On a Saturday so foggy the top of the Washington Monument was barely visible even to those standing on the National Mall, World Can't Wait, an organization seeking to create a political situation that would drive President Bush from office, gathered protesters near the monument and marched to the White House to denounce the Bush administration and call on the president to step down.
Despite bad weather, a crowd of about 2,000 demonstrators listened to a number of speakers criticize the Bush administration and chanted the demand "Bush Step Down!"
Steve, a man at the protest with his son Collin, said he came from Oregon to ask Bush to step down.
"Stop lying and stop spying," he said.
Other protesters shared their thoughts about the future.
"Whenever I watch those shows on the History Channel about Hitler, I always hold the German people responsible, so I'm here to wash the blood off my hands," said Holly Lindroth of Long Beach, California.
A 40-foot statue of a three-headed Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld creature was pulled down to the ground to signify the start of the march on the White House. A "corporate flag," complete with 50 corporate logos in place of the 50 stars on the American flag, was burned.
Some protestors came dressed in costumes, including some dressed as captured insurgents in orange jumpsuits with hoods over their heads.
Everyone involved was not a career protester. For example, one press representative, Jerry Oleck, was a 30-year veteran of the intelligence community.
"I've never been an activist before, but this administration is different from anything I've ever seen," Oleck said. A registered Independent and former Goldwater and Nixon voter, Oleck disputed a similarity between Nixon in the 1970s and Bush today.
"There's a tremendous difference between the two," he said. "Nixon stayed within the law outside of the [Watergate] cover-up. Bush doesn't follow any laws, domestic or international. Nixon was a square for international treaties."
Oleck also took exception to the wiretaps that the Bush administration used without warrants.
"I'm well learned in [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act], and Bush has bypassed the FISA laws," he said.
Along the protest route, some stopped on the steps of the Corcoran Gallery to display a banner claiming Sept. 11 was a government conspiracy. This passed without incident.
Some onlookers posed for pictures with the marchers, others nodded approvingly and some stood on the side and argued with them, including Caren Bustes, a tourist from Colorado Springs.
"They're ridiculous," she said. "President Bush is the best president we've had since Ronald Reagan."
When the march got to the White House it proceeded more slowly so the marchers could shout their displeasure. There was also a small crowd of about 10 counter-protesters. One counter-protestor explained he was there to make sure, "the right side, the American side, is heard."
According to Sgt. Scott Fear of the U.S. Park Police, there were no arrests and no problems at the demonstration.
