Environment of Freedom Words, Not Deeds, at Bush Inauguration

WASHINGTON, DC, January 21, 2005 (ENS) - President George W. Bush took the oath of office for the second time Thursday, declaring in his inaugural address that the global expansion of freedom is "the best hope for peace in our world." But his parade to the White House was brought to a halt as police battled protesters on the inaugural motorcade route, using tear gas and pepper spray in their efforts to clear the street.

With the sun in his eyes, and his left hand resting on a family Bible, President George W. Bush takes the oath of office to serve a second term as 43rd President of the United States during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, and Jenna Bush listen as Chief Justice William Rehnquist administers the oath. January 20, 2005. (Photo courtesy The White House)

Human rights, he said, "must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed."

But in the streets of the nation's capital, protesters outnumbered Bush supporters on the parade route. Signs calling the president a fascist and his actions war crimes framed the presidential limousine, and on television the voices of commentators attempting to downplay the protests were drowned out by the shouts of protesters.

Bush did not mention environmental protection in his inaugural address. Instead the agenda for his second term was stated as the reform of American institutions, such as social security, "to serve the needs of our time," to bring "the highest standards" to schools, and to build "an ownership society."

"We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance," the President said.

He told Americans to exercise their own freedom with service, mercy and "a heart for the weak." He said the United States "cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time."

"These questions that judge us also unite us," the President said, "because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them."

At the end of his remarks, Bush said he has complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom around the world. "Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation," but because "freedom is the permanent hope of mankind."

Washington, DC police clash with demonstrators at 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue. January 20, 2005. (Photo courtesy Indymedia)

Spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department, Officer Junis Fletcher, told ENS that police arrested three people during the parade, two for assaulting police officers and one for kindling a bonfire. He said some police had been injured, but could not immediately provide the number of injured officers.

Last night, protesters chanting, "Bring the War Home" were on their way to the Washington Hilton's Inaugural Ball, when some 100 riot police lined up at 18th and Belmont while all roads and alleys off Columbia were closed. Protesters say two buses appeared on 18th street, and four more on Columbia Road; police moved in and arrested demonstrators while a helicopter overhead illuminated the scene.

A peaceful protester who described herself as "5'4", 125 lbs, was carrying nothing but my cell phone" was harrassed, as she wrote on the Indymedia website where anyone can post information. "I stood yesterday at 14th and Pennsylvania, at about 3 PM, with no sign, not shouting, and not approaching the fence, just to express my disagreement with this administration's policies and stand for my right to express my opinion."

"I looked in the eyes of the riot police ranked three-deep on the other side of the fence."

"They shouted at me to step back, even though I was several feet back from the barrier already. I moved back to the curb, at least ten feet back, where I felt I was within my rights to stand quietly. There was no one else very near me, although people were shouting and approaching the fence farther down on my right."

"The police were repeatedly shooting them with pepper spray, firing directly into each person's face. I was determined to simply stand there as long as I was able. It was still a surprise to me when the man who had ordered me to step back sprayed me in the face anyway. I stood there, getting sprayed, for as long as I could, until there was so much gas and pepper in the air that I couldn't breathe anymore and had to retreat."

"This morning I heard a clip from Bush's speech," she wrote, 'All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.'"

"What I tried to do yesterday was exactly that: to stand for my liberty," she wrote. "Apparently my liberty is not as valuable when my oppressor is American. Is this the message? Because I disagree with my nation's politics, I lose the right to express my opinion?"