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Presidential Inauguration Day Comparison - Obama Vs Bush2
Obama's inauguration will be very different than the Bush inaugurations ; quotes from 2001: protests, eggs, etc.
Date: 1/14/2009 1:08:22 AM ( 15 y ) ... viewed 5268 times
2001 to 2009 - what a difference there will be in the sentiments on inauguration day for the incoming presidents.
Bush then and Obama now - and something to do with democracy and fair elections, and knowing what was coming? People allready seemed to know that electing Bush, or however it was that he became President, meant there would be an expansion of war somewhere.
In 2001, there were not tears of joy and hope, but tear gas at George Bush's first term inauguration. There were an estimated 20,000 protestors assembled at some points on that Jan 21st in 2001. Bush' limo was pelted with eggs.
Then, in 2005, for Pres. Bush's 2nd term, there were 25,000 protestors, not significantly more than for his first term' s inauguration, perhaps because of restrictions on gaining access to the parade route. However, as once again Bush's limo was pelted with eggs, and they ended up cutting it short by taking an alternative route to make it end quickly.
I cannot imagine what it would feel like if I were the one being protested in that parade... but Bush2 is so smug and evil and devious that it probably didn't bother him at all, he knew he stole two elections and a few eggs would not make it any more or less a sin.
Police were there in great numbers too, about 13,000 of them for the 2nd Bush parade. 100 blocks around downtown DC were cordened off.
This is the kicker though - when the ceremonies started, the bleachers were 80% empty for Bush's actual acceptance speach.
That won't be the case for Pres. Obama. On Jan 21st 2009, it will be the biggest crowd ever assembled for a Presidential inauguration, and there are not going to be any tickets left to get it if more wanted to come.
Obama's inaguration will have lots pf police too - they won't be holding back protestors, but well-wishers.
As I have written before, I love it that Obama fills us with such great hope, "us" being anyone with an ounce of humanism in their hearts who wants a good and fair world ; we cannot resist the urge to hold onto some hope that this President will make the world a better place. However, I am not yet convinced that Obama will be ABLE to do it, or that perhaps he has only talked a good game and never really intended to follow up his words. But, until he shows otherwise, I support him, because I WANT to have hope.
Here are a few quotes, and links, from googling about the 2001 Bush inauguration, and links to articles about the 2005 inauguration:
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Quotes: 2001 Inauguration Day for Bush2 :
1}http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/01/20/protests/index.html
The rain and cold were emblematic of the sentiment of Bush' inauguration:
"Demonstrators turned out in droves on Saturday -- a miserably gray and drizzly day, with temperatures hovering in the mid-30s -- to protest the Inauguration of President George W. Bush, whose election was contested all the way to the Supreme Court. "
pg. 2} "The hatred was palpable. At one particularly dark moment, a protester lobbed an egg at the presidential limo. Bush remained safely inside until the final block before reaching his new home. (In the past, Bush's father and even Bill Clinton walked large stretches of the parade route, but not so during this cold and contentious day.)"
2] http://www.fightbacknews.org/2001winter/bushprotest.htm
"Bush's theft of the election, facilitated by a systematic attack on the voting rights of African Americans, has led to widespread anger across the country. "Hail to the thief!" was a common chant at the Jan. 20 protests, along with other slogans that challenged the racist and reactionary Bush administration."
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus walked out of the House of Representatives on Jan. 6, when the Bush victory was certified. The NAACP and others rallied Jan. 20 in Tallahassee, Florida, the epicenter the electoral fraud.
At the inauguration, eggs and tomatoes pelted the motorcade carrying President Bush and other top officials. Members of the Secret Service were forced to run, as the presidential limousine sped up to pass concentrations of demonstrators.
Protesters outnumbered Bush backers at many points along Pennsylvania Avenue ;
supporters of Bush were wearing their colours: "men with shaved heads wearing "FUK GORE" t-shirts, others wearing furs and cowboy hats - feebly attempted to organize pro-Bush rallies along the parade route."
Right Wing Agenda
"The road of President Bush is paved with poverty, racist discrimination, attacks on the rights of women and more wars," said Carolyn Connelly of the Colombia Action Network.
She continued - "We're here today because the Bush Administration is planning a war on the people at home and abroad. Clinton organized a huge escalation of the U.S. war in Colombia. Bush's appointees have made it clear that they will continue and widen the war. We need to do everything possible to get the U.S. out. What we are seeing here are the beginnings of a powerful movement that will confront the plans and policies of Bush and company."
3] http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines01/0121-01.htm
WASHINGTON - Thousands of activists from across the country marched down the rain-slick streets of the capital yesterday, waving signs, chanting slogans, and maneuvering for spots at key inaugural ceremonies for a chance to denounce President Bush.
The protests were the largest for an inauguration since that of Richard Nixon in 1973 during the Vietnam War. Those drew about 60,000
Now, without a war [yet!],, in 2001, 20,000 protesters had gathered in downtown Washington for mostly orderly rallies ;
And the authorities knew it wasn't going to be a welcome mat for Bush2 - " More than 10,000 officers from 16 law-enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, the U.S. Park Police, and the District of Columbia's police force lined the streets beginning at dawn."
. At Freedom Plaza, a protest space along the parade route at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, thousands of protesters held up signs calling Bush such epithets as "thief" and "pig." When Bush's motorcade passed, they booed and jeered and yelled obscenities. Some held up middle fingers.
Legitimacy questioned:
"a "Shadow Convention" led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, said the legal wrangling that followed the election proved that any honest attempt at change would be quashed by politics.
"We were sold out," she said, as others around her chanted, "No justice, no peace." "And when we tried to get justice [from the Supreme Court] we were sold again. The election was stolen."
At the Supreme Court building, Rudy Arredondo of Takoma Park, Md., put it this way: "Bush is a Supreme Court appointee. In my eyes, and in my children's eyes, he will never be a legitimate president." "
Support was weak:
The National Patriots March, a pro-Bush group, drew about 300 people on Jan 20th, the day before Bush's inauguration
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Quotes - 2005 Inauguration - links to two sites [similar sentiments to the 2001 inauguration] -
1] http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/jofreeman/photos/jan20.html
2] http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jan2005/wash-j21.shtml
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PS - I think we can imagine that there will be something like a huge happy party for the President Obama inauguration on Jan 21st 2009. No eggs, and hopefully whatever protests there might be will be welcomed! Several applications for protests have been granted, so it is allready looking less "gestapo" than with Bush2.
Lets hope.
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