their thousands to bribe the politicians. Drug companies, arms manufacturers, auto companies, oil and gas companies, nuclear power companies, textile companies, I do not need to go on, they are all there to bribe the politicians and when a politician looses his or
her seat they are hired as a lobbyist because they know who is who, who to bribe to have the greatest return on the bribe. So called US democracy.


What have these corporate bagmen in mind for the second Bush term? They intend to increase the domination of US imperialism overseas. This is their a major foreign policy objective. They are increasingly worried about the rise of China. Rice the new secretary of state and stooge of the oil company Chevron
which has called a tanker after her, has recently increased the number of
threatening regimes from three to six. The selection of these countries reflects this
concern about China and their wish to encircle it.

Here at home they have very ambitious targets. Under the two Reagan regimes
Reagan's target was to roll back the gains won in the 1960's by the great black revolt, the movement against the Vietnam war and the womens movement. He went some way towards this but nowhere did he succeed in total. The corporate bagmen around Bush have a much more ambitious target this time. They want to roll back what is left of the gains of the 1960's and then go on to wipe out the
gains made in the 1930's and 1940's which were forced on FDR by the CIO and
the great upsurge of the workers movement.

This is reflected in their attacks on social security. Their moves to make the tax cuts permanent is also a sign of this. Their attacks on workers rights across the boards and the dismantling of all regulatory institutions which
affect capital and that they can dismantle. These scum have very high ambitions.
The living standards of the working class are in their sights. The war these corporate bagmen have launched against labor will be stepped up in the next four years. Their aim is to take working people back to the rights and living standards of 80 years ago.

But the swearing in of the corporate bagmen was not the only event last week in Washington. This one got less attention in the bosses media. Just when Bush and his scum have moved into their second term and are getting settled to launch their all out offensive against US workers the leaders of the three
biggest unions in the country had an announcement to make. A few months ago these leaders set up the New Unity Project. Nobody new what was new about it, with
whom the unity was or what the project involved. But there was the slightest ripple of interest from some union activists. After all could these union leaders who have been selling out on all fronts actually do something. Well the answer came on the same week Bush was sworn in. The New Unity Project was dissolved. The timing was no accident. They were telling Bush he has nothing to fear
from them.

Can you imagine when to Bush and co hear this. They will be snickering in their offices if they even notic. They will realize that they are launching an attack on the US workers unprecedented in close to a century and the union leaders have just dissolved their project that was set up only a few months ago to
organize new members and take the unions forward. The message this sends to Bush is that the he can roll over the union leaders, he does not even have to buy them off. They have surrendered before the struggle proper starts. They have bought themselves off with their own members money.

But union activists and activists in the neighborhoods the situation cannot
be left there. A major attack on working class people is in process. Those of us who are not prepared to bow before it have to develop a program and stragey in the rank and file of the unions, in the neighborhoods, in the community organizations. This has to be based on an all out opposition to the offensive
of capitalism which is confronting us everywhere and based on the tactics of
mass fight to win action.

In the 1930's the bosses launched a major assault on the unions. With this and the economic collapse union membership was almost halved from 1929 to 1933 and mass strikes and struggles almost non existent. During this time the union leaders which controlled the American Federation of Labor (AFL) viciously attacked the active union members and would not organize the unskilled workers whom they considered beneath the skilled workers.

But during this time small groups fought against evictions, fought to organize in the workplaces, fought to build anti capitalist centers and built their forces. In 1933 to 1934 there was brief upturn in the economy and these groups took off as workers confidence grew. They led major general strikes with mass conflicts in Minneapolis, Toledo, San Francisco. These were successful and inspired a whole new movement splitting the AFL and building a new industrial union federation called the CIO. It was from this came the gains of the working class in the 1930's and which werethat forced on FDR and which the Bush crowd are now trying to take back.

The arrogant bagmen in the whitehouse are making a bad mistake. They will be bogged down in Iraq for years to come. They will not be able to impose their will on the mass oppositions which will develop and on the powerful economies and societies such as China and Russia and Europe. They will not find it possible to move forward to a unipolar world where they will easily dictate the terms. Their effort to do this internationally will take a lot of their resources.

At the same time at home they will be trying to take on this gigantic working class with the enormous gains it has made since the 1930's and take it back to the conditions of the 1930's and before. As they do this the US economy will be under pressure on all fronts, the dollar falling, the deficit rising, jobs being exported. This process will have as a central feature a transformation in the consciousness of the working class. The corporate bagmen in the
whitehouse are going to be in for a very rough ride.

For ourselves the working class activists. This is no time to be downhearted. But it is also no time to sit around and talk. It is the time to organize so we will be ready when new forces move to join the struggle. Sean



A comment from the Financial Times on the coming four years.

Quentin Peel. Thursday January 20th. 2005 He wrote"Four years of Bush have simply proved that the US has a blinkered third rate president and an ideologically led second class administration. An optimist can say that it cannot get any worse".

by Tom Oneill Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:22 toneill at iol dot ie

I am not American but I feel very sorry for all of those good people of the U.S. who hate what Bush represents. I live in Europe and we see it all the time how American's are told that they live in the greatest country in the world.
Dont' believe it folks. In Europe we have a system of looking after our people with free health-care and many other state services. All Americans seem to have is a huge army.

My dear American friends , believe me when I tell you that the power of Zionism is controlling your country. They control the Pentagon and other state agencies and their grip on you is growing.

Wake-up to this threat before it is too late.

by redjade Sun Jan 23, 2005 12:37

Bush Speech Not a Sign of Policy Shift, Officials Say
Address Said to Clarify 'The Values We Cherish'
By Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27672-2005Jan21.html

White House officials said yesterday that President Bush's soaring inaugural address, in which he declared the goal of ending tyranny around the world, represents no significant shift in U.S. foreign policy but instead was meant as a crystallization and clarification of policies he is pursuing in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and elsewhere.

Nor, they say, will it lead to any quick shift in strategy for dealing with countries such as Russia, China, Egypt and Pakistan, allies in the fight against terrorism whose records on human rights and democracy fall well short of the values Bush said would become the basis of relations with all countries.

Bush advisers said the speech was the rhetorical institutionalization of the Bush doctrine and reflected the president's deepest convictions about the purposes behind his foreign policies. But they said it was carefully written not to tie him to an inflexible or unrealistic application of his goal of ending tyranny.

"It is not a discontinuity. It is not a right turn," said a senior administration official, who spoke with reporters from newspapers but demanded anonymity because he wanted the focus to remain on the president's words and not his. "I think it is a bit of an acceleration, a raising of the priority, making explicit in a very public way to give impetus to this effort." He added that it was a "message we have been sending" for some time.

by redjade Sun Jan 23, 2005 13:44

Monty Python's Terry Jones talks about becoming a political writer,
the decline of the British press and how Bush and Blair have erased
the line between absurdity and horror.

Salon Sub required
http://www.salon.com/books/int/2005/01/21/jones/index_np.html

archived in total at
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.impeach.bush/msg/131be87358d5c061

by redjade Sun Jan 23, 2005 13:57

Jon Stewart's Daily Show On The Shrub's Inauguration Speech
Quicktime 9 MB
http://video.lisarein.com/dailyshow/jan2005/jan202005/01-20-05-daily-shrub.mov

by redjade Sun Jan 23, 2005 14:00

Police in Germany are hunting pranksters who have been sticking miniature US flags into piles of dog poo in public parks.

Josef Oettl, parks administrator for Bayreuth, said: "This has been going on for about a year now, and there must be 2,000 to 3,000 piles of excrement that have been claimed during that time."

The series of incidents was originally thought to be some sort of protest against the US-led invasion of Iraq.

And then when it continued it was thought to be a protest against President George W. Bush's campaign for re-election.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1248811.html

found at
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/23/planting_flags_in_do.html

by redjade Sun Jan 23, 2005 15:24

The Speech Misheard Round the World
by Orlando Patterson

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/opinion/22patterson.1.html?ei=5090&en=fb11bd355083d626&ex=1264136400&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=all&position=

Since 9/11, President Bush and his advisers have engaged in a series of arguments concerning the relation between freedom, tyranny and terrorism. The president's inaugural paean to freedom was the culmination of these arguments.

The stratagem began immediately after 9/11 with the president's claims that the terrorist attacks were a deliberate assault on America's freedom. The next stage of the argument came after no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, thus eliminating the reason for the war, and it took the form of a bogus syllogism: all terrorists are tyrants who hate freedom. Saddam Hussein is a tyrant who hates freedom. Therefore Saddam Hussein is a terrorist whose downfall was a victory in the war against terrorism.

When this bogus syllogism began to lose public appeal, it was shored up with another flawed argument that was repeated during the campaign: tyranny breeds terrorism. Freedom is opposed to tyranny. Therefore the promotion of freedom is the best means of fighting terrorism.

by redjade Sun Jan 23, 2005 18:00

Commandos Get Duty on U.S. Soil

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/23/national/nationalspecial3/23code.html?ex=1264136400&en=0d0d6577969032af&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

Somewhere in the shadows of the White House and the Capitol this week, a small group of super-secret commandos stood ready with state-of-the-art weaponry to swing into action to protect the presidency, a task that has never been fully revealed before.

As part of the extraordinary army of 13,000 troops, police officers and federal agents marshaled to secure the inauguration, these elite forces were poised to act under a 1997 program that was updated and enhanced after the Sept. 11 attacks, but nonetheless departs from how the military has historically been used on American soil.

These commandos, operating under a secret counterterrorism program code-named Power Geyser, were mentioned publicly for the first time this week on a Web site for a new book, "Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs and Operation in the 9/11 World,"


The Book:
&rarr: Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs and Operation in the 9/11 World
http://codenames.org/documents.html

by redjade Mon Jan 24, 2005 14:03

A Higher Realism
By Robert Kagan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A27822-2005Jan21?language=printer

The most significant thing about President Bush's inaugural address was the word he did not utter: terror.

[....]

The goal of American foreign policy is now to spread democracy, for its own sake, for reasons that transcend specific threats. In short, Bush has unmoored his foreign policy from the war on terrorism.

This is where Bush may lose the support of most old-fashioned conservatives. His goals are now the antithesis of conservatism. They are revolutionary. But of course -- and this is what American conservatives have generally been loath to admit -- Bush's goals are also deeply American, for the United States is a revolutionary power. Bush has found his way back to the core, universalist principles that have usually shaped American foreign policy, regardless of the nature of the threat.

[....]

...the war on terrorism was never a sufficient paradigm for American foreign policy. It was too narrow, too limited and less than ideal for mustering the support of others around the world.

--- --- ---

Comment from
War In Context....

http://warincontext.org/2005_01_23_archive.html#110649833543907880

Comment -- Leading neoconservative theoretician, Robert Kagan, eloquently sums up the neoconservative agenda for the next four years (and the rest of this century).
[....]
Kagan, however, gives the game away by pointing out that the most significant thing about Bush's address was the absence of the word terror.
[....]
Picture that gleeful epiphany as word swept through Washington that terror is out and tyranny is now in.

by redjade Tue Jan 25, 2005 14:21

Though there was no official poem for the occasion, impressionist Rich Little, emceeing the Constitution Ball at the Hilton Washington, did provide a bit of inaugural doggerel.

The gist of it was: "Let's get together, let bitterness pass, I'll hug your elephant, you kiss my ass!" And the crowd went crazy.

Little said he missed and adored the late President Ronald Reagan and "I wish he was here tonight, but as a matter of fact he is," and he proceeded to impersonate Reagan, saying, "You know, somebody asked me, 'Do you think the war on poverty is over?' I said, 'Yes, the poor lost.' " The crowd went wild.

by pc Thu Jan 27, 2005 13:24

On Fox News Channel, you're free to speak about the coronation of George W... unless you've got the nerve to criticize Dear Leader. Then you get a Fox News MeltdownTM. The editor of Vanity Fair was asked on to talk about Parties and dressers, she used the oppurtunity to talk about more important things... http://www.oliverwillis.com/node/view/1695

by redjade Thu Jan 27, 2005 17:34

3 minutes / 10megs Quicktime
http://images.indymedia.org/imc/nyc/video/7/139880_mandatetrailer.mov

by redjade Thu Jan 27, 2005 19:43

Check Point "Dubya"
http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/116231/index.php

by redjade Tue Feb 01, 2005 18:55

Don't Mind Me. I'm Just Doing My Job

By Paul Farhi
Sunday, January 30, 2005
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46409-2005Jan29.html

I blithely assumed that in the world's freest nation, I was free to walk around at will and ask the happy partygoers such national security-jeopardizing questions as, "Are you having a good time?"

Big mistake. After cruising by the media pen -- a sectioned-off area apparently designed for corralling journalists -- a sharp-eyed volunteer spotted my media badge. "You're not supposed to go out there without an escort," she said.

I replied that I had been doing just fine without one, and walked over to a quiet corner of the hall to phone in some anecdotes to The Post's Style desk.

As I was dictating from my notes, something flashed across my face and neatly snatched my cell phone from of my hand. I looked up to confront a middle-aged woman, her face afire with rage. "You ignored the rules, and I'm throwing you out!" she barked, snapping my phone shut. "You told that girl you didn't need an escort. That's a lie! You're out of here!"

With the First Amendment on the line, my natural wit did not fail me. "Huh?" I answered.

Recovering quickly, I explained that I had been unaware of the escort policy. She was unbending and ordered a couple of security guards to hustle me out. I appealed to them, saying that I was more than happy to follow whatever ground rules had been laid down. They shrugged, and deposited me back in the media pen.

by JOHN CAMERON - nil Tue Feb 01, 2005 22:26 blackhe at bigpond dot net dot au Australia

WHILST SECRECY PREVAILS DEMOCRACY WITHERS & FAILS.
Justice-Greater the criminality lesser the retribution.
War costs lives Peace diplomacy