Posted on 08/08/2002 6:38:50 AM PDT by McLynnan
The Western White House may be out near Crawford. But the inflatable White House will soon hit Indian Spring Park.
Demonstrators plan to use the park Tuesday during President Bush's economic forum at Baylor University. Their concern is corporate money in politics. Their props will include a 20-foot inflatable White House and a 10-foot puppet of former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay.
"We think corporate crooks are the ones who are buying influence from our politicians and selling out our democracy," said organizer David Martin, 34, who lives in San Antonio.
Martin's late father was a petroleum geologist with Enron, but resigned as the company restructured in the late 1980s. Enron's collapse wiped out three-fourths of his mother's retirement savings.
He's part of the Texas Enron Accountability Campaign, a group formed this election season to raise awareness of business scandals. U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which watches environmental issues, is also planning Tuesday's noontime event.
Organizers will hold a press conference and chant rhymes such as, "Hey Bush, it is plain. You're creating acid rain." They want to march the mile of University-Parks Drive that stretches from the park to Baylor, although Waco Police Chief Alberto Melis said Wednesday he will not allow traffic disruptions.
Martin hopes about 50 people will join him, with many of them coming from Dallas and Austin. He's also recruiting locals. He pitched the protest to about two dozen union members Wednesday at a Central Texas Labor Council meeting.
"We're going to take a march, have some fun and raise lots of hell," he told the council.
Larry Fisher, a 51-year-old electrician at the Alcoa plant in Rockdale, said he'd like to join the demonstration. But he has to work Tuesday.
"If you're a working person, you can't afford to take a day off to go to a protest," he said.
Workers are expected to join business leaders, economists and ethicists on the guest list for Bush's economic forum.
Rusty Black, parks director for the city of Waco, said demonstrators can use the park just as any other group would, as long as they're not stopping others from using it or blocking any streets.
Martin was part of a similar protest last month in Houston, where Vice President Dick Cheney headlined a fund-raiser for GOP Senate candidate John Cornyn. About 30 people, some wearing Cheney masks and prison stripes, chanted outside the hotel that housed the Cornyn event.
"Some of the journalists who were inside told us that they could hear the protest during the luncheon," he said. "They knew we were there. I don't think, under the circumstances, we'll get to have our voices heard during the economic forum."
Demonstrations will not be allowed on the Baylor campus.
About 300 people will participate in Bush's economic forum, and Baylor is bracing for up to 500 reporters and photographers. Luke Metzger, an organizer with the Public Interest Research Group, said he hopes the protest will catch the eyes of Waco residents who drive by and journalists who are following Bush.
"The eyes of the world will be focused on Waco Tuesday to see what the Bush administration will be doing to combat corporate irresponsibility and improve the economy," he said. "We want to shine the light on how corporations have been led into the White House."
Talks of protests at an economic event might strike up images of the World Trade Organization's 1999 meeting in Seattle. Newspapers reported that more than 500 protesters were arrested and the city suffered $2.5 million in damage.
But Metzger said the Waco event won't look like Seattle.
"We're just going to be there doing a peaceful demonstration and letting the Bush administration know how we feel," he said. "It will definitely be peaceful and orderly. No black masks."
Demonstrators plan to use the park Tuesday during President Bush's economic forum at Baylor University. Their concern is corporate money in politics. Their props will include a 20-foot inflatable White House and a 10-foot puppet of former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay.
Puppets again. Perhaps we need a 10-foot high puppet of ROBERT RUBIN!!!
Puppet wars.
;-)
GREAT IDEA!!!! ... I love the way you think .. LOL
I hope if anybody learns anything from all of this it is to diversify!!!
What really cracks me up is that the press will have a field day covering this fifty-person demonstration. Too bad there aren't enough freepers in the area to stage a counter-protest. If I lived in Texas, McLynnan, I'd be there! I'd make signs with TRUTHS on them for the media to have to see..
The goals of counter-demonstrations are two:
1.)Get positive media coverage for our side.
2.)Deny positive media coverage to the other side.
Puppet parity acomplishes this, and besides, it will make those demonstraters really mad. HA!
I am half-way serious about this. This is an excellent summer project for Young Republicans. It is, of course, necessary to dress appropriately, which means scruffy attire in order to pass through their ranks. Once successfully in place, clothing can be removed to reveal Bush/Cheney 2004 t-shirts.
I am sick of protesters like this getting all the air time. I also recommend that large air-horns, of the kind that clog up sound equipment, be available and used whenever these folks start chanting, so that their words don't become sound bites for the 6PM news.
Well then why don't the protest over there???
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