Time Magazine

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson’s August 30 Speechhas gained national attention.

Fellow blooger Cliff Lyon is quoted in the article:

But blogger Cliff Lyon, who volunteered as Anderson’s communications manager in the early days of his administration, believes such speeches are exactly what the voters wanted from Anderson when they put him in office.
“There’s a complete disconnect in Salt Lake. The people who don’t like what Rocky has done think that Rocky’s responsibility is to represent a constituency that he simply does not represent,” Lyon said. “We re-elected Rocky, and we expect Rocky to speak on our behalf.”
Lyon said he encouraged Anderson to begin blogging, and while the mayor was initially resistant, he has begun posting on the Daily Kos, a liberal blog with one of the Internet’s largest followings. Lyon has also started a Web site, http://www.thankyourockyanderson.org, to allow people across the country to express their support for Anderson’s activism.

It’s good to point out that while Rocky did draw a lot of attention to Utah, the success of the event was due to the hard-working people who organized the event. So thanks to EVERYONE, organiers and participants, who helped make this a non-violent, reponsible exercise of free speech.

More photos from yesterday


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More News Coverage of yesterday

Deseret News:Rocky, thousands flay president

Salt Lake Tribune:
Mullen: A display of our freedom in action
Salt Lake sounds off in protest and support:
Utahns show their protest and support
(includes links to a photo gallery)

St. George Spectrum:St. George residents join supporters for the president

Daily Utah Chronicle:Salt Lake City puts its foot down

Boston Herald:American Legion clashes with Salt Lake City’s anti-war mayor; mayor organizes protest

Chicago Sun-Times:Dem mayor angers vets at convention

Los Angeles Times:Salt Lake Mayor Joins War Protest: The Democratic leader of Utah’s capital city speaks at a rally before President Bush brings a stay-the-course message to the solidly GOP state.

Seattle Times:Mayor in Utah protests Iraq war

One story from today – Republicans display violence at their rally

Background: Although a permit had been obtained to allow 10 people to deliver a petition of grievances to Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett’s offices today at the Federal Building in SLC, they ended up not being permitted to do so because Hatch and Bennett did not want to hear them and would not allow them in their offices….

My good friend Nate decided he would venture over to the Pro-Bush rally this evening, during the same time as the anti-Bush evening rally in Pioneer Park, along with Julian Hatch. Nate had on a t-shirt with a stenciled picture of George W. and the words “Worst President” covered over by a buttoned down dress shirt.

Nate was able to squirm his way to the front of the rally at the City County Building and discovered that Orrin Hatch was speaking. As Nate unbuttoned his dress shirt to expose his t-shirt, he began shouting to Orrin that he was not respecting the constitution by not allowing his constiuents into his office today. As he was shouting, an elderly man, about 80, grabbed Nate by the shoulders from behind and began punching and kneeing him in the back. An Associated Press Photographer was able to capture the incident by camera – so be on the lookout for it.

Republican friends of the elderly man began shouting “Stop – Don’t do that!” to the man. I’m sure they didn’t want the media coverage of that incident.

Fortunately Nate was not hurt. Apparently others that were heckling Orrin Hatch did so to the point where Senator Hatch had to stop speaking.

Utah Voices

Organizers of today’s events worked under the name “We the People for Peace and Justice”. This was a recent change from “We the People”.

I have heard that the group is considering solidifying their efforts into a permanent organization. I have written to the group to respectfully and formally request that they drop the “people for peace and justice” part of the name since there is already a group in Utah called People for Peace and Justice of Utah that has been in existence since October 2001 and does weekly outreach to,quite literally, thousands of people all over the world each week.

I hope to hear from the members of this group soon on this request.

First post of photos

This first post is of photos I’ve cropped this evening. There is no rhyme or reason to the order – I plan to organize them better tomorrow. I just wanted to get up some photos today. I will also be posting more photos that I didnt’ get to tonight. Tom and I literally took several hundred photos.

The cheerleaders ROCKED. We got a lot of attention and applause.


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Today’s Protests

It was a great day. There is lots to tell, especially through photos.

First the news (my next post will begin my photo coverage):

Blogs:
One Utah

KUTV:
Thousands Protest Across Salt Lake City
SLC Mayor: Bush Is The Worst President In History
Sky Video of Protestors Marching
Protests And Preparations For Pres. Bush In Utah

ABC 4:
Rocky Anderson leads protest opposing Bush; Shurtleff calls Mayor “disrespectful”

Fox News:
Protesting the President

Salt Lake Tribune:
Thousands of anti-war protesters demand: “Give us the truth”
Tribune’s Live Blog
City’s a stage as protesters ready for street theater:But all in the polite, Utah-style rhetoric

Deseret News: Thousands gather in Salt Lake City to protest, praise Bush

Miscellaneous Articles:
Google

Camp Casey Video Reports

The Truthout Media Report Page has several reports about Camp Casey.

When you scroll down, you come to the report “Camp Casey Reaches Out to GIs at Fort Hood
A Report by Geoffrey Millard and Scott Galindez”. I was at that action when I was at Camp Casey.

Another Reason to Protest

At Least 100 Die as Militia Force Iraqi Troops out of Town

At least 100 people were killed across Iraq yesterday in a day of intense gun battles and suicide bombings, contradicting US military claims that the security situation in the war-torn nation was improving.

The latest violence was a reminder of how easily Iraq could slip back into the type of endemic sectarian violence that characterised much of the first half of this year after the destruction in February of a Shia shrine in the town of Samarra.

More than 10,000 Iraqis – the vast majority in Baghdad – have been killed in the past four months alone, a figure that would send shockwaves through the international community were it in any other part of the world.

The US military admitted that there had been a spike in violence in Baghdad, but insisted that things were improving since US-led forces launched Operation Forward Together last month in an attempt to pacify the capital.

Demand accountability from George Bush: Bring our Troops Home NOW~~ALIVE. Take care of our troops when they get home. REBUILD AMERICA: Spend our money on relief for disaster victims, healthcare and infrastructure.

Today’s Events

The Republicans are trying to take credit for Cindy Sheehan cancelling her trip to Salt Lake today.

All I can say to that as I roll on the floor laughing is:

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!.

As someone who has met Cindy recently, talked to and listened to and hugged her, and also as someone who has worked with some of the organizers for Camp Casey and Camp Democracy, I can verify that Cindy is quite ill and has doctor’s orders to stay put until she is well enough to travel.

(shaking my head in amazement)

Anyway,

COME ONE COME ALL COME EVERYONE!!!

Today is the “big” day. Bring your energy and enthusiasm, your humor and your voice, your children and your friends, and your desire to demand that our administration be accountable to the people.

11am, City County Building at Washington Square, 400 South State Street, Salt Lake City

I’ll be there in my cheerleading role today. I’ll also be distributing flyers for the Upcoming Imagine Peace Festival on September 23rd, as well as flyers for the Desert Greens Green Party with an Impeach Bush and Vote for Peace Theme on them.

Much thanks to Green Jenni for her role in organzing today’s rally.

In today’s newspapers:

Rallies, protests today in Salt Lake: Events center around Bush visit, some welcoming, others critical

City’s a stage as protesters ready for street theater: But all in the polite, Utah-style rhetoric
Sheehan not coming to SLC