Bush gets the boot
By
WASHINGTON, D.C.--On January 19, President Bush's last day in office, hundreds of people gathered at DuPont Circle for a rally and march to the White House to mark the occasion.
The day of actions was called "Shoes for Bush," in reference to the Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at Bush during a press conference in Baghdad. (In the Middle East, the throwing of a shoe is a great insult.) The day of actions was organized by Jamilla El-Shafei of Kennebunk, Maine, and Jose Rodriquez of Washington, D.C. Co-sponsors included Progressive Democrats of America, Kate Clinton, People's Media Center and Code Pink.
The intent of the "Shoes for Bush" actions was to draw attention to the fact that Bush and Cheney were leaving office with no criminal investigations, no impeachment proceedings, and no accountability whatsoever for their actions at home or abroad. The failure of Congress to uphold the Constitution and enforce the rule of law by holding Bush and Cheney accountable was, at the very least, an insult to all law-abiding Americans. We are demanding that the Obama administration appoint a special prosecutor. Our message dovetailed with the message of the "Arrest Bush" contingent, which was organized by Washington, D.C., activist Jose Rodriquez
The day of actions began with a rally led by D.C. activist Jay Marx and kicked off with a performance from the Raging Grannies--an ensemble of singing antiwar grandmothers. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Ann Wright gave a rousing speech as she stood on a stage flanked by combat boots and a banner that read "The End of an Error."
Iraq Veteran Adam Kokesh followed with his personal story about his mission in Falluja and coming home to join Iraq Veterans Against the War. Other speakers included Gael Murphy, co-founder of Code Pink; Laurie Arbeiter of Artists Response Team; Debra Sweet of World Can't Wait; Mike Herrington of Veterans for Peace; Zach Mason of the International Socialist Organization; and poet Lori Perdue, who read her poem "All you can eat."
Keynote speaker David Swanson, the founder of After Downing Street and author of upcoming book Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union, made the case for why a special prosecutor should be appointed to try Bush administration officials for war crimes. "We will throw shoes for the widows and orphans in Iraq. We will throw shoes for Muntader al-Zaidi, a hero to billions. We will throw shoes to end the torture, to end rendition, to end wars and to end occupations, to end warrantless spying, and to end the very idea that a president does not have to obey law," said Swanson.
After the rally, protesters took to the street with shoes and combat boots in hand to march behind the banner "Arrest Bush," to the gates of the White House. Veterans threw combat boots, and others followed with shoes collected by supporters. The White House guards ducked and dodged flying shoes as the Secret Service stood by and looked on. No arrests were made.
People then headed back to DuPont Circle, where the crowd enjoyed performances by Chris Wireless and Kate Clinton and had fun throwing shoes at a 25-foot high inflatable image of Bush. With every shoe that hit the effigy, the crowd laughed and cheered.
In spite of frigid temperatures, people stayed late into the evening and did not want organizers to deflate the effigy. As we gathered shoes to put in bags, people came behind us taking shoes out of bags to throw.
Clearly, this action provided a much-needed cathartic experience after eight long years of the Bush regime.
