On Saturday October 30 about one hundred people got up early to send the message to President George W. Bush that he is not welcome in Grand Rapids and that nearly every one of his policies is objectionable. Attendance was surprisingly low, especially given the proximity to the election, but low attendance was no doubt a result of the 8:30am starting time and the only two days of notice. The protest was dominated primarily by Kerry supporters of the "Anybody but Bush" attitude although the loudest contingent was a "noise bloc" that played instruments and marched around town before eventually confronting Bush supporters as they left the DeVos Place.
The noise bloc reported numerous instances of Bush supporters physically assaulting members of the group including multiple shoulder-bashings from middle aged women, two attempts to initiate fist-fights from Bush supporters, and many other displays of machismo. In addition, the Bush supporters shared a plethora of insults ranging from "Bring it on Bitch" to "flip-flopper" and a host of other equally incoherent and illogical insults. Of course, no discussion of stupidity arising from the Bush supporters would be complete without mentioning local Protest Warrior Tomas Ojeda who claimed that he "crushed liberal protestors" with his "salvo[s] of truth." While the local media loves to feature quotes from Mr. Ojeda they never seem to realize that he is largely delusional and spends his time posting messages on the internet advocating violence against women.