WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 - Hail To The Thief. Deselect W. Trees Not Bushes. Ashcroft Is A Sexist Pig.
Messages like these popped up everywhere on Inauguration Day in the nation's capital: On signs held high above the crowd, and on homemade T-shirts worn with pride and in the raucous chants of demonstrators on every street corner.
Others, equally resolute in their support for the president-elect, waved Texas flags, covering their $400 cowboy hats with Saran wrap to protect them from the rain.
In a dream
Early in the morning, Freedom Plaza was already a site of much activity, bustling between the impressive Willard Inter-continental and the J.W. Marriott hotels. A loud drumbeat worked up the crowd into a frenzy while police officers looked on. Two blocks away, bass tones from Rockell's song "In a Dream" echoed the drumbeats heard from Freedom Plaza, as a patriotically dressed dance team celebrated the day's events.
A trio dressed in silver robes and hats glided along 12th Street, claiming to be sent from the future. The three of them were from a group called the Philadelphia Radical Surrealist Front. Josh Marcus spoke first.
"We're here to bring a message of hope and peace. This is a dark day for your nation - a moment of despair," said Marcus as he distributed "The New World Times," a "newspaper" from the year 2157.
He closed his announcement by saying there would be better times in the future for the American people, and continued to glide down the street.
Masses of people from all walks of life gathered along the Inaugural Parade route and in many other places to protest the results of the presidential election, undeterred by the freezing rain.
Sherry Wolf traveled to D.C. from Chicago to take part in the demonstrations, and described herself as an organizer for the International Socialist Organization.
"The minute we knew the election was stolen, we decided to mobilize to get out here," said Wolf, who explained reports of disenfranchisement of black voters during the election was a key issue for the ISO.
The purpose of the ISO demonstrations was to send a message, and people like herself are not going to "roll over and play dead" when Bush takes office, Wolf said.
The protestors at Freedom Plaza formed a diverse crowd, ranging from young progressives with torn jeans to the elderly, who had to use their umbrellas to support themselves.
Flat on the ground lay a young man with a long flowing beard. A victim of an epileptic seizure, he was loosely covered with a plastic green poncho, adding more disorder to the protest. Ambulances soon arrived, but their sirens were drowned out by the drumbeats still emanating from the crowd.
"Sky Blue" looked on with sympathy. The young man came from Twin Oaks, Va., an income-sharing community with a population of about 70. He wore a colorful knit cap, and his lengthy beard moved as he talked.
He gave his own reasons for protesting. "We've decided that the dominant culture is problematic, damaging, unsustainable - look around you. We're here to create a new one," said "Blue."
Kevin Welton, a middle-aged man from Staten Island, N.Y., stood nearby with a stroller in front of him. Welton commented on the increased police presence.
"I think the people in this group are less likely to commit violence than most groups. We're a bunch of peace creeps," Welton said with a laugh. The police officers on the scene didn't share his smiles, though.
Another crowd of protestors stood across from the National Archives, right along the parade route. Students for an Undemocratic Society knelt on the steps of the Navy Memorial and shouted chants of "idiot boy king" and "more blood for oil."
A short distance away, in front of the Starbucks coffee shop, a line of 12 men and women wearing tank tops spelled out "illegitimate" on their shirts as they walked arm-in-arm, crying out their message.
Closer to the street, the National Organization for Women (NOW) was leading a quieter demonstration.
Stacy Robinson, who lives in Washington, D.C. and works for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, stood calmly as her friend held up a sign.
She explained the ideology behind the NOW protest. "They're just trying to get the message out that they're not going to stand for the Bush administration rolling back any women's rights. It's mostly just a visibility issue and for a sense of community," Robinson said.
Although most of the Inauguration Day protestors were contemptuous of the new president, Bush supporters were out in force as well.
The other guys
Bush supporters sported sleek wool coats and 10-gallon hats, the fashion staples for the day.
When Bush began his speech by thanking President Clinton for "his services," a flamboyant man waving a Texas flag yelled, "Yeah, I'm sure Monica thanked him too!"
Huddling together to keep warm in the freezing rain, the mixed crowd of protestors and Bush supporters anxiously waited for the new president to drive by in his limo, Bush supporter and high school teacher Steve Brown traded insults with the protesters. Sporting a button emblazoned with pictures of Cheney and Bush and a bright red and blue ribbon, he heckled the protestors.
"It's a change from Democrats to Republicans - a change from oppression to freedom!" declared the Springfield, Va. resident. Meanwhile, a woman chanted methodically "The emperor has no brain."
While campaign phone bank volunteer and Florida State senior Chris Krampert felt the protestors had a right to be there, he felt their claims were meaningless.
"I feel sorry for them. Their claims seem invalid," he said, believing Bush fairly won Florida.
"I just don't think their claims are legitimate," he said.
Shawn and Rhonda Tracey from Houston dressed themselves in colonial attire and roamed the streets of D.C. They voiced their cause in soft Texas accents.
"We would like America to see that there are many out there who believe in America, and who believe in freedom, and who believe in the Constitution," Shawn Tracey said.
Rhonda Tracey eagerly chimed in. "If you want to be a communist and a socialist, then leave the country," she said.
Martha and Mary Simmons were sisters who also traveled from Texas to support the new president. Together they held a long sign that read "Our loss, America's gain" in bold letters. The sisters made their hotel and flight reservations four months ago, long before the elections began.
"We wanted to come and support George Bush," Martha Simmons said. Her sister said they both recognized the "change of tone in the country" and knew "they wanted to see something new happen."
Neither of them were overly upset by the protests.
"People have a right to their opinion. I think people should be a little more pleasant about their protests, but that's all right with me," said Mary Simmons.
The protestors were well organized, if not pleasant. The Justice Action Movement supported many of the demonstrations by providing a welcome center for protestors, obtaining demonstration permits, and planning various events.
Base of operations
North of the chaos in downtown D.C., the basement of the Kaffa House Restaurant in Adams Morgan was the temporary headquarters for some of the protestors. Surrounded only by other restaurants, and well north of the heart of the city, the Kaffa House seemed an unlikely organizing center for the Justice Action Movement.
Josh Gronsbell, who oversees many JAM activities, explained the owner of the restaurant is politically active and offered them temporary space at no charge. In return, JAM activists ate and paid for their meals at the Kaffa House.
Elias Zeleke opened up his Caribbean-style restaurant six years ago, and said that the Kaffa House is a popular forum for the local community.
"This is a house of freedom of speech, people come in here and express their feelings," Zeleke said with a Jamaican accent.
Back at the National Mall, boisterous crowds loudly expressed their feelings as the presidential motorcade rolled down Constitution Avenue.
At New Jersey and Constitution avenues police officers lined the streets standing side by side, listening to demonstrators chanting "selected not elected."
With no warning, two protestors burned a Confederate flag in the middle of the crowd, eliciting curses and angry shouts of "no violence!" from bystanders. Police arrested one of them immediately, with onlookers cheering wildly.
Across from the U.S. Capitol, in front of the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, a large number of demonstrators drew attention away from the parade.
Protestors remained all along the parade route until the end and cast a cloud over the celebration, adding to the effects of the dismal weather.
At the day's end, America had a new president. But some activists argued that America also had a new battle to wage. International Socialist Organization member Sherry Wolf fittingly summed up the day's events.
"This is just the beginning of what is going to be four years of fight-back from progressives and anti-racists. We're setting an agenda that is saying we're not going to take this," she said.
(Cavalier Daily Associate Editor Adam Justice contributed to this article.)
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