What was he afraid of - hearing an honest opinion?
August 18th, 2006 3:58 am
Protesters, tourists show, but president eludes crowd
By Ad Crable And Chad Umble / Lancaster Online
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - There were no "Smoketown Six" demonstrations. No
cardboard coffins. Lots of signs, but very few chants, jeers or visible
signs of anger.
Perhaps 250 people came to protest President Bush's positions on the Iraq
war, stem cell research and global warming Wednesday.
Just as many curious tourists - many of them supporters of the president -
lined both sides of Route 30 anticipating a brush with Bush.
In the end, few got to show their displeasure or pleasure with their
commander-in-chief.
The president's motorcade skipped the main entrance to the Lancaster Host
Resort, where most protesters and onlookers had gathered.
Instead, the president and his long entourage of support vehicles ducked
from Route 30 between two motels, onto an unpaved access road along the
resort's golf course, and quickly vanished.
The evasive maneuver left tourists, who had waited in a glaring sun, looking
bewildered as they held their cameras.
Protesters seemed less surprised. Some hurled "Coward!" and "Loser" after
the disappearing dignitary.
Emily Kraybill, 15, was one of the few protesters who had stationed herself
at the Starbucks Coffee along Route 30 and got to see the president drive
by.
She said she could see the president's face and said Bush stuck his hand
outside to wave.
Kraybill booed.
Protesters gathered on both sides of Route 30 for two hours before the
president's nonarrival. They were orderly, and many let their signs do the
talking.
Among the banners: "Lancaster Rejects Bush," "We Want Our Democracy Back,"
"Jail To The Chief," "Blind Faith In Bad Leadership Is Not Patriotism," "No
Blood for Oil," "Stop Using Our Troops As Terrorist Bait," "Re-elect Carter"
and "Earth To Bush: Global Warming Is Real."
Among those who felt compelled to show their displeasure with their
president was self-described "leftover peacenik" Linda Frank, 60, of
Lancaster.
"I thought I'd be done with this protest and peace stuff by now," she said,
referring to her opposition to the Vietnam War.
But she found herself coming out of retirement to protest Bush's war
policies.
"I think Bush has the world on the brink of catastrophe," she said.
Bush detractors far outnumbered loyalists. But among the latter was Mike
Townsend, who lives only 50 miles from Bush's ranch in Texas and was in town
to buy large numbers of guinea pigs from Amish and Mennonite farmers.
He was outraged at what he saw.
"What they're doing is discouraging to the president, and I take it as a
personal insult to me as an American, an ex-military individual and all the
people that are fighting over there," he said.
Then there was Mike Turco, 37, of Wilmington, N.C., visiting with his wife,
three sons and in-laws on their annual camping trip to Dutch Wonderland.
Turco does not agree that the U.S. should be in Iraq, but he stressed, "We're
not here to protest or disagree. He's our commander, and we're here to show
him some respect."
Across from the entrance to the Host, Joe and Kathleen Anders, both 71, from
Lancaster, stoically held a peace flag and a banner that read, "Violence
Ends Where Peace Begins."
The couple are among about a dozen members of the Lancaster Chapter of Pax
Christi, a peace movement among Catholics.
Closer to the Host, another protester, Jerry Policoff, 59, of Lancaster,
said, "We want to send a message to Bush that Lancaster isn't quite as red
and conservative as he thinks it is."
Many of the protesters stayed even after Bush disappeared from Route 30.
They soon were joined by a sizable contingent from the Lancaster Coalition
for Peace and Justice, carrying such signs as "Who Would Jesus Kill."
Todd Baxter, 37, of Lancaster said he came to "show my lack of support for
the Bush administration.
"Despite their best efforts to keep this attitude under wraps, it is
overwhelmingly prevalent in our society, as all the polls show," he said,
referring to opinion polls that show Bush's approval rating in the 30s.
Tim Nauman, 29, of Lancaster is a quadriplegic who was injured in a car
accident three years ago.
"The disabled community in general under George Bush has greatly suffered,"
he said, citing Bush's stance on stem-cell research.
Beside him was Doug Wickenheiser, 49, of Lancaster who struggled to hold a
large, orange banner reading: "Impeach Jail Bush, Cheney Rumsfeld. The Axis
of Evil."
"The Bush empire," he said, "is a criminal enterprise if you really look at
it. They don't have one care at all about the Constitution. They got us into
an unjust and unfounded war."
Others sprinkled through the crowd were less vocal about their views,
including several tourists who said they left their hotels out of curiosity.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance," said Carol Lepkanich of Long Island, who
was staying at the Quality Inn with her husband and sister.
The trio huddled in the shade of the Lapp Family Restaurant sign, saying
they planned to do some shopping after the motorcade passed.
"He is the president, and he deserves our respect," said Carol's husband,
George Lepkanich.
Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society officials had fretted that the Bush
visit would disrupt their annual four-day Bookworm Frolic book sale, which
began Wednesday.
But the group took in $24,000, about average for the sale's opening,
reported bookstore manager Reuben Miller this morning.
"It was a little nerve-wracking," he said. The sale continues through
Saturday.
For some, the most wondrous thing during the afternoon was witnessing a
placid, vehicle-less Route 30 tourist strip for 25 minutes or so.
When Route 30 shut down around 4:14 p.m., a trio of Lancaster Christian
students - Joe Horst, 18, Coleman Butterworth, 17, and Zach Bullock, 17 -
marveled at the calm along the normally busy commercial strip.
"I've never seen this before. This is wild," said Coleman, who snapped
pictures of the empty road with his cell phone camera.
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Michelle Malkin (Mickey) aa list#1
BAAWA Knight & Bible Thumper Thumper
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