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August 13, 2004
President Bush in Medina
We were headed down I-405 today when traffic was (as usual) not moving through Bellevue. On a whim, we decided to head into Medina, where President Bush was for a fundraiser. I was just curious if the relatively small town was loaded with cops and barricades. Turns out it was loaded with crazy protestors and a very disappointed media.
Fortunately, I was armed with my camera. I apologize if there are any problems with image quality. My notebook screen is only working under certain conditions tonight, and I'm away from home and unable to use an external monitor. They seem okay to me though. That said, here we go.
 |
| Probably the best possible way to slander your ideological opponent is to put a Hitler mustache on him. Not the most creative way... but whatever. |
 |
| Get it? Bush and the Grim Reaper... and they've both got blood on their hands!!! |
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| Convict Bush-Cheney 04! After a while Bush disappeared without explanation, leaving poor Cheney to stand there by himself. He was there long after the other protestors had left too. |
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| W_ar SUCKS. Yes, it does. I think we can all agree that declaring war by flying commercial airliners into... what? Oh, not that war. That one doesn't count. |
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| After
a few minutes, I was confronted by this young
man who was upset that I was photographing protestors.
He told me they were exercising their right to
free speech, and asked that I not include faces
in my pictures. "Too bad, you're in a public
place," I told him. His response was to complain
that only those paying to attend the fundraiser
were allowed to see the President. Huh? I didn't
decide that, I told him. What does that have to
do with my ability to take pictures? In hindsight, I guess it has nothing to do with "freedoms" and "rights" but rather a matter of "I can't have my way, so you shouldn't either." I mean, that's what it is, no? When I was a kid, I would get upset if my sister got away with something and I didn't. This is about as mature. If I'm an undecided voter, this isn't going to make me vote for your guy. |
 |
| The closer we got to the actual fundraiser, the more pro-Bush signs we saw, which seemed kind of odd. Wouldn't you think the protestors would want to be closer to Bush? |
 |
| Nearest to the fundraiser was the media, who were all just staring down the road. There were no more than one or two non-media people here (excluding myself and my wife.) It took a minute or two (I'm slow) for me to realize they were waiting for President Bush. That's why traffic was even worse than usual. It's also why the protestors were a few blocks north... they weren't sure about the route, and were keeping close to the main intersection so as to make sure they didn't miss Bush. We figured the media knew better, and we decided to camp out with them too. |
 |
| But nothing happened. The motorcade wasn't coming. The protestors just stood there, and then some of them started to leave. A bicyclist rode over to the NWCN reporter and told her that the motorcade had passed about a half mile to the west. She asked to interview him, but he said his girlfriend was a reporter for a competing station (KIRO) and that she'd kill him if he was on camera for NWCN (which is operated by KING.) While the protestors were leaving, I stood there among the cameras and just watched and listened to the media, who didn't seem to know what to do. Some immediately got on cell phones, others were speculating as to whether they could use footage of a returning (but empty) motorcade, and I overheard one complain that she had been TOLD to wait there for the President. The cops had a pretty smug look on their face. |
I was a little disappointed that I hadn't gotten to wave at the President... after all, it's not often you get to see the leader of the free world, Democrat or Republican... but in all I thought the whole thing was pretty clever. I'm sure the BC04 supporters were pretty upset, but I'm sure the protestors were much angrier, given that the supporters seemed to be mostly Medina residents just having a good time. But nobody seemed as upset as the media.
In fairness, KIRO got footage of the actual motorcade, and KING sped off right as we were arriving, possibly tipped off by somebody. Why they didn't share that with their sister news network is beyond me. I'm sure it all worked out in the end for the local news stations, but the confusion, dismay, and frustration on the faces and in the voices of those paid to cover the President's visit was amusing enough to make my day.
Posted by March at August 13, 2004 08:48 PM
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