Protests confront Bush, Cheney
By Monica Moorehead
New York
The chants "Occupation is not liberation" and
"Bring the troops home now" resounded at emergency protests
held in three cities on June 23 against fund-raising efforts by
the super-rich to re-elect the war-mongering Bush
administration in 2004.
George W. Bush is expected to raise a quarter of a billion
dollars for his presidential campaign from his millionaire and
billionaire buddies. This astounding amount of money would
surpass the combined budgets of the Democratic Party
candidates.
In Manhattan on June 23, just a few blocks from the Sheraton
Hotel where Bush was appearing at a $2,000-a-plate fund raiser,
hundreds of protesters converged in two demonstrations,
chanting and explaining why they were there to thousands of
rush-hour passersby leaving work.
One demonstration was called by ANSWER, and focused on the
imperialist nature of the war and racist occupation of Iraq. An
array of other international and domestic issues was raised by
a multinational group of speakers, including Pales tine, Korea,
Cuba, Vene zuela and the devastating decline in living
standards for U.S. workers, oppressed peoples and the poor.
Like other cities in crisis, New York is in the throes of a
tremendous budget crisis as the billionaire mayor, Michael
Bloom berg, presides over the closing down of fire stations,
deregulating rent controls, raising subway fares and increasing
tuition for CUNY schools.
Another protest was called by Planned Parenthood and United
for Peace and Justice. Speakers there criticized Bush's
anti-woman and anti-reproductive rights policies.
ANSWER had proposed a united pro test against Bush's visit.
As it was, the two groups occupied blocks right next to each
other.
Early that morning, Richmond ANSWER had held a morning
protest against Vice President Dick Cheney when he traveled to
Virginia for another fundraiser.
And in the early afternoon in Hopkin ton, Mass., a suburb of
Boston, the Metro west Partners for a Just and Peaceful World
coalition held a protest against Cheney, who flew in for a
private fund raiser. Cheney is a well-known war profiteer. He
sat on the board of directors of the Halliburton Corp. before
he became Bush's running mate. Halli burton is reaping profits
in Iraq from Pentagon contracts while it reportedly still pays
$1 million annually to Cheney. Boston ANSWER organized an
anti-war delegation to support this demonstration.
ANSWER and other anti-war groups will be holding protests
against Bush fundraisers on June 27 in San Francisco and Los
Angeles.
Reprinted from the July 3, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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