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Students travel for Washington ceremony
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Also by Rachel Patzer:
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- JFC scales back Doyle's hunting, fishing license fees (April 28, 2005)
- High court hears cap arguments (April 28, 2005)
- Green to run for governor (May 2, 2005)
- Senate greenlights 2nd student regent (May 4, 2005)
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- Students trek to D.C. protesting inauguration (January 20, 2005)
- Madison residents show up to protest (January 24, 2005)
- Cheney to speak in Madison on economy (December 12, 2002)
- Bush visits Milwaukee (February 11, 2002)
by Rachel Patzer
Monday, January 24, 2005
Despite the cold weather, a number of University of Wisconsin students made the trek to Washington, D.C., last week to hear President Bush’s Inauguration Speech.
Some students went to support Bush, while others made the journey to protest the Bush administration.
Thirteen UW College Republicans attended the inauguration event last Thursday to support Bush’s second term in office. Former UW College Republican chair Frank Harris drove to the event with his father and watched Bush’s speech from the Capitol lawn. Looking back, Harris said, it was a great experience. Harris also attended Bush’s Inauguration in 2001.
“[Bush’s] message [of] liberty and freedom resonated really well,” Harris said. “I was able to appreciate this [Inauguration] more [than the one in 2001] — there was so much tradition and history.”
College Republicans executive board member Erica Christenson also watched the inaugural speech from the Capitol grounds.
“It’s a real life experience … [and] I was completely blown away by it,” she said.
Bush supporters acknowledged the lack of protester presence in this Inauguration as compared to 2001, noting the protesters they did see were non-violent.
UW senior Beth Fallon took the Amtrak from Madison to the nation’s capital to protest the 55th presidential Inauguration. Fallon joined a crew of people aboard the “Peace Train,” a group of progressive individuals traveling to Washington to show their opposition of the administration.
The mission of the Peace Train is to deliver peace and demand environmentally friendly transportation, according to Tim Castleman, organizer of the group. Some travelers aboard the Amtrak took part in the Peace Train, which began its journey in California, by writing a letter to Congress requesting conservation of fossil fuels. They also wrote to demand that the president fully fund Amtrak and protect it from privatization.
“We need to unite in our opposition to this administration,” said Nathan Nickens, a university student from Toledo, Ohio, who protested with the Peace Train. “We have to remember [the administration is] all about their image — just our presence there is important to let them know they do not have a good portion of this country’s support.”
Fallon thought the Inauguration event was “very interesting” because the protesters had a variety of reasons for opposing the administration — such as money for education and healthcare. Anti-war protesters were among the majority of protesters, according to Fallon.
Kathleen Nichols, a recent UW graduate, flew to Washington from New York City to participate in the protest events as well. People were mostly peaceful and non-confrontational, Nichols added.
“It was very civil between the two groups — there was an understanding [between both groups] that it’s not about enemies, it’s just a difference of opinion,” Nichols said.
Harris compared the protest to a typical Madison protest consisting mainly of “ultra-liberal” individuals. Christenson said she expected many more protesters.
“I would recommend any college student — when you do support a president — to make a trip out to [a presidential Inauguration],” Christenson said. “Being American we should all participate in this process at one [point in] our lives.”
Chrissy Tuli contributed to this article.
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 8:49am):
Just imagine if all the protestors would have forgone the trip and instead donated the money for body armor, tsunami relief, etc...
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 11:13am):
"Just imagine if all the protestors would have forgone the trip and instead donated the money for body armor, tsunami relief, etc..."
That's a fair point. Now imagine if President Bush had forgone the last nine inaugural balls he attended and ordered that the money spent on them be used for body armor, tsunami relief, etc...
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 11:48am):
The second point has already been made ad nauseum by network news.
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 12:10pm):
"Now imagine if President Bush had forgone the last nine inaugural balls he attended and ordered that the money spent on them be used for body armor, tsunami relief, etc..."
Idiot. So if Kerry was elected he would have forgone the ball and donated the money to any of those causes? No way.
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 3:36pm):
"Idiot. So if Kerry was elected he would have forgone the ball and donated the money to any of those causes? No way."
You're the idiot. Since when was doing what's right contingent on what someone else may or may not do.
You my friend have committed a logical fallacy. Go do some reading and come back when you can play with the big kids. Hopefully you'll get out of school having learned what it means to be logical.
http://www.infidels.org/news/atheism/logic.html#crumenam
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 3:50pm):
"Idiot. So if Kerry was elected he would have forgone the ball and donated the money to any of those causes? No way."
The saying is not "Two wrongs make it right," it's "Two wrongs DON'T make it right."
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 4:07pm):
"Hopefully you'll get out of school having learned what it means to be logical."
If you consider your opinions "logical" then I hope I never learn the meaning. Gosh, I wish I were as smart as you. Oh yeah, that's right crazy libs are way smarter than the rest of us. Gee whiz.
Anonymous (January 24, 2005 @ 9:20pm):
"Idiot. So if Kerry was elected he would have forgone the ball and donated the money to any of those causes? No way."
If Kerry was elected and wasted $40 million on inaugural balls, I'd be criticizing him too.
Anonymous (January 28, 2005 @ 7:32pm):
The blame game that is put upon liberals is very interesting. No one blames conservatives for costs because it is known that they would never ask for help for people (including the soldiers in their wars), therefore they have no obligation to spend wisely. Liberals, because they in general, care about the good of society, are then supposed to walk around feeling guilty about everything they do.
Well, Fuck off.
Anonymous (February 12, 2005 @ 10:31am):
Thanks for reporting about the PEACE TRAIN to DC in your article. Our Mission is to deleiver a Message of PEACE THROUGH CONSERVATION. In short, we waste as much as we import. Please visit http://www.tantrictravel.com to learn more about the PEACE TRAIN to DC, read several reports, and see over 100 images taken along the way.
