SEE PHOTO BELOW (@#$# software)
This was my favorite photo from Saturday’s demonstration. Where is the Secret Service when you need it?
I have 10 other photos posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bovard/
I am tottering on the edge of getting the hang of some of this modern technology.
UPDATE 1/30: The Flickr page with the “Bush Swings by Congress” photo has now received more than 2000 separate hits. Thanks to everyone who linked in to that shot!
[…] Bovard, author of a ton of great books, including Attention Deficit Democracy, talks about the fun he had at the DC antiwar protest back in January, his belief that the Attorney General is about to […]
Jim
Thanks a lot!
timmy taes
The Two and Only is my favorite podcast on the Int
David Smithson
Right you are. Retired now, I worked for many yea
Ron Redrift
Sorry to hear of your tiff with Mr. Wilson; hope i
timmy taes
Well, at least you didn't need a costume for
First waterboard him somewhat and then unleash the angry dogs before the oh so legal execution takes place. Make sure that Cheney is watching.
Ha! Marvelous! I can hear Cheney cursing from here: “@#$%! the First Amendment! It just gives aid and comfort to the enemy! Our empire…er, nation is at war dammit!”
Effigedaboutit!
Jim,
I’m disappointed with you for hanging out with all those supporters of terrorism and America haters.
I have been listening to that great patriotess, Laura Ingraham. She sent those two sycophantic sidekicks of her’s into the crowd and they brought back actual sound tracks(!) of them asking where the Communist party table was located so they could join up. They were directed to the SWP table. I also heard upteen times the sound bite of that woman yelling “pull out now!”
From listening to this show (Charles Goyette’s streaming audio was down today, unfortunatly) it was obvious that the capitol hasn’t seen this many Reds since the days of Norman Thomas and Abbie Hoffman.
Thank goodness for the cream of the “conservative” movement in the form of our most informed citizens— our (neo)conservative talk radio shows hosts in their never ending pursuit of the truth!
Ryan – my views on the “pull out now” message should be clear from the photo caption.
There were a handful of hardcore leftists at the event, as well as some 9/11 Truth Movement folks, several Iranian groups opposed to inflicting genocide on Iran, and various other cohorts.
It was a peaceful mix.
The photo of Bush swinging by Congress has now received over one thousand separate hits from viewers on the flickr website. Here is the direct link to the page with that photo
Thanks to http://www.whatreallyhappened.com and others who have linked to it!
I mentioned the Secret Service in my initial comment on the photo because they made a house call on an elderly gentleman who they ascertained had written a letter to the editor. Here’s the AP story:
ABC News: Pa. Man’s Letter Brings Secret Service January 25, 2007 | Local
BETHLEHEM, Pa. Jan 21, 2007 (AP)— An elderly man who wrote in a letter to the editor about Saddam Hussein’s execution that “they hanged the wrong man” got a visit from Secret Service agents concerned he was threatening President Bush.
The letter by Dan Tilli, 81, was published in Monday’s edition of The
Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, “I still believe they
hanged the wrong man.”
Tilli said the statement was not a threat. “I didn’t say who I could’ve meant
(Osama) bin Laden,” he said Friday.
Two Secret Service agents questioned Tilli at his Bethlehem apartment Thursday, briefly searching the place and taking pictures of him, he said.
The Secret Service confirmed the encounter. Bob Slama, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Philadelphia office, said it was the agency’s duty to investigate.
The agents almost immediately decided Tilli was not a threat, Slama said
“We have no further interest in Dan,” he said.
Tilli said the agents appeared more relaxed when he dug out a scrapbook
containing more than 200 letters that he has written over the years, almost all on political topics.
“He said, ‘Keep writing, but just don’t make no threats,'” Tilli said of one of
the agents.
It wasn’t Tilli’s first run-in with the federal government over his letter
writing. Two FBI agents from Allentown showed up at his home last year about a
letter he wrote advocating a civil war to unseat Bush, he said.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
So we should use hatred and violence to combat hatred and violence? If so, other than the targets, how do the two sides differ? Every call for revenge is a call for another injustice.
I’m curious(I have to be careful how I word this, I don’t wish to seem confrontational)why when I enter these types of blogs, there really is no real dialect.Most entries sound like little children calling each other names.I am a veteran.I’ve been out of the military since 1997 and I had the pleasure to serve under Bill Clinton as Commander in Chief.Mr. Clinton sent me across the globe twice(Somalia and Panama).My brother served and still serves in the Navy, where he was injured on the Cole. I’ve been able to see the cruelty of the world and I have a feeling that most people who write these things on blogs like this are young and naive.I too was young once and had ideas about the world before I was thrust into war and killing.Nobody has the desire or right to call for peace as the soldier does.I feel that alot of you think our soldiers bloodthirsty barbarians and the fact is, we are, but only when it is neccesary.We all know that “old men make war so that young men may fight war”, this is a fact of life.But if it were not for our “young men” you people would not enjoy the rights you have today.
The question was posed:”should use hatred and violence to combat hatred and violence?” The answer is simple;yes.Not because that is what is morally right, but because it is what is neccesary.
Sorry Jim,
That was a tongue in cheek joke. I listen to those idiots on the radio and Fox just to see how they are distorting if not outright lying about a person or an event. They put on quite a show yesterday by making many uses of the “sandwich smear”, i.e., everyone who goes to one of these demostation is a leftist and by extentsion anyone against the war is a fellow traveller.
I’ve been to similar events and I know from being an organizer of one you attract all sorts of nutcases and fanatics. The one I worked at years ago had some members of the Revolutionary Communist Party show up and asked for the use of our sound system. I exchanged some words with them explaining that for what we were doing the last thing folks wanted to hear was a load of maoist crap. Having been rebuffed there they asked me if I wanted to buy one of their books. I asked them how much they wanted and upon being informed replied “that sounds like a capitalist ripoff to me” and declined to purchase.
Oh yeah, the event I was at? A pot “smoke-in” held in Atlanta.
Ryan – your joke hit the mark. Thanks for posting it.
Ya, any time there is a big public gathering there’s gonna be a certain number of boneheads.
That’s a great response to the pitch to buy Maoist books. Wonder if they would have been willing to haggle to reach a market-clearing price.
Jim,
In that case the joke is on me. I’m glad you like the commeback. They weren’t amused to say the least which is typical of people who take themselves too seriously. 😀
I don’t think those Maoists would be willing to go the Cosco route on the book. While it was way overpriced I did offer to read it for free if they were willing to give it to me, but they declined my counter offer. Come to think of it I should have ask them to not only give me the book, but pay me to read it.
The dude who wrote it was a Bob Avarakin or something like that. I can imagine what an ordeal this book would have been having one I found someplace of the writings of the late and unlamented Kim Il Sung. Ghastly!
There are books that should come with a pint of whiskey attached – something to kill the pain the author’s wretched style & reasoning is sure to induce.
On the other hand, the Maoists may have already overimbibed, else how could they become True Believers?
If it were necessary to carry a bottle of whiskey while reading to counter intolerable dreck, I would have had my blood changed out with JD years ago. My tactic is simply that when I read nonsense, I skip to the vital part and then throw away the book. Benjamin Disraeli once said that “9/10ths of all books are worthless and the only good ones are the 1/10th that disprove the rest” The same logic goes for mass protests and rallies.
I once saw a photo of a student protest where one kid held up a sign saying “We don’t know what we’re protesting” Actually, it was Limbaugh himself who gave the best example of why I won’t join the protests. At a 2005 rally against the Iraq war, media were interviewing protesters who were truly whacked out. One was an association called the NAFTROODP: the national assoc. for the representation of oppressed and dispossessed people, and another featured a man who gave a 5-minute protest in the form of a free verse rap. I am glad to see such people turned out in numbers, but the best way to handle politicians is to ignore them.
Peace, by all means !, But I am telling you one thing, If I would have been there at the time when some scum bag spit on a wounded veteran,, I would now be facing a life sentence for murder, AND I AM NOT KIDDING
Adam – that’s a great quote from Disraeli.
I have no illusions that the average protestor is more savvy than the average member of Congress.
It would be easier and safer to ignore politicians if they were not starting wars.
I just remembered for anybody who likes Shakespeare. He gives a great parody of protests and the Left in general in 2 Henry VI. Jack Cade comes in with his mob and demands that he be made king of England so he can implement his Socialist program. He wants a national dress code of green, compulsory nation-wide anthem singing, price controls on bread (none may sell more than a hey-penny), egalitarianism, the abolition of schools and literacy, and, most famously, the killing of all lawyers. This is just something to think about whenever we see massive protests on Washington.
Scott – has the story about the wounded vet being spit at been confirmed? I have seen a few things raising questions about it at Media Matters for America.
I’m not saying that the incident didn’t happen – I’m just not sure what transpired.
I spoke to a lot of folks and did not perceive anti-Veteran hostility.
Adam – the fact that some protestors are idiots does not legitimize the dictatorial power of politicians.
People need to find some way to rein in their rulers.
I heard it on a partisan radio show, left or right they are all partisan. Wouldnt bet the farm on it, but they interviewed the vet, although I did not hear what they vet actually had to say.
I am a conservative but Hannity gets on my nerves, he aint conservative , he is a republican hack
Jim,
While we are discussing this veteran who was allegedly spat upon, I have this question. Is there any truth that monuments in front of the Capitol were sprayed with graffitti?
This something else the neocons on talk radio are hollering about. Over the years I’ve gotten to the point that anything they claim I assume to be a lie done for partisan purposes.
Thanks.
I read something about that on Monday. It was not some grand swell of humanity involved – it didn’t show up on my radar screen.
Joann Wypijewski had a good piece on the demonstration on Counterpunch on Monday. Her piece, entitled “Chirpy Slogans, Empty City,” noted a breakaway from the march:
“The anarchist kids, the revived SDS, a youthful band bearing red and black flags, one saying “An Army of None”, swept up the stairs of the Capitol. We joined them and for a brief time the whole thing felt like it should — electric and raw, impolite. We were chanting and drumming and some of the kids started spray-painting slogans on the landing where police had stopped our progress.
It was too bad the tagger I was watching couldn’t come up with anything more original than “Fuck You” or the encircled A. Not the best advertisement for Anarchism’s political program, but then the kids in black always have been better at theater and destructive energy than anything.”
Sounds plenty damn lame to me.