Connie Wilson: White House Press Corps Member, Part 2When last we left Connie, she and her Republican ordained deacon/photographer friend, Sue Ann, had finally ensconsed themselves in the Press Box at a Bush rally somewhere in Colorado....
There was little happening at first. In fact, the man who came out and slapped the Presidential seal on the podium got a HUGE round of applause, for, basically, nothing. There was a group playing…a local group.
“Do you know any of those people up there?” I asked, repeatedly. And, repeatedly, the answer was, “No.” Even I recognized Karl Rove and Karen Hughes when they appeared on a balcony, stage right, but none of the Media seemed to notice. The “staffers” said things in response to my attempts to clarify our entertainment source like, “I don’t listen to country music.” This from the black-clad Jennifer. For a group that “doesn’t listen to country music,” the Republicans are sure counting on their votes. I think you C&W people are being “played.” Smarten up!
Sue Ann and I, both middle-aged and clad in sensible shoes, had warned Jennifer that she would cripple herself before she was thirty if she continued to wear these really high shoes, but she responded, “My grandmother said that, if you want to be beautiful, you have to suffer.” (She said this just before falling down about four steps). Jennifer has a lot of suffering to go through, from all indications. Just being at this rally might qualify.
The types in charge claimed that there were 15,000 present at the rally in the huge arena, which had actual seating. I had brought a blanket to sit on and was using it to conceal a sign (for later) that said, “Bush/Cheney: Farm and Ranch Team.” To me, it was a funny slogan, coming, as it does, from the scion of an East coast family with ties to Yale and Saudi Arabian oil. One of the Republicans present, when I wasn’t looking, removed the sign from inside my blanket that I was going to take home for my Republican husband and family. Essentially, he stole it from me. Why does this not surprise me?
This photo of the frail but courageous protestor, with Connie's
friend Sue Ann in the center foreground, is from the Denver Post.
The elderly man shouted,"You lied, Mr. pResident, you lied!"
before he was escorted out by an eight-member security team.
The man from KCNC-TV leaned down, at one point, when I sought a seat on the bottom of the camera risers next to the Channel 4 Anchorman and said, “You can’t bump those tripods.” Well, no, I suppose not. Everybody was guarding their space very territorially. Sue Ann’s picture of the sole elderly gentleman protesting was a shot that could have been sold for actual cash. Good-hearted soul that she is, she generously agreed to send it to the professional photographer next to her, who missed the entire fracas, as I almost did, since I was several feet below the riser area. I have a picture of eight men jumping on the geriatric protestor, but it looks like some kind of worshipping of the Sun God, as I was shooting in to the sun and got only their backs. They must have felt very brave, subduing a man who looked like he needed a wheelchair.
There were various groups present in the stadium…or, at least, various signs: “Veterans for Bush” looked to be about eighty, both in number and age. There were a lot of “Sportsmen for Bush” signs. This made me think of Howard Dean’s endorsement by the NRA and how this might have made him a better anti-Bush candidate, along with his outspoken and unwavering opposition to the Bush’s war. Later, Dr. Dean would be bashed by Bush, who accused Kerry of adopting the language of “his former rival,” that this war was “the wrong war at the wrong time.” This was a sign for the crowd to begin shouting “Flip-Flop and waving things back and forth.” Pavlov’s dogs would have been proud.
John Elway, the Denver Quarterback Hall-of-Famer had been tapped to introduce Bush after Governor Owen finished his remarks on the weather (“300 days of sunshine. Isn’t this a glorious Colorado morning?”). Elway read the remarks as though he had just been handed them five minutes prior. So much for Elway’s political prowess, unless you consider being inarticulate a pre-requisite for office these days. (And it sometimes seems as though it is getting to be that way, doesn’t it?)
Elway: “You must help me re-elect the man who is the ultimate Quarterback leading us all to victory.” Well. He’s leading us somewhere, all right. And he’s the ultimate something. Reminded me of the quote in the Chicago “Tribune” on Thursday from Robert Rudin, former Secretary of the Treasury under Clinton, who said, “In my judgment, we are now on the wrong track on almost all fronts.” Since the last Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill (former head of Alcoa) said almost the same thing in his book “The Price of Loyalty”, these sort of simplistic slogans really make you stop and think…if you are capable of thinking, that is, and not just “sloganeering”.
In 2001, the U.S. was projected to have a $5.6 trillion SURPLUS over the next ten years. Now, in 2004, we are projecting a ten-year DEFICIT of $5.5 trillion, which means that “W” has spent ALL of the surplus that Clinton left this country and again as much in just one short term. So, uh….John…you might want to re-think that statement about where we are being led.
I’m still asking who the band is. Every so often I hear certain words in their song, like “-ss.” I hear “-ss” a lot. One staff member says they are called “Mission Three.” Another says they are “Mission Nineteen.” I begin to think they are “Plan Nine From Outer Space.” They aren’t a bad band; just a bunch of locals, I guess. I try to copy down some of the lyrics I hear, thinking that later, maybe SOMEBODY will have heard of these C&W songs: “Sun coming up over New York City, School bus driver staring at the faces in the rear-view mirror. Dreams of fame and fortune.” Something about “red, white and blue.” OK. Song makes no sense. This is not New York City and I don’t see any group waving signs that say, “School bus drivers for Bush.” Artist unknown. Heard the word “-ss” at least twice. Anybody want to help me out on this one? Leave a comment on the blog. Certainly supported the candidate well, though, I thought. An incomprehensible country & western song with really crass lyrics that made no sense at all, with references to a city that we are not even in. O…K. Or, as Jim Carrey would say, “All right-y then!”
Tune in tomorrow, same time, same channel, for the final part of Connie Wilson’s adventure through the neo-con looking glass.
