Mainz residents told not to take a peek at president

[caligirl]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/ca1d3720-8457-11d9-ad81-00000e2511c8.html



By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin, George Parker in Brussels and Robert Anderson in Prague
Published: February 21 2005 22:28 | Last updated: February 21 2005 22:28

For residents of Mainz, George W. Bush's seven-hour visit to Germany on Wednesday and his short meeting with Gerhard Schröder, chancellor, will mean one of two things: a headache or a holiday.

Between the US president's 9.45am landing at Frankfurt airport and his afternoon departure, the sleepy Rhineland town and birthplace of Gutenberg will turn into a steel fortress.

In a contemporary echo of the Lady Godiva legend, anyone living on the route of the presidential motorcade is being discouraged from taking a peek at the 60- to 80-strong column of vehicles conveying the US president. In police leaflets, residents have been asked to keep their windows shut and stay clear of balconies “to avoid misunderstandings”.

Stores and restaurants in the “red zone”, the high-security area centred on Mainz's electoral palace, have been advised to close for the day as part of the biggest security operation in the country's postwar history. “They told us we could stay open if we liked but that nobody would be allowed in the area. It did not seem to make much business sense,” said Bozo Vukoja, owner of the Am-Fischtor Croatian restaurant in the red zone.

Neither driving nor parking will be allowed in the zone, where garages have been emptied, mailboxes unbolted and 1,300 manhole covers sealed.

[sui generis]

1. there goes our beloved leader

may he stay there.

[applegrove]

2. Cause then you'll look like one of those target shooting targets and

the recruits around the president are all "newly trained" and may mistake a woman holding a baby and looking out her front door as "as something to shoot at before they think". So it is really for security reasons.

Good with the hiding all opposition to Bush. In Ottawa the highways were lined with people giving the man the finger. Bubble boy makes "new rules" again.

[tblue37]

3. And during the inauguration,

performers passing the viewing stand were told they must not turn their heads to look at the emperor--er, president.

[atommom]

4. Hey, the American public was told not to look directly at him during

the inaugural! So naturally those furriners can't look at him either. :eyes:

[tanyev]

5. Maybe he really doesn't have any clothes.

[edbermac]

6. Maybe if they look at him, they'll be turned into pillars of salt...

He's so God-like...

[murray hill farm]

10. and yet....

a person pretending to be a journalist, using a false name..with a criminal lifestyle..was allowed to not only view him..up very close..but did so ever so many times...was not security checked at all, it seems...so odd!

[NYC]

24. Excellent point, mexicoxpat.

Spread it around.

[truthisfreedom]

7. ingratiating himself with the hosts again. it's a manoeuver at which he's

become an expert.

congratulations on bringing the US presidency to a new low, sir. may you be flatulent as well.

[Bridget Burke]

8. Clinton in Berlin, 2004 (promoting his book)

[jasop]

11. Excellent example of the pathetic state...

of the Busholini Regime

[calimary]

31. Welcome to DU! And yes, some comparison that is.

I'm so embarrassed to know THAT is presently what speaks for me in other countries.

[GOPFighter]

9. I'm just soo damn embarrassed....

...for my country.

[BlueManDude]

30. Why doesn't he just stay in Crawford 'til January 2009?

He doesn't really want to travel anywhere and Lord knows no one wants him to visit.

[uppityperson]

12. I saw Bobby Kennedy and Nixon when I was a kid, remember well.

Nixon from a distance, but Bobby Kennedy drove past me only a few ft away down a residential street from the airport to downtown. My sisters and parents were there too. I sat on a mailbox to watch him go by. We kids wanted to take out squirtguns to amuse ourselves while we waited but parents said no, his brother had recently been shot and it would be a bad idea to take them because it might make Bobby feel bad and the plice might take them since they were guns.

Now we are not supposed to look at dearleader Mr.bush? maybe I need a prostitute site with photos.

[applegrove]

27. Bobby Kennedy would be an unfortunate example. Personally - I think Bush

should just stop travelling. Cause it is all phony anyway. In Halifax they estimated the size of the opposition and then they devided the protestors into more "security safe" sizes.

Why if I am not mistaken there were a group of protestors who who forced onto Sable Island.

:grouphug:

http://collections.ic.gc.ca/sableisland/english_en/nature_na/sand_sa/looking_sa.htm

[The_Casual_Observer]

13. If the saw him they would see what a small miserable chimp

was "leading" the "free world", that might not be a good thing.

[SomewhereOutThere424]

14. Of course people aren't allowed to look at him

He's not only a paranoid schizophrenic, terrorists being the monsters under his bed, but now anyone who stares at him is obviously plotting. The hundreds and hundreds of citizens of every country plotting the inevitable horror only he knows the existance of in his head.

Some days I pity him, but then I remember he ran for president. I think it's funny america voted in a man who needs more attention and support than the whole of the american people. Then again, if we're not allowed to look at him, maybe we weren't allowed to vote for him either, so that's why they rigged the elections. ;)

[Roland99]

15. Hard to look at him when he's so transparent.

Mainz is such a beautiful city, though.

[daleo]

16. On the bright side, at least there is no chance of being turned to stone.

Looking at the Bush/Medusa and all that.

[Dhalgren]

17. In Empire this is really to be expected.

The Emperor cannot be treated as just any "commoner". His Imperial Dignity requires that everyone treat him as the God on earth that he so obviously is. The very fact that His Imperial Immensity would even deign to meet with low-born foreigners, just shows how magnanimous our beloved God-King can be. Hail Caligula!

[placton]

18. And the War God's minions sayeth:

"Look not upon His greatness or ye shall lose thy sight! See ye not the Great Burning Bush, He who shall bring the Apocalypse. For his glory is too great for the eyes of the earthly Eurotrash to gaze upon. The Great & Powerful Wizard of Oz has Spoken!!"

And the Eurotrash didst obey him, as they feared His mighty right arm, that holdeth the spoon of coke and the joint of hemp and the whiskey that causes consciousness to pass away!

[AzDar]

19. LOL.....(unfortunately, I believe it to be quite close to the truth..) n/t

[IndianaGreen]

20. And the Beast was driven through Mainz

and anyone that dared to look at the Beast was turned into stone.

[wasp in a wig]

21. I don't see why

Isn't God protecting him ?

[pandorasox]

22. Not what Bush was hoping for

[Megahurtz]

23. What IS this shit???

I am so tired of hearing "don't look at the president!" How fucking annoying. He just thinks he's King Shit.




There......I feel better now.:)

[LiberalEsto]

25. Coward

He is a yellow-bellied stinkin'coward.

[NYC]

26. Emperor Hirohito.

... until 1945, the Emperor of Japan was officially considered to be divine -- the Son of Heaven. The royal family were direct descendants of the sun god. The Japanese took this whole thing very seriously. Accordingly, it was forbidden for his subjects to look at his face, address him by name, or speak to him from a greater height.

When a politician suggested in 1935 that the Emperor was just an ordinary human being whose power derived from the will of the people, it caused a furor. The politican was forced to resign, his books were banned, and an attempt was made on his life...

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/dictators/hirohito/

[chickenscratching]

28. HEY SHORTY PANTS!!!

well if any of that applied to junior, the rule forbidding one to speak to him from a greater height would create a bit o'problemas...for one, we would all have extremely sore knees...

[chickenscratching]

29. oops my mistake.

ok, i guess bush is 5'11, which is semi-normal, he just looks so puny....

[NYC]

32. He makes an effort to appear taller than he is.

Pay attention to photographs. Rarely will you see him next to a tall man.

Check some of the inaugural photos. He is not very tall.

[dweller]

33. methinks it's a mistranslation...

they were 'told not to take a leak (not peak) at pResident *moron* '.

dp

[ima_sinnic]

34. 60 to 80 vehicles--wtf??

dumbass, if you don't want anyone looking at you, don't drive around in a motorcade.
UGH, the arrogance of that cretin!
I wish I could go to one of these events so I could get arrested for "looking at the president." It would just show how moronic and delusional the Great Pretender has become.

[Laurab]

35. But really, who'd WANT to look at him?

I try not to, and can't seem to avoid it. I get SICK looking at him.

[lavenderdiva]

36. What is this?

Is this like when they tell you not to look at an eclipse 'cuz it'll burn your eyes? If we look at directly at Shrub, will the sight burn our eyes? wouldn't doubt it.

[Demeter]

37. MISUNDERSTANDINGS!

The only misunderstanding will be when they shoot some innocent bystander in their paranoia, and the world tells Bush where to get off, permanently!