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Protesters criticize Bush policies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Brightly colored signs, loudspeakers and honking horns filled the intersection of Piedmont Road and Ralph McGill Boulevard as more than 150 protesters stomped and yelled their opposition to President Bush, who was speaking at the nearby Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center Atlanta Civic Center on Friday.
Demonstrators held up signs with a myriad of messages, such as “Hands off my Social Security,� “Civil Liberties = Moral Values,� and “No more blood for oil.� They chanted, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!�
The coalition organizing the protest included the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, the International Action Center, Atlanta’s chapter of Women’s Action for New Directions, Planned Parenthood of Georgia and the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council.
Some of the protestors outside Bush’s event, intended to promote the new Medicare prescription drug plan and the president’s plan for revamping Social Security, were older than 65, but most of them were not yet old enough to be collecting retirement benefits. Krista Brewer of Atlanta WAND said the age of the protesters did not make a difference.
“Young, middle-aged and old people can see the fallacies in Bush’s social security privatization plan,� she said. “It’s not rocket science. It’s pretty easy to see this.�
Most of the protestors, however, were concerned with other issues.
“There is mammoth opposition to his agenda,� said Ann Mauney, coordinator of the Atlanta GPJC. “And his agenda includes Social Security, his war on Iraq, his judicial decisions, his environmental destruction.�
Anti-war demonstrators were both the most common and the most vocal protesters.
“As long as he attacks some country, he will be safe because people will support him,� said George Sossenko, an author and veteran of the Spanish Civil War.
“It was a pre-emptive war,� said Gloria Tatum of the GPJC. “We’ve never had a pre-emptive war on a country that has done absolutely nothing to us.�
Another hot topic was the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge John Roberts Jr., who has not yet clearly expressed his stance on abortion.
“Women’s health is most important and women have to make their own choices,â€? said Heather Branham of Planned Parenthood. “Right now we don’t know how the judge feels about that.”
Some protesters wondered why people who opposed Bush’s policy were not invited to attend his speech.
“It is really a shame that he is speaking to a hand-picked audience,� said Decatur High School social studies teacher Marcus Patton. “Bush coming here for a photo op with people who agree with what he says is a huge waste of money. It seems most self-indulgent for the president, a person preaching only to the choir.�
In January 2004, about 1,000 protestors gathered when Bush visited Atlanta to lay a wreath at the tomb of Martin Luther King Jr., commemorating the birthday of the slaim civil rights leader.
Friday’s demonstration was not as large as last year’s, which garnered national media attention, but organizers maintained it was still important to the anti-Bush movement.
“There’s another kind of emotional tinge to this demonstration, in how critical it is that all these people come together that have all these kinds of grievances,� said IAC coordinator Dianne Mathiowetz.
Respiratory therapist Sherry Biddle of Shiloh got up at 4 a.m. to travel to Atlanta for the protest.
“I love my country, but I’m not too crazy about my government,� said Biddle.
A resounding “boo� came from the protesters as President Bush’s moptorcade passed the intersection where they stood.
As the summer heat mounted, protesters held up umbrellas for some respite from the sun, but few retreated from the scene.
“We’re not afraid to take our bodies to the streets,� said the Rev. Timothy McDonald III, president of Concerned Black Clergy. “We’ve got a ticket to justice. We’ve got a ticket to truth.�
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