| | |  Americas & Beyond | July 2008 
Free Speech Alive, Well as Protesters Interrupt Bush
 Pete Yost - Associated Press
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| | A protester is led away during President Bush's speech Friday at Thomas Jefferson's home during the 46th annual Independence Day celebration and naturalization ceremony in Charlottesville, Va. (Steve Helber: Associated Press) | | |
Charlottesville, VA. — People lined up to be sworn in as new U.S. citizens were unwitting witnesses Friday to a constitutional object lesson at President Bush's expense on the grounds of Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello.
Protesters interrupted Bush's brief welcoming speech several times with calls for his impeachment, and the president calmly responded at one point: "To my fellow citizens to be, we believe in free speech in the United States of America."
On his final Fourth of July as president, Bush said he was honored to be at the ceremony, saying, "I'll be proud to call you a fellow American."
Some 150 or so demonstrators, from a variety of groups opposing the president's policies on the war in Iraq, also rallied along the path of his motorcade to Monticello.
Bush mentioned neither the war in Iraq nor the battle against terrorism in his speech, other than to say that "we pay tribute to the brave men and women who wear the uniform."
For the people assembled at the ceremony, he said: "When you raise your hands and take your oath, you will complete an incredible journey. ... From this day forward, the history of the United States will be part of your heritage."
Bush noted, "Those of you taking the oath of citizenship at this ceremony hail from 30 different nations. ... You all have one thing in common — and that is a shared love of freedom ... and this is the love that makes us all Americans." |
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