Police have opened fire on Bush protestors in Portland

GET ON THE BUS TO THE BUSH PROTEST ON FRIDAY! tomorrow morning 7:30am at 21st & Mission st SF
Don't miss this chance to give the President a piece of your mind...
UPDATED INFORMATION BELOW:

We have now confirmed that President Bush will be speaking BOTH at a
public address at the Civic Auditorium in Stockton at 10:30 am AND at
a fundraising luncheon at the Spanos Jet Center in Stockton at 12:05
pm. The buses plan to take protesters to both sites.

There are STILL SEATS AVAILABLE ON THE BUS. Please call 415-821-6545 OR JUST SHOW UP!
AT:21 st &mission at 7:30am tomorrow morrrrning!!
asap to reserve a seat. (A $10 donation is requested to help pay for
the bus. No one turned away for lack of funds.) Stockton is approx. 80 miles from SF. Bus leaves Friday at 7:30 am and returns by 2 or 3 pm on the same day.

Driving directions:

To the Stockton Civic Auditorium -
>From I-5 take Pershing Ave. Exit; Turn LEFT on W. Park Ave.; Turn
LEFT on N. Pershing Ave.; Turn LEFT on W. Oak St.; go to N. Center
Street - the address of the Civic Auditorium is 525 N. Center Street.
The rally will be in the park just across the street.

To the Spanos Jet Center -
>From I-5 take the French Camp Exit; turn EAST on Airport Way; Exit
onto the Ruggels frontage road and proceed to the Spanos Jet Center.
We will rally in the parking lot near the hanger.

EMERGENCY CELL PHONE # to call if you are lost or having trouble
finding the rallies: (415) 305-3624.

Transportation info from Sacramento & Modesto is also available.
Call (415) 821-6545









Police have opened fire on Bush protestors with rubber bullets, pepper spray and gas. The crowds of people are moving around and regrouping.

The crowd was standing at the barricades and the police had called a state of emergency. Pepper spray was used on group early on. Batons were used on some people. Group included babies in strollers and older people, also people in wheelchairs. Those that could get out of the way were cut off surronded by police. There are snipers on the roofs.

All protestors were given a phone number to write on their arm by legal group that would hook them up with legal services if they are arrested. There are also medic's intersperse in the crowd.









Shrub's Speech - More of the Same
by devidas 7:09pm Thu Aug 22 '02 (Modified on 8:27pm Thu Aug 22 '02)


"We arrested people, about 2500 so far, and about an equal number who have not been so lucky. They don't value life like we value life," President Bush says at speech in downtown Portland as crowd laughs.

Yes, he really did say that. His speech was more of what you'd expect at a rah rah fund raiser.

He started off urging people to keep Smith in office, claiming that Smith is a big environmentalist. He continued on the riff he's been using lately about how current forestry policy allows for kindling buildup in our forests while allowing litigation procedures from preventing a "common sense forestry policy" from executing. "We want people to express their opinion but not ought to use that privilege to tie up good common sense policy so that the forests will burn." Yes, that is the way he talks.

He then went on about the recent education bill. And then he went on about his new trade authority that Smith helped to give him

It was then that he talked about justice and 9/11 and his whopper. First he continued with his old "Either you're with us or you're with them" riff as being the doctrine of the first war in the 21st Century. Then came his first big whopper: "We arrested people - about 2500 people so far - and an equal number who have nobeen so lucky (crowd laughs). They don't value life like we value life - that's not the way they think."

Not missing a beat he used this reasoning to justify the largest increase in "defense" spending since the Reagan administration. He added, "I want our troops well trained and well paid. They deserve the absolute best from our goverment." I guess if the nature of war (people w/ nothing to gain and the most to lose are used as pawns by those with the most to gain and the least to lose) and the history of secret testing on our soldiars is the absolute best from our government... oh, wait, and a little bit of cash too. Yes, on cash, he had problems pronouncing "entrepreneurial" when he went on about how he's helping to create a climate positive to entrepreneurs.

add your own comments

8:10 Update: More pepper spray
by devidas 8:25pm Thu Aug 22 '02


from the streets

Calling from Broadway, an IMC reporter reports more pepper spray used on the crowd. He hands the phone to someone in the crowd: they just pushed a bunch of people and sprayed us.

Its still going strong.



Message from a veteran
by Not In My Name 7:26pm Thu Aug 22 '02



[Bush] added, "I want our troops well trained and well paid. They deserve the absolute best from our goverment."

Notwithstanding the denial of Gulf War Syndrome, the victims of agent orange, and the other abuses of enlisted personnel, here's what a U.S. veteran has to say about the government's treatment of soldiers.
=========================================

Message From a Vet

I think the vast differences in compensation between the victims of the September 11th casualty, and those