Yesterday president George W. Bush visited Marquette, Michigan to declare that "the UP is Bush-Cheney country." In his speech (transcript) he made his usual dubious claims--that the economy is improving, that he has passed strong corporate reforms, that the United States is engaged in an epic "war on terror." In addition, he reserved a significant part of his speech to attack Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, accusing Kerry of changing his positions on an almost daily basis. According to Bush, the reasons to elect him over John Kerry are his commitments to American prosperity and winning the "war on terror."
Billed as the first presidential visit to the UP since a 1913 visit by an incumbent president since 1911, it was a skillfully crafted public relations event. On Monday, the day before the Bush's visit and a day declared "President's Day" by city officials, claiming that the entire UP welcomed the president. As would be expected, the corporate media, both here in Grand Rapids and locally in Marquette, showered Bush with praise and gushing coverage of his visit, obligingly doing their part to ensure a number of positive headlines during Bush's visit to "rural America." Of course, not everyone was celebrating the fact that Bush was in town and a few words of dissent were able to slip through the otherwise laudatory coverage of Bush's visit. On Tuesday The Grand Rapids Press ran an AP story featuring two photos on with signs critical of the Bush administration (two slogans read: "no wars for empire" and "money for jobs & education not war & occupation"), notable because these were from protests on Monday, one day before Bush visited. While many media outlets did not mention or downplayed protests at Bush's Tuesday afternoon speech, The Detroit Free Press reported "hundreds of protestors" outside of the rally.
After his stop in Marquette, Bush went on to Duluth, Minnesota, where he was met by protests once again. As has become fairly common at visits by President Bush, a number of protestors were arrested for violating a "restricted area" that prohibits dissent around the area where Bush is speaking. In addition, one man was ticketed after he smuggled an anti-Bush sign into the rally and made anti-Bush comments during Bush's speech.
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