WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The Billionaires for
Bush will be out in force Thursday, mingling with the thousands of
well-wishers and party animals celebrating the president's second
inauguration.
But Bush won't be spending any time with the likes of Lucinda
Regulations and Phil T. Rich. Despite their top hats and tuxedoes,
they're not his type.
The Billionaires for Bush, a street theater group with tongues
planted firmly in cheek, have much more in common with the
Revolutionary Communist Party, which also will be recognizing the
president's big day in D.C.
They'll be among the groups protesting and lining the parade
route when President Bush returns from being sworn in for a second
term. Instead of applauding, they'll be carrying signs with messages
such as this:
"I don't like you very much!"
Others will turn their backs on the president.
Thursday night, as Republicans celebrate the promise of the next
four years at swanky balls and fancy dinners, an eclectic group of
naysayers - from plain old Democrats to members of the communist
party - will fan out for events of their own. Some of the parties
are serious protests; others are tongue-in-cheek, and still others
are essentially an effort to kick off fundraising and organizing for
the next round of elections.
What none of them will be is quiet.
"We are not running, we are not hiding - we are organizing," said
Josh Galper, a board member for NEXT, a liberal political action
committee that's expecting 400 to 500 people at its "Blue Ball"
Thursday night.
The party, at a sleek bar and restaurant only a few blocks from
the White House, is part of the organization's "Paint the Town Blue"
campaign. For weeks, volunteers have been passing out blue signs,
bumper stickers, T-shirts and light bulbs to promote Washington as a
"blue" town, reflecting the city's overwhelming support for
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
"In some ways, what we are going to be doing is celebrating on
our own - it's our night too. It's not about protesting the
inauguration," said Galper, who admitted he left town for Bush's
first inaugural.
For many of the other groups, however, protest is what it's all
about. Above a car wash on New York Avenue, activists have been
painting signs and making papier-mache puppets, including an effigy
of Bush.
Marchers will begin at three separate locations Thursday morning
- outside the security perimeter established for the inauguration -
and make their way down to the parade route.
The protesters' political agendas range from opposition to the
war in Iraq, to supporters of women's rights, to anarchy. Many of
the groups represented have clashed with D.C. police over the past
several years and are hoping for a smoother interaction this time
around.
While tickets were sold for the bleacher seating areas along the
parade route, some parts are open to the general public. Adam
Eidinger, a local activist, said police had asked the groups for
plans for their marches. They have refused, he said.
"For them not to reveal their plans doesn't mean they have
anything sinister in mind," said Eidinger, who boasts that his
unsuccessful campaign last fall for D.C.'s shadow congressional
representative still got more votes (25,000) than Bush did here
(21,000).
Many of the efforts are symbolic. For example, political
activists in Massachusetts have organized a petition to support an
anonymous e-mail circulating around the Internet calling for "Not
One Damn Dime Day" - encouraging people not to spend money on
Thursday to protest the Bush administration.
Others use humor to register dissent. The group "Billionaires for
Bush" dress as old-fashioned robber barons and take pun-filled names
to protest what they think is an administration that has tilted the
playing field in favor of the wealthy.
"It's important to be just right up front with the message that
this is government for the rich, by the rich and of the rich," said
R. Laws, aka Glenn Marcus, dressed smartly in a tuxedo amid the wool
sweaters and boots worn by most other activists.
Laws, a documentary filmmaker and professor in his regular life,
and his billionaire buddies plan to "auction off" Social Security
and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
"They're just better in private hands," Laws said, perfectly
deadpan.
The group planned a protest outside one of the marquee events of
this year's inaugural - the "Black Tie and Boots" ball thrown
Wednesday night by the Texas State Society. Thursday night, they
will host a "Re-coronation Ball" at a Washington nightclub.
Then there are the long-established groups - the true iconoclasts
who have spent a lifetime working to convince Americans to
reconsider their form of government.
Carl Dix, a national organizer for the Revolutionary Communist
Party, said that with the eyes of the world on Washington this week,
it's important to represent the people who said "no" to Bush in
November.
"The millions who are now agonizing about the future are open to
a different system, and that's what keeps us going," he said. "We
feel there needs to be another side out there, in opposition to
this, and we're going to be out there providing it."
Galper said he and others involved with NEXT are looking at last
fall's election as proof that grass-roots organizing can work, and
hope to use that to motivate the next round of fund raising and
activism.
"We're in a different time than four years ago. We all realize
that it is possible to mobilize the electorate in major way - we
obviously were not successful in mobilizing enough to win this year,
but that doesn't mean we should leave town," Galper said. "We need
to stay and start planning and start organizing."
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