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Can Weblogs Chase Bush Out Of Britain?

Part I - 'Bare Your Bum at Bush'


One of a series of Can Weblogs...? experiments from 2002-2004.

Click here for Part II - Protests and Preferences

Latest News - The President of the United States has accepted an invitation from The Queen to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom from Wednesday 19th November to Friday 21st November 2003.


Wrap-up - Bush was determined to hide from our mighty bottoms, so we chased him all over London instead.
It was fun, and dead easy to do. I'm amazed more Americans don't do it to Karl Rove and his line-up of jokers.
(Oh. Sorry. I do keep forgetting that you live in a police state...)


Objective
To collectively voice our displeasure at the impending arrival of George W Bush in the UK and in doing so either sour the experience or prevent his arrival.

Background
George W. Bush has already cancelled one visit to this country because he felt more than a little unwelcome. The man is terribly secretive about state visits, but Laura Bush recently let slip that a visit to the UK is being planned sometime in autumn. Our aim is to give the man the bum's rush before he even arrives and/or show him exactly what we think of him in the finest British tradition.

Method
George Bush is unlikely to walk around the streets kissing babies because of the large number of people that wish to blow him up. However, a 'Brits love Bush' photo-op of happy crowds greeting the man may be in the offing and it's vitally important that we rob him of such a lucrative propaganda device. By attending such gatherings (by accident or design) and ensuring that you bare your buttocks as he passes by, you either render any photos taken at that moment unusable or make a very clear indication of what Britain thinks of this bigoted warmonger.

Your Role
There are several levels of involvement to suit a number of personal situations and comfort levels. They are listed below.


Baring Your Bum

If you hear of a visit to your part of town or happen to see George W Bush, bare your arse in his general direction. Don't be afraid to wiggle it about a bit and maybe even spread your cheeks; this is a political statement you're making and you don't want to do things by halves, now do you?


Threatening To Bare Your Bum

Write to your chosen local, national or foreign newspaper and inform them that you, as a British citizen, fully intend to do your civic duty and bare your arse at George W Bush. In this same letter, you may also wish to call upon other readers to do the same.

Don't wait for the official visit; get typing and do this now. With any luck, Georgie will hear of the unwelcome reception that awaits him and decide to stay at home.

A series of links to the contact pages for major newspapers appears below to aid you in your quest. If you make it to print, please do send us a clipping for the scrapbook.

UK Newspapers - Contact/Editorial Links
Express | FT | Guardian | Independent | Mail, Evening Standard and Metro | Mirror | Sun | Telegraph

US Newspapers - Contact/Editorial Links
Boston Globe | Economist | LA Times | New York Times | Washington Post | Washington Times | The Weekly Standard | USA Today


Using a More Modest Approach

If you're too shy to bare your arse or have any kind of difficulty in the trouser department, you may choose instead to use the following poster and wave this in his general direction instead. Clicking on the sample below will open a large version in a new window. (If this poster is not to your taste, there is a wide selection of alternatives available at waketheworld.org)

Click for large version in new window


Spreading The Word

If you're a blogger or webmaster in the UK (or with readers in the UK), then your duty is clear. You must use your influence to convince your readers to bare their arses at George W Bush. How you do this will be left up to your personal discretion.

Also, the more people who know about this campaign, the greater the potential arse coverage. You can use either of the 'copy and paste' link tools provided below to link to this page from your website or blog.

Copy and paste the following for a simple text link:


Copy and paste the following for a nifty button link like the one below:

Bare Your Bum at Bush!


OK, that's it for now.

You have your instructions. Updates will follow on this page and in the main weblog.

UPDATE (Sep 5th) - A flashmob/blogmeet is being planned for a mass mooning of George W Bush. This will probably take place outside the Houses of Parliament, as Dubya will more than likely be invited to address the House of Lords (he may not see it, but dozens of attending press photographers will).

UPDATE (Sep 25th)- Press Release: The President of the United States has accepted an invitation from The Queen to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom from Wednesday 19th November to Friday 21st November 2003. The President will be accompanied by Mrs Bush and will stay at Buckingham Palace.

So, we could be mooning the palace en masse. Or not. A mass-mooning may very well clash with the fine (and rather more restrained) actions of the Stop the War Coalition. I'd like to avoid that, if at all possible.

A vast amount of money is bound to be spent protecting our illustrious visitor from embarrassment. The Met did a very good job of ensuring, during the most recent worldwide peace marches, that London was the only city not to host a protest outside the U.S. Embassy. We should expect a similar level of police involvement (and harassment) this time around.

We should also expect less than fair treatment at the hands of certain media owners, most notably Rupert 'The Evil One' Murdoch.

Still, even if the threatened action leads to massive protective cordons and we don't get anywhere near The Unworthy One, this will be a victory in itself. There will be no happy crowds to greet George W. Bush.

Also, rather than staging a mass-mooning, we may very well get by with rolling guerrilla action if awareness continues to spread at the rate it has been. Right now I'm quietly thinking up plans along these lines.

Many people have signed up for the alert list, ready and willing to bare their bums for the nation. Please feel free to join us.

ALERT LIST - If you would like to receive information the moment we have a clear idea of dates/times/plans, send an email to manic AT bloggerheads DOT com to go on the alert list.


Click here for Part II - Protests and Preferences


Back to 'Can Weblogs...?' for further results and updates.


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