Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Stuff Happinin' ... Bush-Visits-Rogers protest


Monday - The Protest: October 15 Bush came to Rogers, Arkansas, where he first visited the Stribbling Packing Co. Friends of the Stribbling family attended our protest, and report that they were extremely excited about it. Bush had his own lunch at a local restaurant named… it was something like “Hog Barbeque”. Hogs are big here in Razorback country. Finally, an hour later then expected, he appeared at the Hammons Convention Center, where many Suits were waiting patiently to see him.

So were 40-50 Omni members and friends. We carried placards about a variety of important issues -- preemptive war, erosion of liberties, impeachment. But the main core of the action was Bush’s veto of SCHIP – the children’s health care bill. A lot of people are finding that hard to swollow. A trillion dollars for a phoney war, but quibble about a few million for sick children.



It was different protesting in Rogers. Fewer thumbs up, and a few people yelled “shut up” at us as we vigorously greeted Bush from the sidewalk, calling "feed the poor, not the war." There was a little cluster of Bush supporters with signs hastily made from cardboard boxes, that said things like “Support Godly Prez”. Somebody on our side of the street said, “A Godly prez would be a good idea.” Both sides were friendly though. A bunch of people came out from the offices and shops behind us to watch for the cavalcade, and made us look like a bigger group. Some were carrying tiny little American flags, so we may have disagreed with them on some issues.

An interesting thing was that the Omni folk from "liberal" Fayetteville were just about balanced out by like-minded folks from "conservative" Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista. Several of them told us how grateful they were that we’d organized this. I think they felt that Omni was supporting them in something they wanted very much to do, but weren’t sure how to do it. Support for progressive people around Northwest Arkansas was a statement that I’m happy we could make, even if neither Mr. Boozman nor Mr. Bush pay heed to what we were trying to say.

Another interesting thing was that Bush’s long barbecue lunch forced the media to cover the protesters during the slow wait. Thank you Mr. Bush.

Tuesday - Follow-up visit to Cong. Boozman's office: The day after the protest, a few Omni friends traveled to Lowell to visit with Rep. Boozman’s staff, including his Director of Communications. SCHIP was again the focus. We were met in the parking lot by Arkansas Demo Gazette crew. They asked good questions and took lots of photos. We didn’t expect to change any minds among the staff, and we weren’t disappointed. Mr. James was pretty attentive to our position though, and gave us an interesting review of the shut-down of communication between the parties in DC since the veto was announced.

Omni member Sara Milford, who’s a natural childbirth facilitator, was able to make some important points about the prenatal care elements in SCHIP. From Mr. James discussion, it appears that for the Congressman, prenatal attention was mostly directed to anti-abortion studies. I saw lights go on in Mr. James eyes, when Sara talked about specific need to expand availability of services, and prenatal education for young moms. He needed to hear from her.

Citizen contact like this is never wasted. Slowly working to develop relationship with legislators – whether they agree with us or not – is an important part of being an engaged American.

Thanks to all of the intrepid people who braved the October chill on October 15, and the wonderful ones who met for the follow-up visit on the 16th. Changing hearts and minds may be slow work, but to do nothing is such a poor option. We’re the ones who choose to act on our convictions and, as often as possible, to be effective. Omni folk are really GREAT.

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