Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

According to Gibson, the leader of Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice, around 600 Stanford students and another 400 or so local residents gathered at the four intersections leading to the Hoover Institute at around 2pm. "We just drove in, found easy parking, and walked over," she said, somewhat surprised at the lack of security preceding a visit by the President of the United States. Accompanied by a variety of friends, some of whom needed the assistance of canes for walking, Gibson joined with other protesters in chanting "One two three four, we don't want your (expletive-deleted) war..... Five six seven eight, stop the violence stop the hate!"

There were plenty of police on hand to try to keep the wildly age-diverse crowd under control. Raging Grannies and young Stanford Students were all well behaved, appearing quite comfortable even in the face of police who were carrying night-sticks and what looked like tear-gas. Few seemed concerned about being arrested, according to Gibson who said the police were friendly and polite, but also mused about the potential for students being arrested, "When you pay that high a tuition, you probably don't get arrested."

Three people were arrested though, after a fire truck appeared at one intersection, with lights flashing. "Should we move out of the way?" some of the gathered wondered. "No, if it is a real emergency, they'd say something" one of the older folks counseled. True enough, the fire truck simply left, after three people had been arrested. Their fate is unknown as of this writing.

One of the more comical moments, beyond police blaring "Get Behind the BUSH!" was when one person, seemingly completely out of his element, wearing a suit and tie (with a strange thing dangling out of his ear), tried to encourage the crowd to "Move over there... you'll get a much better view of the President if you move there..." Not falling for it, the crowd stayed put and in a minute or so, the only person wearing a tie in the entire crowd moved off.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Bush team, by the time the protest was in full swing, had decided to move the venue for the "fellows" meeting to George Shultz's home on the edge of the campus. President Bush never got near the Hoover Institute, leaving those who had gathered to greet him to finish their protest with one last chant: "This is what Democracy looks like!"

Yes indeed!