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Weekly White House Protest Report
August 13, 2005
ycw@yellowcakewalk.net
http://www.yellowcakewalk.net
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"LET US GO! LET US GO!" Our shouts echoed down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Hundreds of cops in riot gear closed in. Tourists, passersby, old folks, and
those of us carrying placards were bound with cable ties that cut into our
wrists. They hauled us off in buses. We languished for thirty hours on a
gymnasium floor, hog-tied, denied food, water, bathroom, counsel.

Their M.O. is to degrade, to humiliate, and finally, to dominate.

On September 27, 2002, six hundred peaceful Americans were arrested near the
White House for "failure to obey police orders". But here's the rub: there
were no police orders to obey. No order to disperse, and no opportunity to
disperse voluntarily.

That's your Bill of Rights in flames under the Bush regime.

The bright side is that there are still freedom-loving citizens in this land.
The ACLU lawsuit resulted in dropped charges, remuneration, and a written
apology from the Chief of Police. The City Council last January passed
legislation explicitly protecting citizens' rights on the streets of the
District of Columbia.

It's a black sun that beats down on the capital of a nation that must resort
to municipal law to rescue its most basic Constitutional freedoms.

o o o

In this white-hot August of 2005, on any given Saturday, some American tourist
will gaze slack-jawed at our protest signs spread out in front of the White
House. Predictably he will bleat:

"You are just lucky Bush allows you to do that!"

We just laugh in his face.

This writer knows what you the reader know. What the citizens of the original
thirteen colonies knew when they ratified the Bill of Rights in 1791. We know
something that our above-mentioned tourist chooses blissfully to ignore.

What we know is this: We citizens must demand, win, and defend our OWN rights.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights

o o o

On August 13, 2005, we took our hard-won hard-defended First Amendment Freedom
of Speech to the White House. We do this every Saturday.

For seven hours, we endured the same 100-degree heat that Cindy Sheehan
endures in front of a certain Texas hacienda, as she demands an explanation
for why her son died for a pack of lies.

Our "TALK TO CINDY!" placard was the favorite for White House photo ops
among American women.

Every Saturday we help out the Secret Service by keeping sharp eyes open for
legitimate security threats as hundreds and thousands of tourists visit the
presidential residence.

And the Secret Service leaves us unmolested as we spread out our placards on
Pennsylvania Avenue. The tourists can choose their own protest message, pick
up the multicolored placards of their choice, and pose a photo with their own
cameras. The protest runs itself. Sharpies and poster board are always
available for custom messages.

Matt R, Dave B, Joe H, Eric A, and other local activists were there.
Francophone Danielle G poured cold iced tea down our parched throats and bore
her trademark "Fermez La Bush!" placard all afternoon. Cool local photographer
Laura Isis Osiris took some hot pics which she emailed around to us on Monday.
Joe H mastered his new digital camera and got some great shots. Web site on
the way.

And as usual, hundreds of American and international tourists carried anti-war
placards in twenty languages. Their photos, taken with their own cameras, with
the White House in the background, circle the planet as they do every single
weekend. As they will continue to do every single weekend until the last
American soldier returns from The Oil Quagmire in which Casey Sheehan was
killed.

o o o

Another favorite curse from naïve American tourists is "Get a job!"

Six days each week I put my shoulder to the wheel to get myself employed. A
skilled software engineer with thirty years of experience should have no
difficulty. But, after so many months of fruitless effort, the question asks
itself: Have I been "Roved"?

In the pre-Bush world, I could run a resume up the flagpole, and have a
six-digit salary within a couple of weeks. Contract after contract, year after
year.

Now, a serf in the new feudal system, I apply for work at 8% of my previous
compensation. Perhaps my new job will be "manufacturing" burgers for a
clown-themed chain restaurant, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics will boast
a new industrial job created.

Their M.O. is to degrade, to humiliate, and finally, to dominate.

The economy is good. It is good indeed if you happen to be Haliburton,
Lockheed-Martin, or Chevron. It is good if you are a pharmaceutical
manufacturer, a credit card usurer, or a lobbyist. The economy is excellent if
you are a tobacco company relieved from the burden of a major lawsuit.

Life is especially good if you, like Bush, inherited your fortune.

o o o

See you next Saturday and every Saturday at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, from 1
PM until dark. Thanks out to our international friends for new protest signs
in Norwegian, Swedish, Hungarian, Malay, Dutch, Tagalog, and Turkish. Thanks
out to the young Israeli woman for her message of peace in Hebrew. Special
thanks to Kalpana at the Subway restaurant on Franklin Square for her
beautiful Nepalese script.

Cindy Sheehan, we look forward to welcoming you to Washington. Bush needs to
answer your question. We are at your disposal to help him hear it.