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News :: Regime |
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Activists Get The Drop On Bush |
Current rating: 0 |
by mjb
(No verified email address) |
06 Aug 2003
Modified: 06:38:24 PM |
Code Pink activists dropped a banner this morning next to the Washington Post Building declaring "BUSH: YOU LIED -- YOU'RE FIRED." Although slightly mired by tactical mistakes, hundreds of morning commuters got the message (and many seemed to agree).
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Despite the White House pronouncement of the "end of hostilities" in Iraq, the demonstration against the US invasion of occupation hasn't ended.
This morning members of the Code Pink Women For Peace activist group, and other activists acting in solidarity with them, executed a banner drop off of 1100 15th Street Northwest. The location was a strategic choice, there at the intersections of 15th and L streets, the banner was visible to a significant section of downtown morning rush hour traffic and located just next door to the Washington Post Building. The intersection was also just four blocks north of the White House.
Shortly after 9:20 AM, two heads appeared over the ledge of the office building and moments later other people could be seen scrambling on the roof -- just seconds later a large field of pink unfurled. The banner, which activists said was about forty feet long, said in large letters "BUSH: YOU LIED -- YOU'RE FIRED." The message minced no words about what mainstream pundits and media have carefully called "exaggerations" and "misleading evidence" for the false and unproven assertions made by the White House and Downing Street -- the executive branches of the American and British governments seemingly colluding with each other to sell an unpopular war to their people so they could get the stamp of approval from a "democratic" process.
The last line delivered an optimistic declaration meant personally for George Bush as the Democrats (not all against the war, and many not consistent on their opposition to war as they hope to both save face and gain the anti-war vote) vie for top position in the primary process and third party candidates keep a keen eye on the presidential race as they hone their own strategies.
For the next several minutes pedestrians walking westbound on L street saw the full message, while those walking up and down the east side of 15th could clearly make out the activists on the roof and the first part of the message.
Not long after the banner unfurled did more people appear on the roof -- they appeared to be building security. Soon the banner was taken up and the protest from high was over. On the street below Code Pink activists directed attention skyward and handed out flyers as they held two banners (one bolding declaring "Occupation is a Crime") while chanting and singing slogans like "100 days of occupation, not one day of liberation."
The flyers invited passers-by to come to Dupont Circle for a gathering at 6 PM and a march to Donald Rumsfeld's house on Kalorama Road this evening. Gael Murphy announced they were going to deliver another of Code Pink's infamous report cards whose other recipients have included Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell and head of the FCC, and Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of Ex-President Bill Clinton, representing New York State as a Democrat. Murphy proclaimed through her megaphone "100s of billions of dollars spent, no liberation -- you fail!" Later she admitted one could only give Rumsfeld a failing report card if the motive of liberation was a true one. Some critical analysis suggests the motive given to the American people and the world doesn't mesh with the priorities displayed during the invasion and "securing" of Iraq. Murphy also noted that Rumsfeld's assertion that "war is untidy" was, in the view of many, a significant understatement.
Although short-lived, the morning's action took planning and coordination. Observers saw persons, who later turned out to be part of executing the event, positioning themselves around the intersection that was soon to become the theater of events for the activists. They came equipped with their own cameras and video recorders to document their own contribution to the global justice movement, not totally relying on their proximity or contacts to the Washington Post to accurately and thoroughly tell the story of the event.
The activists who were caught and detained on the roof of the office building were released within a half an hour of the beginning of their action. One person involved directly with the roof-top display said that there was "some dissension over whether or not we wanted to risk arrest," attributing the lake unanimity to why the banner drop was short lived. This activist also noted that "we had somebody [at the Washington Post]... the Post knew... they're who called the building people to the roof." Moments after that statement, a William Wan from the Post's newsroom had come out to interview the activists.
On the street, when the banner was first unfurled, Gael Murphy said "a bummer, isn't it?" She was referring to a second ledge off of the roof of the building that obscured the bottom half of the message from pedestrians and cars closest to the building. There was also confusion over which face of the building the banner was to be dropped over -- activists below expected the banner to be dropped near the corner on the south face, where northbound 15th street traffic would see it the best. Instead, it was dropped on the east face of the building, with the one way traffic of that portion of L street going away from the message, somewhat limiting the audience.
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