Bush visits the city to address, praise Coast Guard

President Bush spoke to Coast Guard personnel at the Port of Philadelphia yesterday, marking his 19th visit to Pennsylvania since he took office.

And anyone thinking security would be anything but skintight for a wartime presidential visit to a military installation soon learned otherwise.

"It was really hard to get to the area," Penn graduate student and anti-war protester Randall Rose said. "When the president comes to town, they don't care about anyone else's convenience."

Bush announced a $6 billion appropriation for the Coast Guard, which occupies a position between branches of the military and civilian law enforcement and life-saving operations.

Traditionally managed by the Department of Transportation in peacetime and transferred to Navy control when hostilities break out, the USCG is now being worked into the Department of Homeland Security, whose mission Bush stressed during his speech.

Bush praised the men and women of the USCG for "making this nation more secure" and justified "the actions we're taking abroad against a terror network and against the regime in Iraq..., removing a grave danger to all free nations."

Rose said that traffic was diverted well away from the Coast Guard depot during Bush's visit, forcing him and other protesters to walk, banners and all, several blocks to the event.

The Philadelphia Police was out in force, almost dwarfing the roughly 200 protesters.

"I'm pretty sure there were at least as many cops, just visible ones, as protesters," Rose said. Whether a consequence or in spite of the massive police presence, no injuries or arrests were reported.

Turnout was relatively low -- about a tenth of the number of protesters made it to yesterday's event that attended Sunday's anti-war rally. Many attributed the paucity of protesters to the timing of Bush's visit in the middle of the work day.

Around two dozen pro-war protesters, including well-known evangelist Brother Stephen White, attended to protest the protest.

"I called them all Benedict Arnolds, told them to move to Iraq," White said. Drawn to the protest as he was driving through the area, White expressed disbelief that anyone could "support Saddam Hussein."

White also noted that an almost personal hatred of Bush seemed to motivate many protesters.

"I know I'm outnumbered here in Philadelphia, but my family in Arkansas and Texas love him," White said. "When they think of Gore doing this, people just feel nauseous. There's no way Gore could have done this -- he doesn't have the backbone."

White concluded that he was glad he'd had the chance to attend the event, saying, "If I had the time and money, I'd go to all" such protests.

Many of Penn's frequent protesters, however, stayed home.

"Had I not had to work today, I probably would have gone," said Mindy Ehrhart, administrative coordinator of Penn's Germanic Languages and Literatures Department. Ehrhart had attended the anti-war rally on Sunday.

"Also, it reminded me of when [Dick] Cheney came to visit," she continued. "They kept him so shielded.... What was the point?"

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