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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (16768)	11/19/2003 11:39:24 AM
From: michael97123	Respond to of 793670

See the third paragraph on lack of anti-bush turnout so far. [Eugene Volokh, 10:08 AM] London calling: A friend of mine, whose judgment and accuracy I very much trust, writes this from London: As you probably know, THE story in the press (at least over here) has not been President Bush's state visit to London, but rather the "huge" demonstrations and "direct action" campaigns that were supposed to greet him. (Here's the main protest web site: stopwar.org.uk.) (Indeed, some have complained here that the BBC and the Guardian have worked hard to facilitate these protests.) We are living in the heart of things -- in Trafalgar Square -- and, for what it's worth, can report that there is nothing of any substance going on at all. It's quite quiet -- people are going about their business, but the usual buzz of tourist activity has slackened a bit. The first round of scheduled protest events involved a big talk by prominent left-leaning activists, and drew about 2,000 people. Then, about 1,000 marched through Oxford Street to protest the Bush Administration's environmental policies. The thousands who were supposed to greet him at Buckingham did not materialize -- there were maybe 100. Right now (Wednesday afternoon), just after the President's big talk, there are a few hundred people milling around Trafalgar Square, a women's prayer circle, and some people congratulating themselves for putting red-dye in the fountains (get it?). The crowd is a little bigger than the crowd two days ago, who were protesting the ban on feeding the pigeons, but certainly smaller than the crowd last month, who were protesting tuition hikes at universities. The cops were cracking up. There was supposed to be a big "alternative state parade" of cyclists and other folks, but it seems to have fizzled. (There is a helicopter overhead right now.) At 3 pm, there is supposed to be a big "do" at Buckingham Palace, which I might go investigate. The REALLY big event, we're told (the organizers keep downplaying expectations as the day goes by), will be on Thursday, when the statue of President Bush is pulled down (get it?). I'm not sure what you all are reading back home, but it is simply not the case that the UK -- or even London -- is rising up in anger over the Bush visit. A (small) majority supports the visit, even if a (slight) majority oppose him and the war. Not that different than, say, New York or Washington. My impression is that most Britons -- and even most Londoners -- are no more irritated by the President than by the "protesters." (All this notwithstanding the transparent efforts by the BBC and the Guardian -- which make Fox News and the Washington Times look like CNN and the Boston Globe -- to stir up opposition). volokh.com