First, was the Protest

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Bush came to town to attend a fundraiser for our republican senator (I say that like we only have one.). Here are some interesting facts about the fundraiser:

• The cost for those invited was $1,000 a plate
• If you wanted your photo w/ the president you had to raise $10,000
• The senator doesn't have anyone running against him in the primary
• He has no Democratic challenger in the general election either
• Even so, he has $1.94 million in his war chest
• Luckily, just to be safe, they raised an additional $750,000 at the lunch yesterday
• (That's a lot of photos)

The protest was planned and executed by the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. They had a bunch of those yard signs that say "Stop the War" and then the word "Iraq" is spelled out like a car's odometer and the Q is spinning over to an N. Have you seen those? Some people made their own signs that said things like "No War" and "Money for Kids, Not War" and "Healthcare Not War" and "No Blood for Democracy." I also made my own sign. I went with "I MISS BILL" which I put on bright green poster board.

You can't miss me in this screen shot from the Fox affiliate's web site:

The lunch was held at a home off Central Ave, a tree-lined street through a very old-money neighborhood. The guy hosting the lunch is the former CEO of Saks, if that tells you anything. We gathered in front of the Pink Palace Museum, where guests were parking and being shuttled to the home. The guests were pretty easy to pick out. They were the ones in SUVs. Most of them ignored us, but some acted like they were afraid of us. Beware the peace-mongering war protesters!!

When the shuttles stopped running, we marched down to the cross street where the Saks guy lives. The street was closed off by a big black car and several people were standing around - secret service, Memphis PD and SWAT team members. We stood on the opposite side of Central from them, but an MPD came over and told us we couldn't stand there. He said our protest permit only allowed us past this street and that street.

Here is a picture from today's paper of a Memphis police officer explaining to us the exact location of where our Freedom of Speech starts and ends.

So we proceeded further west on Central b/c that was the direction the motorcade would be coming from the airport. Soon the police closed off all traffic on Central and all the side streets for as far as we could see were blocked with police cars. We knew they were on their way. We chanted and waved our signs. The sky clouded over and the air grew still. Rain was coming. We waited. We waited about 30 minutes I guess. At one point, I thought I heard motorcycles coming. Then, the police cars moved and traffic returned and it was all over - the motorcade had come in through Buntyn Station in order to avoid the protesters. That would be the street that runs parallel to Central but on the other end of the Saks guy's street. Yeah, they brought him in the back way to avoid us. In the process, he got to see Orange Mound instead of Chicsaw Gardens. Yay Memphis. Way to make an impression.

We began making the trek back toward the Museum where we were parked, hoping to get to our cars before the rain came down. Because you know if we got wet, it would have just proven to those Christian Conservative Right-wing Republicans that GOD IS ON THEIR SIDE.

As we walked, this guy on a bicycle rode down Central. He was on the opposite side of the street from us (you know, you ride with traffic) but apparently that was the WRONG side of the street, b/c a cop pulled in front of him and stopped him. Then more cops came speeding up. In about 10 seconds there were SEVEN police cars surrounding this guy ON A BICYCLE.

Beware the dangerous bicycler!

We all stopped walking to watch what was happening. Some of those crazy liberals started chanting "Leave the Biker Alone!" It was pretty funny.

As soon as I got back to my car, the skies opened up and the rains come down. Which just proves God does actually hate the war, too.