The protest diaries

Seattle

The night before he left to protest President Bush's foreign policy at a rally in Spokane, Jared Friend went dumpster-diving.

After scaling the enormous plastic trash bin behind a frame store, Friend, a UW freshman, stood waist deep in the dumpster and assessed its contents. He had been hoping to uncover poster board or butcher paper, but all he found were cardboard boxes and broken glass.

President Bush was the reason Friend was perusing the contents of a dumpster in the middle of a Seattle suburb. He was searching for materials to make a sign protesting the number of people killed in Iraq at a rally in Spokane, where the president would be presiding over a fund-raising dinner given for Rep. George Nethercutt (R-Wash). Nethercutt is running for the Senate against democratic incumbent Patty Murray.

Friend could have bought poster board and supplies at any number of stores in the area, but "that would be copping out," said Friend's friend Alex MacDonald, a fellow protestor.

In the end, Friend and MacDonald pulled several large pieces of cardboard from the dumpster. Afterward, they headed to a local church, where another dumpster yielded pay dirt -- a scroll of white butcher paper that Sunday-school children had used to color a mural. Friend and MacDonald pulled the butcher paper from the trashed artwork and used the unmarked side to cover their cardboard signs.

The irony of what he's doing isn't lost on Friend. He and MacDonald laughed when they contemplated going into a religious establishment to drum up support for protesting President Bush.

Next, the boys took their signs to a nearby Kinko's Copy Shop. Inside, they took advantage of the free glue and markers Kinko's offers. They were joined by UW sophomore Chris Day, who helped Friend color his sign, which read, "Blood for Oil: 11,000-plus dead."

"I'm not a democrat," said Friend. "I'm a liberal if you want to label me." MacDonald, who described himself as a libertarian with socialist tendencies, said he supported John Kerry for president as "the lesser of two evils."

The Road

At 7 a.m., equipped with their signs, a watermelon and advice from MacDonald's father not to behave like Jane Fonda in Vietnam, the boys set out on the 280-mile trek to Spokane.

Friend drives a red pickup truck he acquired from his grandfather a few years ago. The truck is nice, he said, but he would rather drive a hybrid car to save energy.

The child of Christian missionaries, Friend spent a large part of his childhood in Indonesia. He was living there when President Tsuharto was replaced by U.S. forces in 1998. The experience changed his outlook on politics, and shaped his views on U.S. foreign policy.

"[In Indonesia] I saw first hand a more urban, less middle-class world, but with different eyes [than my parents]," Friend commented. "I saw more what poverty is like. For me, it's not about being liberal or being a democrat, it's about humanity."

In the future, Friend hopes to do more social outreach projects dedicated solely to helping people. He and Day have discussed establishing a club at UW dedicated to helping people in need.

"It has to start someplace, and it might as well be at UW," said Friend.

By going hundreds of miles out of their way to stand up for their beliefs, Friend and MacDonald have joined the ranks of politically active students all over the country who express their displeasure with various issues through protest. They represent a new generation of protestors who take cues from the more radical protestors of their parents' era, when students took to the streets to protest the Vietnam war.

"Students are at a point in their lives when they can become very passionate and like taking sides, whether it's about civil rights and militarism or global economics and capitalism," said faculty senate chair, Doug Wadden. "And not just in America -- look across the world. The protests, the boycotts, the strikes have galvanized and polarized the issues."

The politically laced tunes of NOFX's "A Perfect Government" blasted through the cab, setting the mood as Friend and MacDonald zoomed across the state at 80 mph.

The speakers blared: "It's all about the money. Political power is takin'. Protecting the rich, denying the poor. Yeah, they love to watch the war from the White House. And I wonder how can they sleep at night? How can they sleep at night?"

Spokane

Boom. The Native-American drum of one protestor was loud and kept a crowd of hundreds chanting to its beat.

"Get a job!" a man yelled from his car as he zoomed by.

"I have one, thanks!" Friend yelled back, waving his sign.

In Spokane, protestors, many of them students, gathered to speak out against the myriad issues, including abortion, offshoring and the United States' ongoing demand for oil. The protestors were loud, but were kept in check by police, who directed traffic around them.

Counter-protestors supporting the Bush campaign also turned out in full patriotic regalia. Some carried signs bearing pictures of their husbands and children in the foreign service. Others proudly donned Bush/Cheney 2004 T-shirts and waved American flags.

Boom.

Friend and MacDonald stood at the edge of a sidewalk and waved their signs at passing cars. They also made a point of making conversation with the Bush supporters and police officers nearby. Their encounters were not always pleasant. Boom.

"Bush is a murderer," Friend said to a throng of people wearing Bush/Cheney T-shirts. "How do you feel about that?" Boom. His question was rewarded with scathing looks as the group turned away.

MacDonald made a point of blocking a police officer who was video-recording the event by holding his sign, which read "Yee-haw is not a foreign policy" in front of the camera. He told the officer he didn't think his tax dollars should be going to buy policemen expensive cameras so they could tape peaceful protests.

The response to the protest was mixed. One trucker gave protestors the finger when MacDonald motioned for him to honk his horn in support. An elderly woman rolled down her window just enough to tell protestors she loved their signs.

Boom.

Finally, the street was blocked off from traffic. Anticipation filled the air as protestors jammed the sidewalks, craning their necks for a glimpse of the man who had brought them out. Protesters screamed at the top of their voices as the limosines and SUVs of the presidential motorcade made their way through, surrounded on all sides by secret service agents and police officers.

Boom. Boom. Boom. The protestors roared their slogans and catchphrases.

For Friend, the hours of driving, the heat and having to deal with police officers was worth it. That evening, he started back across the state for Seattle, knowing that he may or may not have made a real difference, but had stood up for what he believed in.