The police said we were welcome to protest on the other side of the street

[Kolesar]

All traffic on the sidewalk in front of the posh Intercontinental Hotel was blocked for the arrival of ever-unpopular Vice President Cheney, who came to Cleveland to collect $2000/each from all the soulless rich people from Ohio that he could invite to his fundraiser.

(How is that for a run on sentence?)

The reason I am posting this is to inspire readers of the Democratic Underground to participate in demonstrations or activism at any level. A year ago, I had never donated to a campaign, and only had done a scant bit of pollworking for a candidate many decades ago. I found an activist group in my town, and now I am writing articles for the newsletter and hosting programs. It was not long until I was invited to speak at the Cheney "event". It only took the efforts of about five activists to get sixty people to participate. Three TV stations, one radio station, and Ohio's largest newspaper reported on the affair.

So, come on, get involved! I jumped into this like a hockey player in a bench-clearing brawl, but you can get involved on any level that you are comfortable with. Your time is needed, but even more so, your ideas are needed and your inspiration is needed, because when you go where your heart and your passions lead you, you can accomplish things that nobody else can.

Here is the article:

Cheney's visit raises $750,000, along with voices of protest

11/25/03

Mark Naymik
Plain Dealer Politics Writer

Vice President Dick Cheney raised about $44,000 a minute last night for his and the president's re-election campaign, collecting nearly $750,000 with his 17-minute speech before a room of Cleveland's wealthiest business and civic leaders.
...edit...

Tom Pirko, the Sierra Club's Northeast Ohio energy chairman, criticized Cheney's "hubris and secrecy" while drafting the administration's latest energy bill proposal outside of public scrutiny. "America needs to be a leader, not a follower of corporate direction," Pirko said.

Campaign Money Watch, a nonprofit group that monitors campaign finance, tried to portray Cheney's visit as a costly one to Clevelanders, noting that his visit was stressing the already depleted city resources.

"With today's news that Cleveland will cut 700 jobs, including 263 police officers, Campaign Money Watch calls on the Bush-Cheney campaign to reimburse the city of Cleveland for the additional costs associated with security around Vice President Dick Cheney's special-interest fund-raising event," the group said in a statement.

Plain Dealer reporter Sarah Hollander contributed to this story.
(She is the one who stood out in the cold to report this.)

Plain Dealer Article

[Andy_Stephenson]

1. Was Walden Odell in the crowd?

I would sure like to know.

[Kolesar]

2. the name is not familiar eom

[bloom]

3. any photos?

[prolesunited]

4. That's fantastic!

You not only got exposure at the event, but increased it by having it covered in the paper. It's nice to see that they noted the objections in a seemingly fair manner.

I definitely have become MUCH more active since being involved in DU. I learned that average people like me were getting out there and that it certainly wasn't as scary as it the images they show on television.

Perhaps you can pick up a relatively inexpensive digital camera so that you can record and share these experiences.

Way to take a stand! :yourock: