Bush goes to KY to spew BS and crowds Protest outside

WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY :: Crowds Gather To Protest During President Bush's Speech

Crowds Gather To Protest During President Bush's Speech
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By Anne Marshall

(LOUISVILLE) -- President Bush conducted a town hall style meeting at the International Convention Center in Louisville Wednesday, but even before Air Force One touched down hundreds of protestors had gathered to voice their opposition to President Bush and his policies. WAVE 3's Anne Marshall was there.

With our country's leader in the spotlight downtown, an effort to upstage him just took place on Fourth Street, courtesy of the First Amendment. "It's part of our constitutional rights," said one protester.

For over an hour, a couple hundred people from all over Kentuckiana sang, shouted, and chanted their opposition to President George W. Bush.

"We think he's one of the worst presidents this country ever," said Jim Wiles of Louisville.

"This war is premised on lies," said another Louisville resident wearing an American flag tophat and a "Stop Bush" stop sign around his neck. "I think all they want is oil over there."

While Bush took center stage, the calculated side show was relegated to the sidewalk across the street from the Convention Center.

"We're limited to this area," said one of the protesters. "We can't go anywhere else."

In fact, President Bush never saw the crowd, since his motorcade took a different route. Still, those who gathered were motivated by their message. "The more the public sees it's ok to say no to the president, the faster this war will end," Wiles said.

One protester wearing a George W. Bush face mask said the publicity is what counts. "If there's media coverage, other people will see it."

The crowd would have liked to rob President Bush of a second term, but with the First Amendment on their side, they tried to steal the show. "This is just to let everyone know not everyone agrees with his policies."

The Louisville Peace Action Community helped organize Wednesday's protest. In addition to a lot of anti-war signs, protesters also carried signs opposing the Patriot Act and the administration's reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

In this photo provided by the Marine Corps U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Little of Climax, Mich. is shown. Little died in an explosion near Ferris, Iraq, one of five Marines killed Saturday in separate incidents according to the Department of Defense. (AP Photo/Marine Corps)

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Wearing life vests, protesters want levees, coast fixed 1/11/2006, 4:12 p.m. CT By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI The Associated Press  

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Four months after President Bush stood in Jackson Square and vowed to rebuild New Orleans, protesters plan to jam the same square Thursday during Bush's ninth visit to this battered city and demand the government rebuild broken levees stronger than before.

Organizers say protesters will wear life jackets, a symbol of their flooded-out homes and a statement on the current lack of flood and lifesaving protection. Post-Katrina flooding caused by levee breaks affected 80 percent of the city.

Even now, more than four months after the storm, local officials estimate two-thirds of the city's 460,000 pre-storm population is living elsewhere.

"The flooding won't stop until there are Category 5 levees and coastal restoration," said rally organizer Shawn Holahan, 50, who lost her home in the flood.

"I want to emphasize this is a 'no politics' rally," she said. "What unifies us is that we need the levees and the coast to be restored. That's it."

Bush is scheduled to arrive Thursday at Louis Armstrong International Airport for a one-day visit, which will include a stop in New Orleans as well as an afternoon visit to Bay St. Louis and Waveland on the hard-hit Mississippi Gulf Coast. His exact itinerary hasnot been released.

In September, two weeks after Hurricane Katrina lashed the city, Bush stood in Jackson Square at the heart of the French Quarter and promised: "Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes ... we will stay as long as it takes ... to help citizens rebuilding their communities and their lives."

He added, "The work that has begun in the Gulf Coast region will be one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen."

The president's latest visit comes a week after he signed a major spending bill that includes $29 billion for hurricane relief, much of it earmarked for Louisiana and Mississippi.

The bill includes $2.9 billion to rebuild the city's failed levees, but it omits $200 million Bush had requested to armor levees against storm surges and build new pumping stations along the city's lakefront. The extra funds were nixed by Congress, after House members argued that neither proposal had been properly evaluated.