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About 5 months ago, I decided that I'd had enough of the charade I felt we all were living abiding the corruption of the Bush Administration!! I had grown tired of feeling voiceless in the face of the GOP scandals surfacing weekly, the threat of nuclear war with Iran looming, the undermining of the integrity of our elections, our government's moral bankruptcy on the various human rights issues facing the world, and the utter dismantling of the civil rights guaranteed to Americans through the Constitution. I felt the need to try to stimulate more political consciousness, and more ACTION, among fellow progressives, and even conservatives, who believe that NOW is the time to ACT.I decided to carry a sign wherever I go in Portland, essentially becoming, as one passerby dubbed me, a "one man parade." My aim is to try to make people think... "Wow, if this guy is so committed and so passionate that the Bush Administration (hereafter BushCo) is destroying the USA, he is daily carrying a sign and connecting with hundreds/thousands of people on the way to and from work, maybe I should be doing more, or at least something... I, too, am disgusted with what is happening to this country, under the leadership of a cadre of politicians that doesn't believe in any role for Government beyond making war and enriching the wealthy!"
My signs say, "NO MORE BUSH WAR / IMPEACH," "OUSTING BUSH IS PATRIOTIC", "BUSH IS A FRAUD", "NOTHING TO FEAR BUT BUSH HIMSELF", "BUSH HATES THE CONSTITUTION", "WOULD YOU DIE FOR BUSH'S LIES?", etc. Not overly creative, but perhaps enough to motivate people to take some initiative, to stand up for our country and start fighting back against the Neocon and Far Right extremists that have overtaken the US Government, to remind people that this is our Democracy, and to thereby shake them from the brink of despair and resignation.
Each day, I walk or take the bus to one of the many bridges into Portland, pull my favorite signs from my bag (some are better than others depending on the traffic flow, and the total is now over 25, double-sided), and either hang for about an hour, or walk across the bridge. I stop short of my office, throw the signs in my bag and go to work. At the end of the day, I will walk home over the same bridge, signs brandished, and hopefully expose another thousand people to my idealism and optimism for a turnaround, and an eradication of the BushCo Culture of Corruption.
As noted, this all started in Spring, in earnest. However, I have been carrying a two-sided sign in my bag since 2005, for use whenever the opportunity arises. It is such a rush to see the amazing support I get from drivers, pedestrians, bike-commuters and even more serious cyclists. It is very encouraging, yet simultaneously heart-rending to hear the honks and the shouts of encouragement, to see the peace signs waved with enthusiasm, and to see the fists raised high amid shouts of thanks, and "Rock on, Dude!!" My favorite though is the blasts from truck-drivers' air-horns!!
And five months into my "one man parade", what still strikes me is the response I see in over 70% of the people whose eyes I try to see as they pass by - a joyful gratitude that I am saying what they are thinking. The supportive reactions I get each day, and even the negative ones, make me think the extra 20 - 60 minutes to and from work is well worth it.
I had some free time one weekend early on, so I hit the bridge with the NO MORE BUSH WAR / IMPEACH BUSHCO sign for an hour plus. A couple in their 50's stopped to talk as they were crossing the bridge, and after reading both sides of the sign, the man said he has a son serving in Iraq. I explained that I support the troops, and that I am outraged that they are risking young lives and limbs in Iraq solely because of BushCo's lies. He smiled, nodded and thanked me, and as he and his wife turned to continue across the bridge, he too, flashed a peace sign.
Occasionally passersby will join me for a period of time, but many have stopped me around town to say that they see me frequently, often asking what group I am with (none on this effort), and always to thank me. One time, a guy gave me friendly grief for missing a morning, saying that even his bus driver noticed, saying something along the lines of, "where's my sign guy?!" That was cool!!
I see in Portland commuters the same hope and optimism I feel every day, that we will correct the wrong that has been inflicted on the country! Until that flicker of hope is extinguished, and I decide that it is indeed time to leave the United States of Fascistic Theocracy, I will continue my "One Man Parade"! My true aspiration is to inspire people who support the concept that BushCo must be held accountable for its many crimes, to develop their own, more creative ways to encourage friends and fellow citizens to loudly reject the fraud that is being perpetrated on America!
Either way, let's each strive to make Portland, or our respective hometowns, a leader in the movement to stop the madness of King George and his imperialist, corporatist, torturing, dishonest and deceptive ways, and send him back to Texas, or to the Hague, before 2008!
Peace~~
Styve
