Inaugural Bullshit

So the Bush was sworn in again today. I'm looking through the internets for some sort of story about protests or pictures or just some sign that there was visible public dissent and I ain't seeing much. dailykos doesn't even have shit, now. Maybe it's too early, maybe it's censorship, or maybe people just didn't go? I know people from 12oz were saying they would go, and I know one person in Boston who actually did go but it's gonna be a few days before I speak to her, so someone lay down the facts here.

This is all I could find:

From a Reuters article:

Along part of the motorcade route from the Capitol back to the White House, Bush's heavily guarded limousine passed sections of jeering demonstrators holding signs like "worst ever." Police fired pepper spray to disperse demonstrators who hurled debris and tried to break through a security fence.

And then a short CNN article that says there was a protest with 500 people. C'mon, 49 percent of this country voted the other way, at least. 500 people showed up? Something's not right.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/20/...s.ap/index.html

There's also this Reuters article that gives a little bit more detail than the CNN one. Apparently someone threw a snowball at Cheney's limo. Pussies.

A protester dressed as President George W. Bush carries an inflatable globe as another dressed like Vice President Dick Cheney pulls strings like a marionette puppet on the streets of Washington, January 20, 2005 on the day of the presidential inauguration. Thousands of protesters and supporters of Bush gathered in the nation's capital to witness the second inauguration of Bush. Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters

Notice how the caption says "Thousands of protesters"? Now I'm confused.

A demonstrator stands beside coffins draped with American flags as part of a protest to memorialize American soldiers who have died in the war with Iraq at Washington's Malcolm X Park, January 20, 2005. Flag-draped coffins and anti-war chants competed with pomp and circumstance on Thursday at the inauguration of President Bush along the snow-dusted, barricaded streets of central Washington. Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

People were throwing shit like food and what not at Bush's limo. It had a fat dent on the right side.

Yes there were thousands of protestors.... It was awesome... but I was expecting more people. I was kinda disappointed.

If you are looking for the dissent check out dc indymedia:

http://dc.indymedia.org/

I was around the whitehouse so I missed it when the anarchists tried to join the parade... But I guess that was the worst incident of the day. Most of it was very peacible. Which is fine by me cause I don't really see what throwing snowballs and sticks at police is going to do except make us look bad. If you want to start a revolution you should do that in the backrooms and smoky out of the way places where it will be most effective... not at a huge national event. All that does is make ALL of us look bad. I've been an anarchist for many, many years and I'm seeing that direct action at protests is pretty futile and pointless... It especially struck me when I heard someone say to their child in response to a question "They want to destroy their own country." - When that is not the case at all. We are in fact trying to save it from the people who actually ARE destroying it. But I can see how they would get confused if they don't know too much about us. I find it more effective to reason with people in a civilized manner. If you go attack someone out of hatred they are just going to hate you. We are all people. We need a forum for straightening all the issues out because they are horribly twisted. So that's what I did.... I had very reasonable discussions with people. Who's going to listen to you if you call them names?

From DC Indymedia:

7:02pm Confrontations now occurring between Republicans and protesters at Union Station;

6:56pm Police have gone behind Union Station; Police reporting that Metro PD has situation at Union Station covered, other police forces going back to the motorcade;

6:33pm Marchers from unpermitted march say it was "spontaneous", comprised of many different people of all types; they are now at Union Station regrouping and playing music; Police are estimating 200 protesters at Union Station;

6:22pm Police have cleared Mass. Ave. of protesters using their motorcycles, marchers have reached the corner by Union Station;

618:pm Police issuing "final warning" to disperse to Mass. Ave. protesters; police on motorcycles are ramming marchers in front of Post Office on North Capitol by Union Station;

6:16pm Police now issuing second warning to protesters to disperse from Mass. Ave. immediately;

6:15pm Police have issued first warning for marchers on Mass. Ave. to disperse;

6:10pm March has taken over one entire side of Massachusettes Avenue;

6:10pm March is now going out of Chinatown onto Massachusettes Avenue towards Union Station; about 200 people; police have been attempting to follow, but road blockades have prevented police vehicles from following;

Unpermitted march now at 15th and L;

Arrest at 15th and M at spontaneous unpermitted march;

3:45 Coffins carried by protestors are burning;

3:44 At least 30 riot-police at 14th and Pennsylvania; stand-off between police and protestors; whole area is filled with pepper-spray and tear-gas; 16 mainstream journalists observed getting sprayed by police with pepper-spray;

3:38 Police now sending reenforcements to 15th and H street;

3:33 Police reporting that one of two officers injured at 14th and Pennsylvania has a broken arm;

3:32 Protesters are pushing through gates at 13th and Pennsylvania;

3:31 Two women arrested at 13th and Pennsylvania;

3:20 Police snipers appearing on rooftops around 14th and Pennsylvania;

3:20 Two officers reported injured at 14th and Pennsylvania; mainstream journalists being hit and pepper-sprayed by police;

3:18 Pepper spray and tear-gas directed at protestors at 15th and Pennsylvania; at least 50 injured protestors; reports from police of "chest pains" in protestor; mainstream media journalists being hit with pepper spray; reports of bleeding from injured protestors;

3:18 Three sections of fence on inaugural parade route now broken down by protestors; fence blocking off parade route has collapsed; protestors battling police in streets; police still responding with pepper spray and tear gas;

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.

3:14 Presidential motorcade slowed down at request of police;

3:13 Police send a request to the Bush motorcade to slow down the motorcade at 5th and Pennsylvania, as major street battle rages between protestors and police at 14th and Pennsylvania;

3:13 Tear-gas being used in street battle between protestors and police at 14th and Pennsylvania;

3:12 Bush motorcade is speeded up to get beyond the protestors on parade route;

3:11 Bush motorcade passes massive grouping of protestors on parade route; "Fuck Bush!" can be heard live on CNN as protestors out-shout Bush supporters;

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.

1:38PM: There's a police car (#137, MPD?) in front of the Counter-Inaugural convergence space.

1:34PM: Police being dispatched to Pershing park, report of arrests at D and 7th.

1:16PM: (updated)snow balls thrown by some activists, several people say at least 2,000 anarchists. Some sort of projectile, maybe pepper balls, corroborated by some. Snowballs were thrown. Mood as calmed down, peoples spirits are "high." Anarchist Cheerleader squad is among them.

1:10PM: 1 person down, hit by pepper spray, extensive physical force by between 7th and 8th on G NW, police tried to prevent one "anarchist" march from linking up with another, things are "heating up fast." One DC Radio Coop/IMC contributor has also been hit by pepper spray. No arrests yet.

12:45PM: DAWN march is in the vicinity of McPhearson Square, people are shouting "whose streets, our streets!" Mood is "serious, but energetic." 12:53: The square is filling up, plenty of police.

12:43PM: "Anarchist march" at 13th and L, say the police around them were drawn away by "something else."

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 applauded 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

12:15PM Splinter group broke away from DAWN march at 16th and Q NW, maybe 200-300 ppl says observer.

12:09 Billionaires for Bush finished auction of Social Security and Arctic Wildlife Reserve at FDR Memorial.

11:55AM: Police chatter estimates DAWN (Malcom X/Meridian Park) march at 10,000

11:50 am DAWN march from MalcomX park just started with 5-800 going down 16th street. Police presence but not too heavy. People from Maine, Michigan, East Coast corridor. Primarily younger protestors, but people who have protested before. College students from Maine. 9 jump out vans are following them behind.

11:41AM: Marches have left Dupont Circle and Malcom X/Meridian Park

11:31AM: Bush is about to be introduced at the inauguration platform

DC Indymedia has been having cache/mirror dns issues. They may be resolved. Nothing nefarious going on.

The president preparing to go to the Capitol, "Operation Primary Package" is underway

10:38AM: TSA confirms that there was a 2-car derailment, all trains are being rerouted to New Carrolton, Union Station is "shut down" says TSA.

10:10AM: An uncorroborated report of a man in a suit, "dressed like a congressman," arrested at the "yellow gate," Independence and S. Capitol. Who he was and what he was arrested for is unknown.

9:41AM: A motorcade moving through at Washington and C streets.

9:32AM: Checkpoints B, C and E are open for access to the security zone around the inauguration

9:06AAM: The critical mass reached U and 11 NW

9:01AM: 60-75 Critical Mass riders came by the DC Indymedia Space. They are continuing their ride with cheers and high spirits. Reports are that the police are staying relatively cool but are following the ride with at least 1 jump out van.

8:52AM: Critical Mass has reached the Counter-Inaugural convergence space with no reported trouble.

As gross as this is, you can Access the DC street cameras here: http://app.ddot.dc.gov/services_dsf/traffi...eras/map_10.asp

Click on a green dot to watch the cameras

Damn.... and I only saw one guy get maced.... And alot of police posturing... where the hell was I? I was right there by the white house.... Well I didn't wake up till 11:00 so that didn't help. But I got down there at noon. Federal holiday. I believe I was eating around 3:00pm so I missed the fence being knocked over... huh... Seems like I missed everything...

Amtrack was derailed too... nothing major... couple cars off track. Anyone ever hopped trains? Some of these rail lines are ridiculously unstable when you are not riding in a passenger car.... I was in a coal car one time and this sucker was rocking off the tracks. I thought I was gonna die.

Anyways... it was interesting.

Originally posted by trackstand@Jan 20 2005, 11:49 PM

As gross as this is, you can Access the DC street cameras here: http://app.ddot.dc.gov/services_dsf/traffi...eras/map_10.asp

 

Click on a green dot to watch the cameras

Quoted post

Holy shit, hello big brother....

Hmm..not working for me.

Any cause determined for the Amtrack derailment?

more at http://www.infoshop.org

Ok I got it working now...

Well I don't know how the amtrack got derailed... I just saw it as I was riding by on the metro.... It didn't look like anything nefarious was going on.... Just looked like a couple of wheels slipped off. Probably poor maintainence.... Aren't we still using alot of our original rail lines built by slaves and chinese immigrants?

i was hoping some crazy wacked out protester would start tossing tear gas or something to cause total mass confusion.. Talk is cheap

Originally posted by robJ@Jan 20 2005, 11:18 PM

i was hoping some crazy wacked out protester would start tossing tear gas or something to cause total mass confusion.. Talk is cheap

Quoted post

You should've went to D.C. and done that.. You are cheap.

So uh, didn't he win like 3 months ago?

(Fast reply) fuck bush.

Dazzle, you live in Canada or something right? In the US, first you get elected, and then there is a waiting period to verify all the votes give the opportunity to contest the outcome. Then on January 20th the winner is officially sworn in and their term starts.

I know if I was there I probably wouldn't have done anything really crazy that would get me an asskicking by the police, but I feel that this country is already way past the boiling point, and I'm just sick to fucking death of Bush, his administration, and a lot of other things with this country also that I don't need to go into now. I just expected to see more, hundreds of thousands of people. Riots would have been entertaining, sure, but to have an outcome equivelant to the million man march would have been much more effective. And it's also upsetting how any protests are downplayed in the media, to the point of not even being mentioned in some cases. It's just more happy, cheery, family friendly, 40 million dollar fun. Fucking makes me sick.

There were around 2,000 people protesting in west Los Angeles at the federal building - nothing big, tho traffic was backed up for a good couple hour's.

Abc was showing part of the fence being torn apart by protesters. That made me happy, but the cops rushed in and nabbed some people.

Much props for everyone who could be a part of that.

An interesting article about media bias in favor of Republicans. Yet another sign of the way our country will be spat out at the end of this term. Get ready for the Republican takeover.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200501210001

No room for progressives on cable news inauguration coverage

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 19 to 7 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.

FOX News:

Republicans:

•Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)

•Senator James Inhofe (R-OK)

•Brian Harlan, head of officially authorized Bush-Cheney inaugural memorabilia

•Ashley Faulkner, star of "Ashley's Ad," campaign spot by pro-Bush political action committee

•Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)

•Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

•Bush-Cheney '04 chief campaign strategist Matthew Dowd

•Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes

•U.S. News & World Report senior writer Michael Barone

•National Review editor Rich Lowry

•Wall Street Journal contributing editor Peggy Noonan

•Weekly Standard editor William Kristol

•Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer

•Radio host and FOX News contributor Mike Gallagher (opposite Beckel)

•Pro-Bush singer Tony Orlando

•FOX News political analyst and radio host Tony Snow

•Former Bush-Cheney '04 senior adviser Tucker Eskew

•Boxing promoter and outspoken Bush supporter Don King

•Advertising executive Jerry Della Femina (opposite Hindery, Koplovitz)

Democrats:

•Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)

•House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

•Democratic strategist Bob Beckel (opposite Gallagher)

•National Public Radio senior correspondent Juan Williams (opposite Barnes)

•Representative Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN)

•RTV Media chairman Kay Koplovitz (opposite Della Femina)

•InterMedia Partners chairman Leo J. Hindery Jr. (opposite Della Femina)

CNN News:

Republicans:

•Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

•Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE)

•Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA)

•Governor George Pataki (R-NY)

•Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

•Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer

•Bush senior adviser Karen Hughes

•White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card

•National Review contributing editor David Frum

•Republican author Doug Wead

Additional note: CNN political analyst Carlos Watson's Ohio citizens panel included four Republicans, one Democrat, and one swing voter.

Democrats:

•Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)

MSNBC News:

Republicans:

•Vice President Dick Cheney

•Lynne Cheney

•Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

•Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)

•Former Representative J.C. Watts (R-OK)

•MSNBC host and Former Representative Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

•Radio host and MSNBC contributor Monica Crowley

•Washington Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley

•Former Reagan Chief of Staff Ken Duberstein

•Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge

•Bush senior adviser Karen Hughes

•Retired baseball manager Tommy Lasorda

•Bush-Cheney '04 attorney Ben Ginsberg

Democrats:

•Progressive blogger Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette)

•MSNBC political analyst Ron Reagan Jr. (opposite Crowley, Watts, Scarborough)

*The original version of this item mistakenly omitted Lott and Chambliss from "Republicans and conservatives" on FOX and Pelosi from "Democrats and progressives" on FOX. These additions changed the FOX tally from 17 to 6 in the original version to 19 to 7 in the corrected version.

— Media Matters staff

http://toolz.blogs.com/toolz_of_the_new_sc...bush_on_cnn.mov

A video capture of CNN's broadcast of the inauguration parade right when it went past a section of protesters. When they go to the reporter on the sidelines, you can very clearly hear someone yelling "FUCK BUSH!" multiple times. It's great.

that guy deserves a medal for being so random.