Were you at the Inauguration protest? 01/20/04, one year ago.

[WilliamPitt]

I blogged the thing all day. This was, solemnly, the last day I saw Andy Stephenson healthy. Link to the blog for the day:

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/4/223855/1875

A few good moments:

Winter in Washington
Wednesday 19 January 2005, 4:12pm

It snowed pretty heavily here this afternoon, with more forecast for tomorrow. It is cold. Not hard cold, not Boston cold - it was four degrees when I got to Logan airport this morning - but cold enough to make me wonder if any protests planned for tomorrow will be understaffed, shall we say, for fear of frostbite. This is a southern town, after all; one flake hits the ground and everyone loses their mind.

The events I will be reporting on tomorrow will be taking place at three different locations. From 9am EST to noon, I will be covering the protests at McPherson Park, the closest venue available to the White House. At noon, the show moves to Senate Park, close to the Capitol Building and right near Union Station. Starting at 7pm EST, there will be a CounterInaugural Ball at a club called Dream, location as yet unknown. I will also be reporting throughout on the security situation, the troops in the street, the sights and sounds, and whever else seems worthy of note.

Keep an eye on this page starting around 9am EST tomorrow. You won't want to miss the show.

===

The big fence
10:59am

Took a walk over to the White House, and found it buried behind a massive black fence that encompases Lafayette Park and stretches all the way out to H street. No soldiers are visible, but there are hundreds of cops everywhere. The White House is barely visible behind a four story viewing stand.

===

Jumpy cops
11:11am

I was coming back to the park a few minutes ago, and stopped to check my email on this little machine. I happened to do so standing next to a police cruiser. I got about ten steps away, and was stopped by an armored cop who demanded to know what I was doing near the cruiser. I showed him my press ID, and he growlingly let me pass. The boys in blue are jumpy today.

In the park again, and the crowd has grown. Granny D is warming in a nearby van, and will speak sometime soon.

===

Senate Park
2:01pm

I broke away from the parade route and headed to Senate Park, where the crew from McPherson Park is supposed to arrive at some point. It is quiet now. The Capitol Police are nearby, packing the largest assault weapons I have ever seen in an American city.

Andy Stephenson, formerly of BlackBoxVoting, is here with me. Back in July, he was with me at a Rolling Thunder event in Seattle. He warned us that this election was doomed to fraud back then, but not enough people listened. Cassandra is alive and well and in DC.

===

A good moment
2:43pm

I am sharing a bench with some protesters, one of whom has a sign reading 'Bush lied, thousands died.'. A couple of W folk walked by, and one angrily demanded what Bush lied about.

"Remember the 2003 state of the union speech?" I asked.

"What about it?" was the angry reply.

"Well, in that speech, Bush said there was 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX gas, 30,000 munitions to deliver the stuff, mobile biological weapons labs and uranium from Niger to make nuclear bombs. The White House still has a page on its website that claims this us still true, but last week they cancelled the WMD search without finding any of it. That was a pretty big lie."

The reply?

"That was the Democrats who lied about that!" before a dramatic storm-off.

These people are miracles of nature.

===

Another genius
3:41pm

Fellow in a Bush cap just approached a protester and said,"Ay-rabs flied and lots died. Whadaya think of that?"

"I think it's bad grammar," I said.

He got mad. Big surprise.

===

The coward
4:41pm

It occurs to me that all this security, all these cops and soldiers and guns and fences, are not really to keep the terra'ists at bay, but to protect Bush from the citizens of his own country. His limo was pelted with fruit, and the Cheney limo got battered by snowballs. There were tens of thousands of people here to shout him down.

The battery on my machine is just about gone, so I am going to find someplace warm. It was a privilege to be here. Anyone despairing for their country can feel a sense of pride today. Whatever else happens from here on out, know that thousands of people of good conscience carried the flag today in fine style.

This is William Rivers Pitt, signing off from America's protest capitol.

[FreedomAngel82]

1. Oh I remember

I watched the counter-inaugration and bawled. :cry:

[VolcanoJen]

2. No, but thank you.

I joined Democratic Underground on Inauguration Day, 2001, after seeing their proud banner waving amid a sea of pissed-off Americans, though.

Skinner - Seven Days Underground

I felt utterly alone. Yet, I've been home ever since.

Point well taken. I'm just thankful we're still speaking freely.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. For some reason this post made me think of the protest at the

Republican National Convention. I remember the oceans of humanity on C-Span. And then I remember the crickets chirping and the total lack of ANY kind of coverage by the MSM and how the counts were so underflated. Sorry to digress from the OP. I guess I am thinking that if the first had been covered adequately, if people around the country could clearly SEE that they are in fact the majority, that then perhaps Ohio would have never happened and that then there wouldn't have been a second inaugeration of W.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. "all these cops and soldiers and guns and fences"

Yes, I was there. All those black uniformed swat teams and military check points. The whole city was under martial law to, as you say, protect the dimson from the people.

I couldn't do much about the cops and soldiers and guns. But the aging yippie in me noticed that portable fencing is, by design, just as easy to take down as it is to put up. Resist fascism.

[VelmaD]

5. I miss Andy

I remember him coming home from that trip and telling me he felt so tired. That's when I started brow-beating him about going to see the doctor. I still miss him so bad. :cry: But I know he was so glad to see you that day.