One of the freedoms we still have in the country (for the time being) is the ability to tell members of government what a bunch of blatantly incompetent fucks they are, and I’m glad especially with this group of special ed kids who are currently attempting to run the country and doing a shit job. By the way, many apologies to special ed kids, this regime doesn’t deserve to ride your short bus.
Karl Rove, the motherfucker known as Bush’s Brain, was in town on Saturday night to give the keynote speech at a Washington State Republican Party fundraiser. I purchased some poster board at Office Max and went home to make my sign. It was perfect! On the yellow side it read: ROVE = TREASON JUST ASK VALERIE (which I know eluded to a scandal that is two weeks old, but with so many scandals it’s hard to keep up). On the white side my protest sign said: 5.4 MILLION IN POVERTY SINCE 2000. I finished my sign and rushed off to join my fellow protesters at the Seattle Airport Hilton.
Unfortunately, Rove decided to come to Washington State on the same day as a big environmental protest in Downtown Seattle that happened hours earlier. We were a modest group of 100 people, but in these cases I am always reminded of a little story. I don’t remember how I heard it, but it was one of those tales from my childhood that has come to define my attitude when I’m facing a large majority that appears to be impenetrable.
‘As the Confederate Army marched through a small Northern town, a frail elderly woman appeared. Most of the residents of the town had fled a few days prior, but now as the enormous army marched through the main street of the town, they were met by this tiny lady. She stood in a widow’s dress, shuffling and hunched with age, wrinkles strewn across her face, and carrying a broom. The general stopped the marching men and approached the old woman. “We are marching through ma’am. It’s in your best interest to step aside.” The woman shook her head and held her broom close to her chest. The general leaned in towards the old woman, “You are one small lady facing the entire Confederate Army do you really think you can defeat us?” The old woman looked up at the general. “No. I don’t expect to defeat you. You are a million men strong, and I’m just one old woman.” The general looked perplexed. “Then why not stand aside and let us pass through.” The woman addressed the general as a smile formed on her face, “I will not stand aside, because I may not be able to defeat you, but at least you’ll know where I stand.”
There we gathered, a group of 100 people made up of Democrats, college students, concerned grandmothers, Veterans for Peace, average citizens who are completely fed up with this war, and your friendly, neighborhood Punk in Suburbia. We knew that the 500 people inside anxiously waiting to hear Rove preach more Regime lies would look out the window and brush all of us off as wingnuts, but at least they would be well aware of where we stood.
The tragic irony of this protest was the fact that as the guests arrived for the dinner with Rove they were thinking we were the idiots, while most of them were driving SUVs. I have never seen such a large gathering of Cadillac Escalades in my life. I can’t imagine what must be running through their minds. Perhaps they believe that all of their money and power will make the ill effects of the environment go away, that their elite group will be able to blast off to another planet where everything will be the same, but they will have a whole new place to screw up. Unfortunately, these powerful wealthy people all know that global warming is real, but acknowledging it would mean that they would have to give up that shiny Escalade, and they will have to settle for a lesser symbol of their money and status.
In my rush to get to the Hilton, I forgot my camera, which was unfortunate, because that meant that the media would have to document our protest. They did their usual piss poor job; in fact, the only coverage came from one news station and a small article in the Seattle Times. The news story showed the protesters, but gave Karl Rove a positive spin, and the Times, well their lips must be aching from that enormous ass kissing piece of garbage they called a news article. ‘Fair & Balanced’ must be the new moniker for all corporate media outlets across the board.
At the end, I was one little woman with a big sign facing a convention center of 500 neocon dinner patrons, 100 police officers and Secret Service, and tons of cars full of passersby, but at least they all knew where I stood.
6 comments:
Not relevant to this post, but I really keep coming back to your rush to politically-correct judgment of the Duke lacross players. Surely you've read the recent NY Times piece (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/us/12duke.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th) ? This was nothing more than reverse discrimination, and a political nutcase using an alleged race issue to win a hotly contest election. Even the NAACP now agrees (read the article). Perhaps you'd care to take back all you said about it? Or do you not really care about reporting accuracy either, and just whatever sound bite keeps people coming back to your blog? I, a loyal reader of yours for about a year now, will wait to see your decision, and then I'll make mine as to whether I continue to come here. I have no connection to these players (other than living in the same Triangle area), but am quite frankly scared at what our judicial process (and reporting process, as well) has come to when things like this happen, and think you owe it to those you unfairly condemned (note the AG dismissed b/c they were INNOCENT, not b/c not enough evidence to proceed. This is the first case EVER I think in NC to have the dismissal read this way).
Yellowgirl (yellowgirlnc at yahoo dot com)
Thanks for taking that stand!
'n you're still standing. That's what counts. Nice one.
Anon - I was a bit loopy when I wrote my Weekly Recap and should have included the whole Duke Lacross player dismissal. Many apologies for that omission. I think what happened to those guys was absolute bullshit. Yes, they come from a privledged backgrounds, monied families, and are likely to be the future GOP capitalists that are running this country into the ground, but this never should have happened to them. It's one thing to be accused and let due process take effect, that is the justice system we live under, but to have it so publicly drawn out means that essentially a very ambitious prosecutor wanted to convict these kids in the court of public opinion and usurp the judicial process. I'm glad those families are considering a lawsuit, because those guys' lives are ruined. No matter how vigorous the apologies, or how loud the admonishments in the newspapers, there will always be people who will forever look at them and think, 'that's the rapist.' No innocent person should ever have to live under that stigma.
Not only were these guys victimized by what I see as someone seeking unbridled career advancement, but the entire fight to have the issue of rape taken seriously suffered a huge blow. Due to the false rape charges, every rape reported to that police station in that judicial district that proceeds this case will be scrutinized with a fine tooth comb. I've seen it happen before. We are still at a point where only one in five women raped files charges, and cases like this make police departments and prosecutors jumpy, and when they get jumpy, they end up unwittingly taking it out on real rape victims.
This case is a sad story from all ends, and it angers me that a prosecutor would ruin so many lives, trivialize rape, and have such a blatant disrespect for justice purely to advance his own career.
Thanks for your comments, M. Keep fighting the good fight.
YG
Good work, Melanie. But how can Rove be Bush's brain? Surely Bush doesn't have a brain... Bunch of cocks, all of 'em.
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