|
Pissing Off a Vacationing Bush
By Jack Nichols
Florida’s veteran gay activist, Bob Kunst, stood alone, protesting outside the Gasparilla Inn, an elite hotel much frequented by the entire Bush family. The Bushes were compelled, as they passed, to look upon Kunst’s most unappreciative face, a face, in fact, that the (Florida West Coast’s) Sun Herald’s front-page headline said had actually "stolen the whole Bush show". "There he was," wrote the Sun Herald’s Don Moore , "with his chartreuse-colored protest placards…waiting for president-elect George W. Bush to return from a fishing trip with his father, the former president, and his younger brother, the governor of Florida." Kunst, dressed in a striped pink/white shirt, brandished what the newspaper called a "shocking pink campaign-like button," that read Fraud W. Bush. Kunst also wore a 2000 crown made of bright red foam rubber, calling attention to one of his posters which asked passers-by to "Protest Illegitimate King George at White House Coronation, January 20" A second sign read: "Bush: Thou Shalt Not Steal." He proudly displayed some of the 13+ thousand No More Bushit stickers and buttons he’d sold at $2 each (contact BobKunst@mindspring.com or telephone: 305-864-5110 ) We have now added," he says with a wink, " Impeach the GOP buttons and stickers as well as the following new buttons: Buck Fush; Re-elect Gore in 2004 , King George Coronation-1/20/01 and Fraud W. Bush." "But what’s made the whole trip worth it was Barbara Bush’s face when she saw me. She’s the one, I suspect, telling those weasels in her family exactly what to do." Kunst reiterated his reasons for having driven 400 miles to this protest. Recently he’d marched 35 times with Florida protesters through the streets of Tallahassee, Miami and West Palm Beach, demanding a redress of their unhappy status as manipulated and disenfranchised voters. As he spoke to a small crowd of reporters, Kunst reiterated what he’d told me on Sunday, namely that that day’s Miami Herald had reported how 20 of the state’s 67 counties had not participated in the first voter recount. In Miami-Dade, he explained, in two primarily African-American districts, 13 of the 20 voting machines had been declared ‘out of order’ on November 7. Thursday’s Miami Herald revealed findings about the discarding of the black community’s votes, explaining how an analysis shows that "Blacks’ votes were discarded at higher rates." The Herald’s expose said: "Ballots in majority-black precincts were discarded at a rate three times higher than those in non-black precincts. Nearly one in every 10 ballots in majority black precincts went unrecorded." Because Florida’s governor, Jeb Bush, had moved to abolish affirmative action, it had been assumed by most political pundits that the state’s African-Americans would likely vote against his older brother for president. Kunst believes that Jeb, who’d promised to deliver Florida to George W., is the real culprit behind 2000’s "stolen" election. "It is important to emphasize the word ‘stealing,’ when we talk about Bush’s illegitimacy," Kunst insists, "because this is exactly what they’ve done." He continues: "The current picture is the tip of the iceberg on this
scandalous election that’s been People should contact their representatives and tell them not
to." To find your representative click on this URL: Reflecting on what he sees as a patriotic mission, Kunst says: "To do business as usual, only invites a greater tyranny and we'll be fighting on so many fronts set up by the Right Wing to divert attention from the central theme, this electoral theft, which is our focus. We will not budge from calling attention to this outrage. Its what we are mobilizing against." .Kunst got thumbs up and support from as many as 20 people in Boca Grande who let him know they appreciated his being there. Others, however, shouted veiled obscenities, such as "Take that sign and stick it where the sun don’t shine." Kunst waved happily, pointing to his "Buck Fush" button. A boy of 12 approached the activist and the two talked. "I was
impressed at He fought briefly with CBS and CNN who, he says, purposefully chose to ignore his making news, too concerned with showing Bush out golfing. "The mediocre media has long played this game," he noted, "and has just now excelled in this Boca Grande paradise" taken over by "bigwigs" who--one friendly local citizen told Kunst--were the "billionaires who’d chased out the millionaires." "Amazingly," Kunst told me "I was the first protest in this community and it showed the Bush's that we were on to their scam and weren't going to be silent about it." Barbara Bush was in a golf cart driven by a secret service agent when she spotted Kunst. "She came right by me," he said, "Jeb was in a SUV turning the corner right in front of me and he acknowledged me. (We know each other). Papa Bush came by in a golf cart and followed by 3 SS golf carts and 'W' was in a black SUV followed by 4 others. "And I was holding No More Bushit stickers up to the whole gang from 10:30 AM to 2:30 P.M… The point was to take this opportunity and to be a 'patriot' and to resist, and saying that this must be a consistent policy from now on in the U.S. and abroad not to give this Bush guy, this thief any other sort of recognition." Recommended Resistance Strategies Oral Majority Freedom Ride Kunst, as he heads toward the January 20 Bush Coronation, has organized an "Oral Majority Freedom Ride", a bus leaving Miami on the evening of January 17. His plan includes: "Going up to Tallahassee for a morning protest at Jeb Bush’s Governor's mansion to expose his 'rigging of the election' and then to support the Florida Supreme Court. Then we’ll drive to Atlanta for a rally at the Federal District Court which supported our voter recounts. On January 19th an AM protest at Pat Robertson's headquarters in Virginia Beach, Virginia and in afternoon protest at Jerry Falwell's in Lynchburg, Virginia. Anybody who wants to join us along the way is welcome to contact me now at BobKunst@mindspring.com or to call 305-864-5110. "Early in morning on January 20, we’ll begin our protests in front of the White House and also with folks at Dupont Circle and the along Pennsylvania Avenue parade route at this Coronation of King George. "Round-trip tickets (Miami-Washington-Miami) by bus are $100 per person for this 4 day, 3 night trip. Housing and food are additional expenses for this media ride. What you get is six opportunities to let the nation know what true patriotism is about and what Jeb Bush has helped steal from all of us in Florida. If you’d like to join us along the way, do! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to say NO to the Biggest Crooks Around. They’re trying to steal Democracy! We’ve got to show ‘em that real spirit of Democracy is still alive!" ____________________________________ Bob Kunst: BobKunst@mindspring.com Jack Nichols is the author of The Gay Agenda: Talking Back to the Fundamentalists (Prometheus Books, 1996) Of Men’s Liberation: A New Definition of Masculinity (Penguin Books, 1975) and of Welcome to Fire Island: Visions of Cherry Grove and The Pines (St. Martin’s Press, 1976)
|
richard e. schiff,
|
t was on a
Wednesday in Boca Grande, Florida, a sun splashed island in the Keys
where, at Jeb Bush’s posh mansion, president-installed George W. Bush
was vacationing last week with his entire clan.
