So after dropping off the grant at the DCCAH, I decided to ride my bike down E st and I rolled in on the presidental dragnet. GWB was speaking at the J.W. Marriot and the entire section of 15th St. was closed off and the police were not letting people on the sidewalks on 15th. There were about 150 people total standing on either side of the corner of E & 15th. As we waited for Bush’s motorcade to emerge, I announced to the 30 or so folks around me that I was going to boo the president and I suggested people join me. One of the employees from the Waldorf chatted with me and told me a joke:

So GWB left the White House and walked by a woman with a litter of tiny puppies and she had a big sign saying “Free Republican Puppies.” Bush remarks on how much he’d like to bring them home, but there are already too many dogs, but he was going to ask Laura. The next day as Bush walked by the puppies again the lady had a new sign that said “Free Democratic Puppies.” Bush stops in his tracks and asks her, “Why did you change the sign?” The lady remarks, “The puppies opened their eyes.”

I smiled and laughed…… a few minutes later the motorcade emerges from the parking garage. As the first limo drives by I start to boo as loud as I can. In the second limo I see Georgie waving to me and the crowd facing his window. I continue to boo and he remains smiling & waving and drives on by…. I was the only person to boo and it really made the moment special. Last night I started my first rendering with George Bush & an aerial photograph of the White House and today I saw him.

It gets better… I ride back over to the White House to see how the festivities were going. As I was sitting on my bike, up walks Cindy Sheehan and the cameras flocked to her. After about 20 minutes, she engaged the lone freeper who had a sign that says “Saddam Loves Cindy.” It was really fun to watch. During an interview someone asked her about Puerto Rico and she said something about “the 51st State” and I quipped aloud “That should be DC,” and everyone cracked up. After about 30 minutes of hanging out in the park, I decided to head back to my house but as I was riding out, I noticed Cindy was hanging out with Gael Murphy of Codepink and decided to roll by and tell her “Keep up the good work Cindy,” and she thanked me. Shortly after that I rolled on home to write this.

This evening I am going back to the White House for the vigil.