A brief report from an Iowa * protest today

[MaggieSwanson]

(Or "How I Like To Use My Vacation Days"):

I went to Des Moines today (about a two hour drive from Cedar Rapids), with a few of my favorite activist friends to protest the pResident's fundraising visit for Gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle. We headed for Nollan Plaza first, the designated protest spot, where there were about 120 people gathered.

It was an enthusiastic crowd, primarily Anti-* and Pro-Choice activists, but I wanted to get closer to the HyVee hall where the fundraiser was taking place. My friends and I walked about 8 blocks up the road and joined with a second group of protesters, some 67 (we counted)anti-war and AFSC activists.

We stood at the side of the building under fairly heavy police scrutiny and held our signs up so the people inside could see them. I held my current favorite, "Rich Man's War - Poor Man's Blood". We could see a table with appetizers and drinks, and people inside the hall were taking our pictures. Tickets to the event were $250 each, or for $10,000 you could get a picture with *. Pictures of us were free.

After 30 minutes or so, my friend took off on a walk around the parameter of the convention center. I followed him, and around the corner we found a heavily police-occupied side road. There were snipers on the roof with binoculars, and a black SUV filled with burly men in black with - I kid you not - what looked like assault rifles.

Feeling fairly confident (:think: ) that this was where * was planning to exit, I called a friend who was back at the other side of the hall and almost everyone from the group ended up coming over.

Sure enough, the pResidential limo exited out from that side. The crowd chanted "IMPEACH BUSH" and we held our signs high as the convoy drove past. * waved at us, the smug b*stard. :grr:

Earlier in the day I had asked my grandpa (a WWII veteran and a proud Democrat) if he wanted me to pass on any message to the pResident if I happened to be close enough to see him. Here is what I shouted... "My grandpa says that what he wants to say to you wouldn't be fitting for me to say!"

I called Grandpa from Des Moines and he was pretty tickled. :thumbsup:

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. You Rock, Lady!

:dem: :dem: :dem: :dem: :dem:

[MaggieSwanson]

2. Just doing what I could

to make sure * got the Iowa welcome he deserved ;).

I'm just glad my friend wanted to look around the building, by doing so we made it impossible for * to ignore our presence. I'll remember that strategy for the next time.

[katinmn]

3. Thank you, Maggie! We will keep hounding him wherever he goes.

:applause:

[MaggieSwanson]

4. You bet we will.

"For we have promises to keep, and miles to go before we sleep..."

[Hissyspit]

5. Good strategy, Maggie.

Thanks for the report. Seems pretty clear he heard the "I-word" for himself, unless he had the jams cranked up all the way.

[MaggieSwanson]

6. I shudder to think of

what he might "jam" to. :scared:

[Hissyspit]

7. SUPPOSEDLY his iPod playlist:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/12/bush.ipod/

(CNN) --

- snip -

Not every track is "on-message." The playlist -- regarded by many as a mirror to the soul -- includes musicians who campaigned against Bush, such as John Fogerty. Also on the iPod is the 1979 song "My Sharona" by the Knack, about a man pursuing a much younger woman.

One of that song's lyrics, "Such a dirty mind. Always get it up for the touch of the younger kind," prompted Spin magazine editor Dave Itzkoff to comment: "This wouldn't be consistent with Bush's image as protector of conservative values."

- snip -

McKinnon advised though against too much analysis of the playlist. "The fact is that any president who would limit themselves to pro-establishment musicians would have a pretty slim collection.

- snip -

The playlist does reveal a rather narrow range of babyboomer tunes. Writing in the London Times, Caitlin Moran noted: "No black artists, no gay artists, no world music, only one woman, no genre less than 25 years old, and no Beatles."


http://www.boingboing.net/2005/04/13/bushs_ipod_filled_wi.html

Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Bush's iPod filled with infringing goodness
President Bush has a treasured iPod full of songs that were decanted into it by a media strategist. This makes him: a downloader, an INDUCEr, a Darknet user and an infringer. Who'd a figgered the prez for a copyfighter?

The president also has an eclectic mix of songs downloaded into his iPod from Mark McKinnon, a biking buddy and his chief media strategist in the 2004 campaign. Among them are "Circle Back" by John Hiatt, "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care" by Joni Mitchell and "My Sharona," the 1970s song by The Knack that Joe Levy, a deputy managing editor in charge of music coverage at Rolling Stone, cheerfully branded "suggestive if not outright filthy" in an interview last week.

Update: To forestall more email on this subject: please read the quotation from the article reproduced above, with special attention to the boldfaced section. While the article states that Bush has a staffer load his iPod from the iTunes Music Store, it also says that he has his friend download music to it from his personal collection. The former, obviously, is not particularly radical, but the latter is exactly the kind of behavior the music industry characterizes as theft.

Update 2: Farhad Manjoo points us to this excerpt from Byron York's new book in which Karl Rove says of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11:

"'I plead guilty to violating the copyright laws of the United States by watching a bootleg DVD,' Rove answered with a grin. 'I refuse to enrich ,' he added, giving the clear impression that he had a rather low opinion of the filmmaker."

[MaggieSwanson]

8. Joni Mitchell???

"My Sharona" I can picture the pRez listening to, but JONI MITCHELL??

:wtf:

:hi: Interesting stuff.