President arrives at King's tomb site to lay wreath (and is greeted by protesters)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 1.15.04 | JEFFRY SCOTT, BILL MONTGOMERY and CHARLES YOO

[mhking]

Hundreds of protesters greeted President Bush in Atlanta shortly before 4 p.m. as he placed a wreath on the grave of Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been the slain civil rights leader's 75th birthday.

Buddhists chanting, students beating African drums and others shouting "Bush go home" burst past barriers but were driven back by police who, in an attempt to corral the protesters, parked four MARTA buses between the protesters and the grave site.

One protester held a sign that read "Bush - Zionist, puppet and liar."

Police had said they planned to keep the protestors 500 feet away from Kings crypt but the protesters, teeming just across Auburn Avenue, were much closer and could see the president as he placed the wreath.

A park ranger on the scene earlier warned protesters if they did not keep off Auburn Avenue the president would not come, but Bush appeared right on schedule, at about 3:50 p.m. Bush left the King Center at about 4:05.

Atlanta Police Sgt. Kevin Iosti said two people were arrested for stepping into Auburn Avenue and refusing to move.

Air Force One touched down at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. at 3:23 p.m.

The president visited King's grave while on a campaign trip to Atlanta.

"It's all politics," said barber Seaborn Johnson, as he sliced an apple waiting for customers in the Auburn Avenue Barber Shop. "It's an election year, isn't it? Hell, I would come there too if I was running for office. But the Bush family always opposed everything Dr. King did, so he's just applying for votes, that's all he's doing."

The president's visit, which will include a campaign fund-raiser this evening at the Georgia World Congress Center, has drawn criticism from King event organizers who say that it will disrupt tributes to the civil rights leader on what would have been his 75th birthday.

At an NAACP press conference this morning at the Atlanta chapter's headquarters, the group questioned the true motive for Bush's visit.

Bush contacted the King Center late last week to say he'd be in Atlanta today and wanted to pay his respects by placing a wreath at King's crypt.

"Did he come to raise funds for Republicans and stop by to lay a wreath as a secondary ploy or is he sincere about laying the wreath and the fund-raising secondary?" said Dr. R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP.

"With a spoken position against what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for, the Bush administration has stood against -- affirmative action [and refused] to meet with the national leadership of civil rights organizations, including the premier organization, the NAACP, which has been in existence since 1909."

A presidential visit requires tight security, which in this case threatened to force the cancellation of a long-planned tribute to King next door at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Members of the MLK March Committee, who worked with King and planned today's tribute at the church, had complained that Bush might end up ruining the event. They said the daylong tribute with a focus on human rights was supposed to go from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., but that Secret Service agents told them they'd have to empty the church early in the afternoon to allow a security sweep before Bush's 3:45 p.m. visit. But on Wednesday, a compromise was reached. The program can now take place while the president is at the King Center.

Efforts by Bush organizers to coordinate the president's visit so it won't disrupt local celebrations didn't seem to have soothed everybody's feelings.

"I think he takes us black people as a joke," said barber shop customer Willie Tom Franklin, 58. "I wouldn't say he shouldn't come, but he's a little late in coming to Auburn Avenue.

"It's a gesture of respect, him coming to King's grave, but it's not about helping us ... I think it's about feeding off the little people."

Ulysses Crawford, owner of Auburn Avenue Barber Shop, asked, "How long has Bush been in office, three years? And how often have you seen him here?"

Mary Langston, who said she has been homeless since her divorce few months ago, had more positive things to say.

"I'm just a homeless person, but I'm proud he's taking some of his busy time to honor Dr. King," Langston said.

Anthony Bozeman, a former fast food manager, said while at the barbershop that he supported the president's motives for visiting King's grave.

"I don't think it was strictly politics. I think it comes from his heart. Dr. King was a great man, and he showing respect for that," Bozeman said. He added that the invasion of Iraq was "a good job against a man who spent his life torturing and killing his own people."

Johnson, the barber, said the mood on Auburn shifted as the president's advance security team arrived.

"The police and Secret Service were in and out of places around here yesterday, looking around. You could spot the Secret Service, the walk different, they dress different, and they talk different. In fact, they didn't talk much."

There was little traffic, pedestrian or otherwise on Auburn Avenue around 10:30 a.m. Parking meters were covered with plastic and "no parking" signs were plentiful as the secret service cleared the corridor for the presidential motorcade.

The president is expected to arrive in Atlanta this afternoon about 3:20 and get to the King Center for the wreath laying at 3:45.

He is scheduled to speak at the Georgia World Congress Center to raise money for his campaign and leave Atlanta about 7:15.

[mhking]

That's more like it - I don't know what happened with the first posting.

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[ladyinred]

This is just despicable behavior, despicable!!!!

[Southack]

Below is why the Democratic Party elite are so upset...

Mary Langston, who said she has been homeless since her divorce few months ago, had more positive things to say.

"I'm just a homeless person, but I'm proud he's taking some of his busy time to honor Dr. King," Langston said.

Anthony Bozeman, a former fast food manager, said while at the barbershop that he supported the president's motives for visiting King's grave.

"I don't think it was strictly politics. I think it comes from his heart. Dr. King was a great man, and he showing respect for that," Bozeman said. He added that the invasion of Iraq was "a good job against a man who spent his life torturing and killing his own people."

[mountaineer]

"With a spoken position against what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for, the Bush administration has stood against -- affirmative action ...

Now where did I hear something about having a dream that some day people would not be judged by the color of their skin?

[Huck]

These are the animals who will be receiving 1.5 billion dollars worth of "interpersonal skills" training, thanks to GWB. Good money after bad.

[EggsAckley]

I'm surprised there hasn't been an earthquake reported there today, given how many times Dr.King must have rolled over in his grave.

[mountaineer]

Hundreds of protesters greeted President Bush in Atlanta ...

I'm guessing it was more like a few dozen, having had personal experience with the way the press exaggerates the anti-Bush numbers.

[cyborg]

yep I agree

[eddie willers]

"With a spoken position against what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for, the Bush administration has stood against -- affirmative action

MLK Jr. said it was the content of one's character that was important, not the color of one's skin.

With affirmative action, it's all ABOUT the color of one's skin.

[CSM]

I am glad to see they had a couple of reasonable quotes in this article. The rest of it is a reflection of the inclusiveness of the democratic party.

[Mike Darancette]

"It's all politics," said barber Seaborn Johnson, as he sliced an apple waiting for customers in the Auburn Avenue Barber Shop. "It's an election year, isn't it? Hell, I would come there too if I was running for office. But the Bush family always opposed everything Dr. King did, so he's just applying for votes, that's all he's doing."

I know that the public education level is somewhat lacking but if I remember correctly it was Ted Kennedy's brothers that had MLK bugged and followed by the FBI and Al Gore's daddy that voted against Civil Rights.

[Warren]

Imagine the outcry if he hadn't visited the 'shrine'

[thoughtomator]

Wow... the behavior of the Left gets more and more sickening... now not only does "shall make no law" mean its opposite, but so does MLK's message of blindness to color under law.

[Lance Romance]

Hundreds of protesters greeted President Bush in Atlanta shortly before 4 p.m.

Don't these people have jobs? Oh yeah, Bush took them away, it's all his fault.

[Weimdog]

"The Bush administration has refused to meet with the national leadership of civil rights organizations, including the premier organization, the NAACP" -

I wonder why?

"Over the weekend Bond, speaking at NAACP's 93rd annual convention, said that the Bush administration represented, in his words, a right-wing conspiracy. "We have a president," he said, "who owes his election more to a dynasty than to democracy."

"When he spoke to our convention in Baltimore in 2000, he promised to enforce the civil rights laws," he is quoted as saying. "We know he was in the oil business. We just didn't know it was snake oil."

Bond frequently resorts to name-calling in his invective, as though feigned moral outrage somehow proves the point. He heaps scorn on Republicans and black conservatives alike, as well as anyone else who deviates from the Julian Bond agenda.

It is clear from the remarks of NAACP leaders that President Bush would not be welcome at their convention. It is equally clear he would not even be given a fair hearing."

http://www.gopusa.com/opinion/2002/pr_0711.shtml

[Dog]

I read an article that put the number at 300..

[eyespysomething]

With a spoken position against what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for, the Bush administration has stood against -- affirmative action [and refused] to meet with the national leadership of civil rights organizations, including the premier organization, the NAACP, which has been in existence since 1909."

And what was it Dr. King said?

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

And he won't meet with the very organization who is avowed to get him out of office? Why, that would be pandering, right?

[CaptRon]

But the Bush family always opposed everything Dr. King did,

Another it's-true-because-I-said-it moment from the Democrats.

[Tribune7]

Didn't George 41 support civil rights legislation as a Texas Congressman?