Tucson: Anti-Bush Protest - part 2 : AZ IMC

This was the only arrest I saw. Witnesses said the girl threw an egg at Bush's limo.

Looks like the cop is twisting the girl's arm a bit too much

After this, the cops took the two across the street to their squad cars, where a group of republicans began cheering.

Republicans run a final gauntlet through the rally as they try to get to the safety of their cars.

The headline article in today´s neo-con Arizona Daily Star, Crowd rallies for Bush, illustrates well just how far to the right this so-called newspaper has slithered. 

After a lengthy exhortation on Bush's universal support by the "invited" audience, the leading propagandist at the Star--CJ Karamargin--acknowledges at the end of the piece that there were protestors but dismisses their numbers saying: "Protest organizers put the number at 1,000; police said it was significantly fewer, but refused to estimate." 

Naturally, CJ did not name these alleged "organizers" nor offer anything resembling an accurate count. Attendees that I spoke with estimated the size at close to 1,000 which seemed reasonable to me, but the crowd covered a significant portion of the convention center grounds making an accurate count difficult. 

CJ has been following the Bush plan to neo-con Tucsonans out of their Social Security since the first announcement of Bush's planned visit to Tucson. Apparently to demonstrate that the Star had not forgotten completely about the opposition, they sent CJ out on one story to get the neo-con perspective on the opposition to the neo-con scheme. 

For local news, the Star has really increased my appreciation for Arizona Indymedia and heightened my concern for those who only have access to the party line. Tucson desperately needs a real print newspaper.

KGUN 9 TV news last night estimated the protester crowd at only 'over 100.' While this may be true in that there were certainly no less than 100, the crowd was at least five times the minimum suggested by KGUN 9, and perhaps ten times as large or more. KGUN 9 was also able to accurately determine the number of ticketed participants in Bush's talk at 1,400, making it sound like the protesters were far outnumbered. The article implies a much larger pro-Bush crowd than anti-Bush crowd, which did not appear to be the case from the ground yesterday. KGUN was more critical in its interviews with participants, many of whom apparently are quite skeptical of Bush's Social Security plan. The KGUN 9 story follows.

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KGUN 9, 10pm news, 3-21-05
The president ventured into the lion's den for his visit.

Pima County is traditionally a democratic stronghold.

For those opposed to the president's social security plan, today's visit probably didn't change many minds.

But it did seem to solidify support from some who had questions and concerns.

It wasn't a rock concert, or the latest Star Wars movie premier--

But some who wanted the best seats to see President Bush camped out as early as 7am.

Karen Grainger is a Republican, but, like many in this line, she has concerns about the President's plan for social security.

"I'm a college graduate with a degree in business and I don't really understand it and the thought of investing my own money in some kind of account scares me," Grainger said.

Many of the 1,400 mainly Bush supporters in line had some serious questions about social security.

Others were so giddy with excitement to catch a glimpse of the commander in chief they were at a loss for words.

"In my car, I have a frame with the with White House, card, umm, you know, I'm so excited!"

More than 100 protestors who gathered on the west side of the TCC had plenty of words to describe their opinion on Bush's idea.

"I believe it's a bad idea because it's just going to help the wall street brokers make money in the buying and selling of stocks."

Most of those who filed out after the president spoke seemed pleased with what they heard-- including those who are looking well ahead into their social security future.

"I think he made his point pretty clear and he demonstrated a lot of good things about youngsters and them having to plan their future out already to save up an account."

"I think the part that I really like is when you invest your money, when I die my social security will end, but when my grandchildren pass, social security will be able to be willed to one of their relatives."

Tucson Police reported no major problems between protestors and Bush supporters today.

Officers did arrest a 53-year-old woman and her niece for throwing an egg at the president's motorcade.

Hee hee. That was me. The girl, I mean. I just finished my community service. I didn't know anyone got good pictures of that. And, yeah, the cop that had my arm was a perfect beast.