Subject: Report from Inauguration

BC,
Your intrepid Inauguration Reporter here!
Our Supreme Court Jesters bit was quite a hit.  Were had hundreds of pictures taken of us,
were interviewed by 7 different News organizations and even made the Evening News here
in Washington for a brief moment.

We arrived at the Inaugural around 11:00 AM with  bartcop.com  sign in tow
(below) and found the crowd to be about 3-to-1 protesters over Bush supporters.
Our evening news barely made mention of the protests but believe me the protest was HUGE.

Dennis Courtney
Supreme Court Jester

The police and protesters were everywhere, the only people NOT in evidence were Bush supporters.
As you look at some of these pictures, take a look at the bleechers (where the Bush supporters sat),
they're almost EMPTY all up and down the parade route.

Just to show you how few Bush supporters there were, one area (a block from the Capital where the
Inauguration was held) directly on the Pennsylvania Ave parade route is in this picture.

There were THOUSANDS of protesters but NO Bush supporters.  Check out the bleachers behind
the guy with the sign in this picture.  Again RIGHT in a prime location along the parade route and virtually empty.

The may not have been a lot of Bush supporters but there damn sure were a lot of Police.
They had the whole parade route blocked off and you could only get within a block of the
parade route if you passed through on of their checkpoints and submitted to a search.

The Police searched the protesters very SLOWLY and only let them in one at a time.

This is the scene at the 14th Street-Freedom Plaza checkpoint.

Because the Police searched people one-by-one, the lines of people trying to
get in to the parade route stretched for up to 7 blocks.

The Police, to their credit, held up EVERYBODY (Bush supporters included).
It was so DAMN funny as Bushie after Bushie walked up to the Police and tried to explain
how they were so important and that they knew so-and-so and that they should be allowed
to get past everyone else in the line - DC Cops said NO WAY!  There were dozens of
fur-coated women in high heels standing for hours in the rain with everybody else.

Despite the weather, the police and the election the crowd was upbeat and there was
definitely  a party atmosphere.  People with anti-Bush signs were everywhere.
Songs, chants (Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Bush and Cheney go away!) and banners
were everywhere (see Inaug024.jpg and Inaug030.jpg).

Once of the local radio stations had a tent set up and had Meatloaf in doing commentary.
Meat spotted me in the crowd and started asking me stupid (he thought it was funny) questions
about my costume and sign.  Turns out he's a better singer than stand up comedian as my reply
shut him up and the crowd booed him out of the tent.  Too bad I didn't get a picture
(batteries went dead).  Right after that I walked up to a local store along the parade route
and got more batteries for the camera.

ha ha
If I was there, I'd give this guy $20

All of the Bush supporters sat up by the Capital.  There were so few Bush supporters there
that the "up close and personal" seats held just about all of them.  From that point on down the
ENTIRE parade route, it was protesters 10 to 1 all the way to the White House.

As bus after bus of dignataries drove down the parade route the crowed booed, chanted anti-Bush
slogans and sang protest songs.  They had a great time until the Bush limosine came down the road.
I didn't get close enough for a good look and my camera was out of memory by then but Bush
didn't bother to get out of the limo anyway.  Had he gotten out and walked (like the GOOD Presidents do),
he would have been booed and jeered the entire way.  Better to speed by and just pretend you
don't see the THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of people that hate him.

At the end of the day we were cold, wet and TIRED!  We had walked the entire parade route
from the White House to the Capital and back again (all with our Bartcop.com sign).

We stopped and talked with hundreds of people from Meatloaf to Police and protesters.
Hundreds of people took our picture (with the Bartcop.com sign) and commented on the outfit
and the sentiment on the sign.  We were interviewed by several News organizations from the giant
Gannett Newspaper chain to the tiny Long Beach Wrigley Monthly.

When all was aid and done we were one tired little Jester

and it was time to hang up our bells.  We did it all for you Bartcop, I hope this pays back
some of your hard work in entertaining and informing us for over 300 issues.

Dennis Courtney
Supreme Court Jester
 

P.S. Sorry about the quality of some of the pictures.  It was pouring down
rain most of the day and droplets kept getting on the camera lens

Dennis,
You stood in the cold rain for hours and hours and everyone who reads
bartcop.com  appreciates everything you and Ray and Christian did this weekend.

A shot of Chinaco to you and your hard-working team!

No, better than that...
A shot of Chinaco in a Willard Hotel shot glass!

...for a job well done!