About 600 give Bush an "unwelcome" in Miami Today!

[KaryninMiami]

Several hundred gather to protest Bush

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070428/APN/704281187

By LISA ORKIN EMMANUEL
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI
About 600 protesters gathered at a demonstration outside a college campus while President George W. Bush gave the commencement speech at the school Saturday afternoon.

People opposed to the president's policies and the war in Iraq gathered along a main avenue at the Kendall Campus of Miami Dade College.

"I want to do anything I can to bring the war to an end," said one of the protesters, 55-year-old Thomas Kreycik, a mental health counselor. "We are throwing away money, we are throwing away the lives of our troops for no justifiable reason."

Passing drivers honked their horns in solidarity with the protesters and many stopped to pick up pamphlets. Many children attended with their families and a dog owner dressed his pooch, Barney, in an anti-Bush shirt. People beat drums, tapped tambourines and chanted "I didn't become a citizen to help Bush mess it up."

Police stood relaxed next to protesters or behind temporary fences. Officers declined to estimate the size of the crowd.

Chris Kirchner, 48, a public school teacher from south Miami, came dressed in an outfit that she said represented Iraq on fire. She was wearing an orange dress and an orange paper crown in the shape of flames.

Kirchner also held a large poster that read "liar."

"We cannot have our children's future spent at the cost of $1 billion a day on a false war," she said. "We are not safer. We have lost this war."

Patty Bazzani, a 20-year-old student at the college, said she came to the demonstration because she supports peace.

"I'm hoping people will come to their senses and there will be a better president in the future," Bazzani said.

At the speech, Bush emphasized the strength in America's diversity. He spoke before 5,000 people, including 1,500 graduates, many of whom are immigrants or children of immigrants.

The crowd outside was largely anti-Bush. Less than 10 people gathered with signs welcoming the president.

Barbara Miranda, 57, a realtor's associate from southwest Miami, said she came to the demonstration Saturday support the president, because she was impressed with his response after Sept. 11.

"Bush did the best that nobody can do and in this country there are no more incidents," she said.

Another Bush supporter said she believes in the president's policies.

"We feel very good with him," said Magaly Dorta, 60, an assistant teacher from Little Havana. She was holding a sign that said "Welcome President Bush."

Graduate art student Jacqueline Gopie, 46, brought her installation art project to the gathering. The project was a giant paper mache clown on top of a globe that was supported by small wheels, which rolled along the ground.

She said she made it in protest of Bush's policy on stem-cell research.

"He's claiming to save unborn lives ... It's crazy," she said.

Kelsey Garcia, a 14-year-old student from the area, came to the protest with her mother and stepfather. She held a sign that read: "If war is the answer we are asking the wrong question."

"We're trying to fix things, not cause more problems," she said. "Now we've just gotten ourselves into a huge mess that we cant get out of. It's going to effect future generations

[Straight Shooter]

1. "... and in this country there are no more incidents."

1, that's false. Anthrax.

2, Ms. Miranda apparently thinks it's okay for our troops and Iraqis to be dying, just as long as her hair doesn't get mussed. Apparently she thinks her life is worth more than theirs. Typical bush supporter.

[riderinthestorm]

6. Right so it's okay that Madrid and London were hit by massive terrorist attacks.

Per *, those terrorist bombings weren't "here". Whew! Good thing others are dying in other countries.....

:mad:

[Stevepol]

9. There's an obvious reason for no incidents in the US

and this is IMPORTANT because it's the source of a lot of misunderstanding.

Al Qaeda and the other terrorists HAVE NO REASON TO COME HERE AND PLANT BOMBS. WE HAVE 150,000 TROOPS IN THEIR BACKYARD THAT ARE SITTING DUCKS.

The bomb materials are easily available in Iraq, people williing to blow themselves up keep coming there, inspired by the absurdity and irrationality and bloodshed of our occupation.

Very early in the conflict a bit of correspondence from Al Qaeda was found that said exactly what was happening and would continue to happen as long as we're there: as long as the US is in Iraq there's no reason for Al Qaeda to hit the US.

The defenders of the president turn the whole argument into a laughable one, that the reason we're fighting the terrorist in Iraq is to fight them there rather than here. We're fighting them there because that's where Al Qaeda prefers to fight us, and thanks to an idiot for a president, they're getting exactly what they want.

I'm reminded of a line I saw from a Mad magazine parody once: "And then I smashed my jaw into his fist, I slammed my crotch into his boot, ... etc." This about sums up the spin used by the crazies to justify the unjustifiable.

[mwb970]

10. A peek into the mind of the 28%.... /nt

[MADem]

2. Ya know, I was thinking about something that's kinda sneaky

People could protest the Monkey by getting a bunch of people together to wear white tee shirts, oversized, of course, and spell out, in black duct tape, WELCOME PRESIDENT BUSH. Then, after they get into position, nice 'n close, because they aren't yet "protesters," they pull off the duct tape carefully, so it can be reused and rearrange their letter so it spells out something like WAR CRIMINAL, or IMPEACH, or RESIGN YOU BAASTID or something on those lines.....

It's a thought that always brings joy to me...

[Ghost in the Machine]

5. I like your idea! It made me smile too...

[Danascot]

11. Well, if a few letters step to the side

the others can rearrange themselves to spell out:

SCREW LIMP NUTS

[MADem]

12. Oh, you CLEVER wag, YOU!!! That's GREAT!!!!!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Danascot]

14. Thanks MADem

... glad you got a kick out of it. I was bummed I couldn't use all the letters but that was such a winner I had to go with it.

[SoCalDem]

15. Bushies do it themselves..

[Danascot]

16. Classic!

Right up there with MORANS

[wtmusic]

3. "Bush did the best that nobody can do..."

And I thought frontal lobotomies weren't done anymore! :crazy:

[tnlefty]

4. Bush did the best that nobody can do...what is that supposed to mean?

:crazy:

Thanks for posting and a big thank you to those who turned out!

[Forkboy]

7. Bush,Cheney,Gonzalez...they're loved as much in America as Americans are in Iraq.

Couldn't happen to nicer bunch.

[Beam Me Up]

8. We didn't ask the right questions.

We didn't ask questions about 9/11, for example. We never did get a serious answer to the question, "What did he know and when did he know it?" We didn't get an answer to the question, why doesn't the Bush administration want a full investigation into the events of 9/11? Perhaps because these questions were barely asked?

Those are just a few of the more fundamental questions that should have been asked loudly and often until good answers were forthcoming. But in the absence of them, there were many more questions that also went unasked and unanswered -- or falsely answered as has now become abundantly clear. What ever happened to Osama bin Forgotten? What ever happened to the anthrax investigation? Where were the weapons of mass destruction they knew exactly where to find? How can we have a War on Terror when the FBI isn't even sure of all the identities of the alleged 9/11 hijackers? How much money has the Bush administration, their friends, families, and others of their class, profited from this War on Terror paid with the blood of our children and our tax dollars so far?

Yes, if war is the answer, indeed, we are asking the wrong questions -- and all too often not asking any fundamental questions at all.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. Reported as "dozens" of marchers by Money$treamMedia.

OK, fifty dozen is still "dozens" ... :eyes: