WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (AFP) - Protesters converged on the US capital Thursday, seeking to persuade President George W. Bush that "51 percent is not a mandate," as he basked in the glow of his Inauguration Day festivities after winning a second four-year term in the November 2 election.
Armed with signs reading: "It's not a mandate when you cheat" and "51 percent is not a mandate," thousands of protesters turned out for demonstrations and marches throughout the capital to voice their dissent as Bush supporters cheered his victory and ushered in his second term.
Bush secured 62 million votes, or nearly 51 percent of the ballots, in the 2004 presidential race, while his challenger, Democratic Senator John Kerry, garnered some 59 million votes (48 percent).
Protesters were of every age and background: families, children, students, retirees, artists, and accountants. Many were anti-war protesters but some had economic complaints or joined the demonstrations to support gay marriage rights or environmental protection.
Though demonstrations were peaceful, about 50 anarchist protestors tried to push past security checkpoints and advance toward the inaugural parade route, but were pushed back by police.
Aidan Delgado, a 23-year-old US Army soldier who quit the military as a conscientious objector and was honorably discharged, according to DAWN (the DC Anti-War Network), said Bush "has bitterly divided this nation." He said US troops lacked body armor and that, when he was in Iraq, he had to find steel in the junkyard to protect his vehicle. "I see no sacrifice among those who rule; only among those who bleed," he said.
Bill Hollenshead, a 45-year-old accountant from Pennsylvania attending the DC Anti-War Network's protest, said he came to Washington to "show Bush that not everyone agrees with him, because he doesn't seem to understand that."
Hollenshead said he's not a traditional activist, but he decided to take part in the protest because "I'm against everything that Bush is for and I'm for everything that he's against."
Garrett Meigs, 23, of Ithaca, New York, said he came to Washington to "show the rest of the world that many Americans are opposed to the Bush agenda."
"This is the day we're going to let those guys know: 'We don't want you anymore,'" declared Ellen Thomas, co-founder of the Proposition One committee, an anti-nuclear-weapons group.
In Washington's Malcolm X Park early Thursday, protesters laid down cardboard caskets draped with the US flag to signify US troops killed in Iraq, as a woman sang "This is a rich man's war; what is the poor man fighting for? Mothers and fathers are crying, because their children are dying."
"I can't believe people of my generation allowed for this to happen again," lamented Kathy Liggett, 52, of Indiana, recalling the Vietnam War era.
Liggett, whose son is a marine stationed in Fallujah, slammed the conflict in Iraq as an "unjustified war," sporting a button saying "Bush lied; people died" and holding a sign reading "Iraq: Arabic for Vietnam."
A small group of Bush supporters who had entered the park, only to be shoved out by demonstrators, shouted "Four more years," waving four fingers in the air as they left.
"I am ashamed that we voted for Bush again," said Karl Volk, a 72-year-old artist from Poughkeepsie, New York.
Volk added that Christians who voted for Bush, "were duped. Bush has done nothing Jesus would approve."
Other protesters held signs reading "No more war" or "In fighting monsters, we're becoming one." Another poster, bearing Bush's image, read: "International war criminal."
Kathy Cobbett, 62, of Rochester, New York, meanwhile, said she was "really upset about the amount of money spent on this inauguration." The festivities carried a 40-million-dollar price tag, excluding costs for the added security brought in to protect the capital. Thousands of police officers from around the country were flown in to help secure the event.
01/20/2005 19:53 GMT - AFP