Protesting Bush - Detroit MI, 25 May 2001

Protesting Bush - Detroit MI, 25 June 2001

About 100 people gathered outside Detroit's Renaissance Center where Bush was to give a speech at the National Mayors' Conference. I saw a "Bush, Go Home" sign, a couple of signs calling him a fascist, and one proclaiming him an illegitimate president. Mostly, though, the protestors were more concerned with specific issues than with the underlying problem that Bush should not be president in the first place.

At least half the crowd were from the Sierra Club, protesting Bush's environmental policy. The other half were protesting the death penalty, missile defense, the bombing of Vieques, government funding for religion-based programs, and U.S. support for Israel (Detroit has a large Arab community, and Jerusalem's Jewish mayor was a guest speaker at the conference).

Having been unable to settle on one good slogan, I carried an upside-down "distress signal" U.S. flag. I also wore a T-shirt stenciled with FIRST AMENDMENT ZONE in honor of the protestors arrested in Tampa for displaying anti-Bush signs where he might see them.

About 11:00 a.m., a line of police cars arrived and the officers stationed themselves between their cars and the curb. Farther down, where the anti-Israel protestors clustered, police arrived on horseback. I loudly commented that they couldn't be there because of Bush; he wouldn't come in the front way where people would see him.

I also commented, for the officers' benefit, that at least it was a sunny day and they didn't have to stand in the rain. One actually replied, saying, "Yeah, but it's hot." I asked whether they were issued sunscreen as part of their equipment. He grinned faintly. I figured I'd done my part to establish that we weren't there to give the police any trouble.

(Around the corner, however, were several people hollering about Killer Kops [sic], off-message but using the opportunity to get attention for their particular concern.)

We got a disappointingly response from passing traffic: no honking, only a few thumbs-up. On the other hand, I only saw one middle-finger salute from a passing driver, and there were no Bush supporters confronting us.

We saw Men in Black with curly wires dangling from their ears, but no motorcade. Shortly after noon, the Men in Black faded; then the police cars and the mounted police went away. When the Sierra Club furled their banners, it pretty much ended the demonstration. The next-largest contingent, the anti-Israel protestors, found out the mayor of Jerusalem was speaking at the nearby Cobo Center and left in search of their real target.

The reporters, however, stayed around a while longer to interview some of the lingering demonstrators. Yes, there were reporters. (I've noticed from reports around the country that where there Sierra Club goes, the reporters also go. We gotta get us some of that.) The local CBS affiliate sent a cameraman who also wielded a microphone, asking people specifically how they felt about missile defense and "faith-based initiatives."

The local public-radio reporter asked the friend I'd driven down with why he was there; he said it was because Bush was not elected and it's important to show that people aren't forgetting that inconvenient fact. The reporter didn't ask me, even though (or maybe because) I was wearing my FIRST AMENDMENT ZONE t-shirt and thus might have been expected to happily exercise my right to free speech.

I must have been right that the police line wasn't there to provide security for Bush's grand entrance. We didn't see a motorcade or even a limousine with darkened windows. Back Door Bush was true to form.

He was true to form in his speech, too. With all the pressing needs confronting the mayors -- infrastructure, policing, low-cost housing, public education, mass transit, etc. -- Bush's speech focused on the pressing need to give our tax dollars to churches.

Postscript

When I wrote this account on June 25, I predicted that the next day's news reports would be, "Outside the Renaissance Center, a dozen Sierra Club members protested Bush's environmental policies, while inside Bush got a warm reception from the mayors for his plan to provide funding for faith-based initiatives." I was pleasantly surprised. The Detroit Free Press ran an article that described not only the protests (with a reasonably accurate crowd estimate) but Bush's habit of ducking in back entrances for his "public" appearances.

The headline says it all: A stealthy president eludes the crowd.