November 19, 2010

Former president W. came to a suburb of Salt Lake City today to sign copies of his “memoirs.” He didn’t appear at a bookstore, but at a Costco. About 60 of us got together in Pioneer Park in downtown Salt Lake City, about two blocks from my apartment and 15 miles from where he appeared, to protest the visit of the war criminal. Utah is very much a police state, and there’s no way any protesters would have been allowed within blocks of the signing. So, he didn’t get to see the signs saying "Torture Stains Everyone", "Worst President Ever", and "Arrest Bush." Some of the cars heading for the freeway honked. Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake, was the main speaker. He said, among other things, that we and the entire world know that George Bush is a war criminal, that the stench of his presidency will hang over the country, wondered how soldiers can get prosecuted for torture while Bush can be warmly received in Sandy bragging about having said "damn right" when asked if he authorized torture, and said that since Obama has not acted to prosecute Bush, all Americans are complicit in his crimes. I’m not much for chanting and fist pumping, but I agree with all these things. However, no one mentioned his equally horrific crimes of destroying the American middle class, funneling tax dollars to his rich friends, creating the largest budget deficits in history, and enlarging the American security state to a size that will never be reduced. Makes me sick to even think about the damage his presidency has done. And it was depressing to see the pathetically small group of us.