From about 9 to noon on the morning of March 6, 2009, a group of Ohioans in numbers varying from a dozen to a hundred gathered on Stelzer Road in the city Columbus to stand outside as Barack Obama arrived from the airport, delivered a speech on the economy, then returned to the airport. President Obama waved from but did not leave the safety of his limousine as he drove past us; I’m happy to say that at least he looked at my “Repeal the FISA Amendments Act” sign from his motorcade. That’s a better result than at the inauguration. But, just like at the inauguration, I seemed to be the only person to show up who had any interest in the Bill of Rights. I’d better get used to that.

The crowd seemed to be divided into thirds: about a third of those assembled were there to cheer on Barack Obama as he passed, and seemed pretty excited to see him. About a third of those assembled were there as part of an organized bloc apparently from the SEIU and Planned Parenthood to support universal health care legislation. A final third had a libertarian to conservative anti-Obama point of view, part of the “tea party” movement that wants nothing to do with the spending bills spanning the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration. This group also indicated some non-issue-oriented opposition to Barack Obama (see, for instance, the “B.O.” sign below). It was the first group to arrive but also first group to leave.

It was rather blustery but also rather warm; not a bad day for a protest, unless you’re holding a huge bankster slavery banner.

My favorite part of the day was handing out free Bill of Rights posters to all comers. After the first second or two in which they showed skepticism that the posters were really free, people would take one cheerfully — and often two or three for their nieces and nephews.

Tags: 2009, Activism, aladdin shrine center, anti-obama, Barack Obama, columbus, community, dissent, fisa, fisa amendments act, health care, kids collage, libertarian, march 6, ohio, outside, political, president, pro-obama, protest, rally, recreation centers, speech, stelzer road, support, tea party, universal health care