Despite being touted as “Bush’s Brain,” Vice-President Dick Cheney does not have the star power of the president, at least when it comes to attracting both pro and anti-war demonstrators.
For the second straight year, anti-war activists and supporters of the Bush administration’s Iraq policies demonstrated outside the Mohegan Avenue entrance to the Coast Guard Academy, where inside the gates, Cheney gave the commencement address May 21.
But unlike last year, when throngs packed both sides of the street, a diminished number of sign-holding activists straddled the intersection of Williams Street and Mohegan Avenue.
“Last year many showed up because it was the president speaking,” said Ronna Stuller, a New London Green Party member who held a rainbow-colored sign.
Stuller said this year’s protest was “more local,” as the previous year’s ranks were bolstered by the liberal Answer Coalition that bused hundreds into New London.
This time, about 125 protesters gathered on the Parade before marching from downtown to the Coast Guard Academy in stone silence.
Opposing the anti-war crowd were members of the nationwide group Gathering of Eagles, who pitched several American flags and military banners on a hill on Williams Street.
The Eagles, as they refer to themselves, had only 20 or so supporters.
“It’s a diminished response to a threat,” said Roger Peterson, an Eagle from New Britain. “The protesters are showing disrespect to an honored service.”
The demonstration was also more low-key that the May 2007 protest, where both sides hurled insults at each other across Mohegan Avenue.
Dan Diaz, an organizer with Connecticut Opposed to the War, or COW, said his side wanted to present a “silent witness” to the war.
The Gathering of Eagles also planned to stay silent during the protest, as they lined the Williams Street sidewalk as the anti-war demonstrators marched toward them.
Jim Bancroft, an organizer from Bristol, implored his side to “hold their noses when the smelly hippies walk by.”
The Gathering of Eagles then began to sing “All we are saying is give soap a chance,” to the tune of John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance.”
Others referred to the anti-war crowd as “gutter snakes.”
The silent treatment did not last long, as Paul LeBlanc, an Eagle from Maine, began shouting “The Lord’s Prayer” and Christian slogans at the marchers.
As the anti-war protesters congregated on their side of Mohegan Avenue, several put on costumes depicting Bush, Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as prisoners. One protester donned a grim reaper costume and walked around with a plastic scythe.
Some dressed in faux-anarchist garb—all-black attire with Zapatista-style bandanas over their faces.
Neither side thought their presence was a distraction to the graduating cadets and their families.
“We think the families want to see American flags and signs that say the Coast Guard rocks,” Peterson said.
Paul Conley, an anti-war activist from West Hartford, said the demonstration “is not disruptive.”
“Bush and Cheney are making a mockery of American justice and they must be stopped,” he said.