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Cheney speaks, and protesters rally
Allen Best
Vail, CO Colorado
August 22, 2007
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JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — It was a shimmering day of irony in Jackson Hole.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney gave a speech to dedicate an $18 million building in Grand Teton National Park — a park enabled, in part, by the philanthropy of the original oil baron, John D. Rockefeller.
Meanwhile, on the bicycle path leading to Cheney’s home, located in a rural subdivision called Teton Pines, a group of about 250 people walked, carrying anti-war signs, accusing Cheney of masterminding the Iraq War for the country’s oil supplies.
At the gate to the subdivision, reports the Jackson Hole News&Guide, the crowd gathered at the feet of a giant statue of Cheney holding a fishing rod in one hand and a spurting oil derrick in the other. Where a heart should have been was a black hole.
The giant effigy towered over a tiny George W. Bush head wearing red devil horns and a blindfold over its eyes.
“Operation Iraqi Liberation,” sang an entertainer. “Tell me, what does that spell?”
“O-I-L,” responded the crowd, composed in age from elementary school to great-grandparents. It also included a Democratic state legislator from Jackson Hole.
The following week, the newspaper had eight letters on the subject. Most expressed disgust at the protest.
This was not a peace rally, like this group would lead you to believe. It was a hate rally. Nothing more, nothing less,” wrote Bill Scarlett, the local Republican Party chairman. Other similarly spoke of the “hatred and venom” and “over-the-line antics.”
As well, one letter-writer said a paid advertisement in the Jackson Hole Daily “accusing the vice president of personal responsibility for casualties in Iraq far exceeds the community norms for decency and reasoned, civil debate.”
Bear strolls through Crested Butte home
CRESTED BUTTE — Stories of bears invading houses continue.
The Crested Butte News tells of a 230-pound bear that pushed or opened a door (the door had a lever-type handle), walked up the stairs, strolled unnoticed past somebody who was reading, and then stood behind a woman who was standing at a counter.
The woman left, closed the door, and called police. Even though the bear had never been caught before, it was shot because it had clearly had lost any fear of humans, wildlife officer J Wenum said.
Many mountain towns have had reports this summer of large numbers of bears upsetting garbage cans and invading houses and other buildings.
However, there have yet to be any injuries caused by bears, although wildlife officers for years have said it’s only a matter of time.
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