Presidential visit and Protests

Just wanted to record a couple of notes about the week that saw protests, a presidential visit and a lot of politics.

I had the relatively rare opportunity, at least here in Salt Lake City, to ride along in the Presidential motorcade during Mr. Bush's visit to Salt Lake City.

Some insights:

Security - Okay, this is from the duh category. Suffice it to say our equipment was checked thoroughly. It was inspected twice on Wednesday morning. Once we and our equipment were pronounced "clean", we were to stay in the "clean" areas. We even needed an escort to go to the bathroom. If we moved out of the areas, we were told we'd run the risk of being left behind, if a re-screening meant any kind of delay.

The Ride - What can I say. It's the second time I've been in a Presidential Motorcade. It amazes me how fast one can get from point a to point b when there's no stopping. I'm an EMT part time and have had occasion to drive with lights and siren across Foothill. But this is far different. All the roads are blocked ahead and behind. Dump trucks from UDOT blocked intersections and roads as we rode along, and we moved pretty quickly. On Wednesday, in fact, we hit the light rail tracks on 4th South, and it felt like we almost caught some air. I'm sure in reality, it was much less dramatic. The view from the motorcade is great. I saw lots of signs, some American flags, and at least one one-fingered salute from a man standing on corner.

Access - surprisingly, access to the President, in some ways, is more limited than for other reproters. When he went into the crowd, for example, to shake hands, we were kept at least 20-30 feet away, too far to hear what was being said. When there were events, we didn't necessarilly have access to areas where we could cleanly record sound. But for photographers, of course, the access was great. They were right up front and center at most events. Events closed to the media were still closed to us. That's why when Preisdent Bush met with LDS Church leaders, we sat in a comfortable meeting room, ate bagels and waited. Some in the national press corps wondered why instead of coffee in a pot, there was milk and chocholate milk on ice. This event, though, could have gone either way. Had they decided to do a photo op, it could have been one of the only opportunities to get a question in for the President. It happened in my last experience with President Bush Sr. This time it didn't.

Rarity - I'd do it again. How often does one get the chance to stand under the wing of Air Force One.

Now a couple of insights into some of the behind the scene action during the protest at Washington square.

Set Up - We had set up just off stage, so we could get a cable to our truck to broadcast the speeches live. We were in place by 10:30. I was surprised how quickly it filled in, and I was entertained by the people who made up the very diverse crowd.

Some Problems - First of all, I'm sorry to the people who ended up standing next to the truck. We had to keep it running to keep feeding audio to the station. That meant as the day got hotter, people, especially those standing next to the exhaust, got a lot warmer.

The "Media" - Having attended Donald Rumsfeld's speech earlier in the week, his criticism of the media quickly came back to mind, when Mayor Anderson took aim at the media as well. After one particular line, a tall man standing next to the truck said to me something like "Yeah, did you hear that MEDIA?" I politely told him we get it from both sides. I also got several complaints about the news helicopters hovering overhead. I guess I'm used to them, because they show up at many news stories. What intrigued me, though was that people thought a lowly radio reporter could make a telephone call and wave the TV choppers off. It didn't happen. What intrigued me more, was that two people told me they wouldn't be surprised if the helicopters were dropping something or spraying gas on the crowd. Another told me it was simply the media trying to drown out sound from the Mayor's speech. I may be wrong, due to that secret chip implanted in my head, but my theory is they just wanted to get good TV pictures. Again, we hear conspiracy theories from all sides. Maybe that's a good sign. Truthfully, we try to be respectful and polite. But in my view, it may sometimes be necessary to inconvenience a few to get the sound from an event to a couple of hundred thousand people who may be listening.

The crowd - I loved it. Rarely in Salt Lake, do you see such a sight. Agree or disagree with what was said, the atmosphere was alive. Passions were deep. There old and young and a lot of in-between. The same, by the way, could be said for the crowd at the airport when President Bush arrived.

So, for a couple of days, Salt Lake became the epicenter of the political battle over the course of our nation. Things, thankfully have settled down for now. But it was a fun week.