Protests Planned for Inauguration Day

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By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP

While President Bush's supporters celebrate his inauguration
Thursday, thousands of protesters around the United States
aim to hit the streets with demonstrations and rallies
against the returning administration.

"There are some in this country who are just not in the mood
to let the president have his day in the sun," said James
Hudnut-Beumler, dean of Vanderbilt University's Divinity
School and an expert in protest movements.

Although Bush was met with protesters when he was sworn in in
2001, inaugural protests are rare historically, Hudnut-
Beumler said. "Presidents are usually given an opportunity in
their inauguration address to try to claim the affections and
interests of the whole nation, including people who didn't
vote for him."

But in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle, organizers
expect thousands of demonstrators to gather on Thursday for
speeches and rallies. In dozens of smaller communities - from
Bridgewater, Mass., to Flagstaff, Ariz., - rallies, marches
and demonstrations are also planned. Former Democratic
presidential nominee George McGovern is the featured speaker
at a demonstration planned for Santa Cruz, Calif.

For some demonstrators, the reasons to protest are simple.
"We're objecting to Bush being reinstalled as president of
the United States. He's illegitimate," said Carol Brouillet
of Palo Alto, Calif., who plans to spend Thursday in downtown
San Francisco displaying huge panels of photographs of
soldiers killed in Iraq. Brouillet, who believes Bush used
the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as a pretext for an
illegal war, has shown the photos at various demonstrations.
Others said they were seeking comfort in numbers.

"We don't feel that Bush's supposed mandate represents us.
Maybe this is just therapy for us for feeling helpless and
hapless," said veterinarian Paul Makidon of Ann Arbor, Mich.
In addition to street protests, some anti-Bush groups are
calling for a daylong economic boycott, pressing critics to
stay home from work and not spend any money.

"We've tried marching in the streets to stop the war, we
tried writing letters, we tried initiatives on the Web, but
Bush doesn't listen. It seems to us the only thing Bush and
the Republicans will listen to is money," said David
Livingstone of Detroit.

Tim Castleman, a Web site designer from Sacramento, Calif.,
began his protest almost a week before the inauguration,
boarding an eastbound Amtrak train he dubbed the "Peace
Train" to head for Washington. He calls for increased rail
and public transit funding and relates this demand to the war
in Iraq. "A person traveling by train," he said, "will
consume half as much as a person on an airplane, with a
corresponding reduction of pollution and funding of wars for
oil."

His protest is to get Bush and Congress to "lead us out of
our wasteful path," he said.

Police in many communities said they are prepared for the
outcry, and have been working with protest organizers on
march routes and other plans.

In Washington, where the largest demonstrations are planned,
an anti-war group is suing the National Park Service,
challenging what it called "the unprecedented exclusion of
the public" from Bush's inaugural parade route. The lawsuit
claims the park service is illegally blocking the general
public from access to vast portions of Pennsylvania Avenue
reserved solely for guests screened by Bush's inaugural
committee.

01/19/05 03:38 EST