:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 10.19.2004 ::

:: Hey W: Can you feel the love? ::

A sampling of recent protest activity:

Kept away from rally, hundreds protest Bush policies
from Cherry Hill Courier Post

President Bush could not see or hear any of the opponents who showed up to criticize his policies, particularly the war in Iraq.

But they were there, several hundred strong, some in a parking lot assigned to "protesters," several hundred yards from the point where the president spoke. Another, smaller group was at the point on Tuckerton Road beyond which the public could not proceed.

"It's one of the things that upsets me," said Chris Hansen, 42, of Medford. "He's so insulated."

Hansen, the vice president of a manufacturing company, described himself as "an active independent who's become a Democrat" and said that, for him, the war is the main issue.

"I'm sick of feeling ashamed of my country," Hansen said.

SPC sponsors Bush protest
By Jessica Horvath
from The Daily Orange

Heavy rain and low temperatures failed to deter members of the local community from showing their commitment to removing President George W. Bush from office this November.

About 100 people gathered on the lawn of the Museum of Science and Technology in Armory Square for the "Bush Must Go!" rally, organized by the Syracuse Peace Council.

"It's important for the well-being of all citizens that the Bush regime is kicked out of office," said Rae Kramer, a volunteer with SPC and a Syracuse resident. "The world will be a safer place with (Sen. John) Kerry in the White House."


Police Arrest 21 In Bush Protest
from nbc4.com

The protesters were AIDS activists who accused President George W. Bush of failing to do enough to help people with AIDS.

Some of the protesters chained themselves to the door of the campaign headquarters and were arrested for trespassing.

Police fire pepper shot to break up Bush protest
from Collective Bellaciao, France

"We were here to protest Bush and show our support for Kerry," said Cerridewen Bunten, 24, a college student and retail clerk from Ashland. ...
(Registration required -- in French)

ALSO
Anti-Bush Canadians Put Gov't in Quandary
from an AP report

MONTREAL - Measured by shared boundaries and trade, no foreign country has a larger stake in the U.S. presidential election than Canada. Its citizens, by an overwhelming margin, hope for President Bush's defeat, but its government - unsure of the Nov. 2 outcome - is trying to keep bilateral tensions from escalating.

Many Canadians have intently followed the campaign, watching the TV debates and writing impassioned letters to newspapers. Two recent polls showed Democrat John Kerry favored by more than 2-to-1 across Canada; in French-speaking Quebec, Bush's support was only 11 percent.

Bush's decision to invade Iraq has been a major factor. After the invasion last year, Montreal Canadiens fans began booing during the U.S. national anthem, and anti-war protesters even jeered a Massachusetts youth hockey team at a tournament.

"Canadians have become leading Bushophobes," said Gil Troy, a New York City native who teaches history at Montreal's McGill University. "The fundamental U.S.-Canada relationship remains incredibly strong. ... but there's an extreme demonization of Bush, a notion of him as an uncultured cowboy."

posted by me

:: 10:37:00 PM [+] ::
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