Fenced out of the Fourth of July
07/04/05
On July 4, 2003, the nation no longer on 'orange alert' and George Bush spending the day in Ohio raising money, I set out to see what was happening in DC. Beginning at National Airport all the way to the bridges, double wooden fence had been erected between the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the river. People would have to enter through 'checkpoints.' ... Now, two years later, I still haven't been back to the Mall -- not for the 4th, not for any reason. And I am not going today. The fences were in place more than a month ago, lining the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Security cameras are mounted on trees, stoplights, and rooftops. There will be hundreds and hundreds of cops lining the streets, infiltrating the crowd. They will be looking for 'terrorists,' and they know one when they see one. ... This July 4th I am biking, but not to the mall. I will bike to George Washington's home a few miles from mine, Mount Vernon. I will stand at the gates and wonder what George would make of the tyranny that another George has created not just in Washington, DC, but around the world. July 4th now for me is a day of mourning, not celebration...
http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2005/07/04
from Civil Liberties Watch, by Elaine Cassel
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
On July 4, 2003, the nation no longer on 'orange alert' and George Bush spending the day in Ohio raising money, I set out to see what was happening in DC. Beginning at National Airport all the way to the bridges, double wooden fence had been erected between the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the river. People would have to enter through 'checkpoints.' ... Now, two years later, I still haven't been back to the Mall -- not for the 4th, not for any reason. And I am not going today. The fences were in place more than a month ago, lining the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Security cameras are mounted on trees, stoplights, and rooftops. There will be hundreds and hundreds of cops lining the streets, infiltrating the crowd. They will be looking for 'terrorists,' and they know one when they see one. ... This July 4th I am biking, but not to the mall. I will bike to George Washington's home a few miles from mine, Mount Vernon. I will stand at the gates and wonder what George would make of the tyranny that another George has created not just in Washington, DC, but around the world. July 4th now for me is a day of mourning, not celebration...
http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/ecassel/2005/07/04
from Civil Liberties Watch, by Elaine Cassel
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Starmail - 6. Jul, 11:34
