Mainers take war protest to Bush familys door

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine – On Nov. 17, about 350 Maine residents joined in a “day of solidarity with the people of the world.”

They gathered at St. Anne’s Church, to carry their opposition to the U.S. anti-terrorist war to the Bush family doorstep.

Ten years ago Episcopalian John Schuchardt interrupted a service at the same church with then-President George Bush in attendance. He spoke out against the indiscriminate killing of children in Iraq and was hauled out by Secret Service agents.

This time protesters listened to songs and speeches and then slowly walked the mile to the Bush family complex, located at Walkers Point.

Liam Burnell, speaking during an “open mic” session in front of the Bush home, described the war as between two camps of rich people, the corporate crowd in the United States and Arab millionaires. Poor people on both sides are being left to suffer, he said.

Weeks of public protests and vigils in at least 12 Maine cities – all of them calling for an end to the bombing and for solidarity with the victims of Sept. 11 – led up to this action.

After the march, the protesters returned to the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Kennebunk for four hours of workshops on such topics as the history of Islam, strategies for opposing neoliberal globalization, the history of resistance to the Vietnam war, methods for fighting corporations, and how to build support at the local level.

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CONTRIBUTOR

W. T. Whitney Jr.

W.T. Whitney Jr. is a political journalist whose focus is on Latin America, health care, and anti-racism. A Cuba solidarity activist, he formerly worked as a pediatrician, lives in rural Maine. W.T. Whitney Jr. es un periodista político cuyo enfoque está en América Latina, la atención médica y el antirracismo. Activista solidario con Cuba, anteriormente trabajó como pediatra, vive en la zona rural de Maine.