Locals exercise their First Amendment rights
By JOHN F. MULLER Special to the Daily Press
SM AIRPORT — Demonstrators clashed here Thursday as Santa Monica became the latest stage to showcase the stark partisanship that has come to characterize this year’s presidential campaign.
Dozens of police officers and traffic officials worked to contain an estimated crowd of 1,000 supporters and protesters of President George W. Bush that took over the intersection of 31st Street and Ocean Park Boulevard throughout the afternoon.
No punches were thrown, but few left their opinions up to the imagination of their companions.
The vociferous crowd expected Bush’s motorcade to come through the intersection as the president made his way to a private fundraising dinner in a hangar at Santa Monica Airport. The motorcade was rerouted and arrived at the airport by way of Centinela Avenue.
While passing cars honked at the crowds lining the blocks surrounding the intersection, Bush supporters and protesters equipped with homemade signs, banners and cheers screamed their support or distaste for the nation’s commander-in-chief.
On the southeast corner, a group made up predominantly of Bush supporters yelled chants at protesters on the southwest corner. On the north side of Ocean Park Boulevard, supporters and protesters mingled and argued as the two sides exchanged chants and verbal shots via microphone.
“No more Bush,” protesters shouted. “Four more years,” supporters said. “Three more months!” “Support our troops!” “Bush lies, people die!” While many Bush protesters carried Kerry/Edwards signs, they focused almost exclusively on the president. At one point, a protester asked a vocal group of companions to lay off Bush and make up a chant for Kerry. The only response came from a middle-aged man, who matter-of-factly told her to shut up.
“I came out to not let the Bush-ites control the talking the way they always do,” said Charles Fernandez, 44, of Mar Vista. Fernandez was running through the crowd with a Kerry/Edwards sign yelling at Bush supporters. “I don’t see how anyone can support Bush at this point. It has to be a character flaw.”
A group of Bush protesters — calling themselves “The Billionaires for Bush” — dressed up in tuxedos and fancy dresses, and circled the crowd chanting “four more wars” and sarcastically thanking other Bush protesters for paying their taxes.
“We really have to thank the proletarians for taking care of our corporations,” said Benjamin Ball, 36, who works as an architect in Silver Lake. Ball said he’d been going by the name of N. Ron Hubbub. “This is a mode of free speech which energizes part of the population that wouldn’t otherwise respond to these kinds of issues. I think we live in an era where satire speaks louder than direct speech.”
Stephanie Sokol, a Bush supporter who overheard Ball’s chants, expressed dissatisfaction with the divisive nature of recent politics. The 37-year-old Santa Monican said she came to welcome the president and express her support.
“This is like the only time I can vent my frustration,” Sokol said. A pharmaceutical salesperson, Sokol said she is an independent who has chosen to support Bush. “It’s like it’s cool to vote Kerry. It has nothing to do with the future of this country.”
Ted Estes, 46, took Sokol’s sentiments a step further. The Marina del Rey resident rolled around the sidewalk in rollerblades with a sign that read: “Since when do world leaders consult court jesters on policy matters? Shut up and perform, Hollywood.”
Estes, a rocket scientist, said he frequents Santa Monica on rollerblades and came to welcome the president first and respond to the protesters he heard would converge on the intersection second. He reserved the back of his sign for a point on Santa Monica policy: “Liberate the People’s Republic of Santa Monica!”
Only a few of the demonstrators expressed non-partisan sentiments. Sean Maytum, 35, carried a homemade sign on a bamboo stick that read “Nuke the whales for Jesus,” on one side and “Kill the poor” on the other.
Maytum, who, like Ball, made the trip from Silver Lake, joked and argued with supporters and protesters alike. He said the only way to get anyone’s attention was with outrageous statements like “I hate freedom,” which he had written on a piece of blue tape stretched across the back of his black T-shirt.
“In this century, the idea of open debate is completely dead,” he said. “So what we end up with is blatant stupidity. I don’t listen to what (the two sides) say anymore. I look at what they do. The Democrats are no different from the Republicans.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 13, 2004. Read the original PDF.