Back to Scott Maxwell at the coronation....

A woman in the VIP seats just complained to a guard about two protesters. They're silently standing, blocking the view of a handful of people. So far, the guards don't seem to care.

[...]

The protesters were vastly outnumbered, but managed to make their presence known. Mostly, though, their words, signs and symbols were witnessed by unsympathetic ears.

"You see those protesters?" asked a man in a "National Hunters Association -- LIFETIME MEMBER" jacket. "Young and dumb. Don't know how good they've got it."

[...]

Our silent protesters just brandished the peace sign. One of the crowd responded by giving him the bird.

[...]

In case you're only reading this (Lord help you) the theme of his speech so far is ending terrorism -- and tyranny -- around the world.
  source

It just occurs to me that they may be holding on to bin Laden until nearer the end of George's term so that they can produce him then and claim the capture as the proof that George successfully ended terrorism. I don't know. It just seems bizarre that he keeps making the claim that he's going to do that. Maybe what he means is he'll step down off the world stage...that would go a long way to ending terrorism.

The real protests are going on a long way off. Their chants can be heard as a dull roar up here at the foot of the Capitol, but not much more.

Did anybody hear or see anything about the Turn Your Back On Bush protest ploy? I saw a little bit of the ANSWER coalition protest speeches on C-SPAN tonight. One of the speakers was saying that, while they got the permit to be on the parade route, they were not permitted to set up tents for people to go into to get warmed up (and lordy, those people looked like they were freezing), nor were they permitted to put salt down to melt the ice. He also said that the bleacher seats that were advertised as available to the public were managed in this way: you get your ticket by calling Ticket Master. Ticket Master asks you for your ID number. You don't know what that means, so they tell you to call the inauguration committee to get your number. You call the inauguration committee and they ask you if you donated to the Bush campaign or inauguration or RNC. If you didn't, you don't have an ID number. Therefore, you don't get a ticket. I wondered how they were going to be sure to line the parade route with only Bush supporters. But I knew they'd do it. Except for that one small spot staked out far away from the grandstand for ANSWER, and whose protestors were barred from using posts or sticks to put their signs and posters on. A matter of national security.