And lighten the mood a bit more

As George Bush's motorcade moved through Chicago on Monday, a group of eight antiwar protesters tried unsuccessfully to stop its progress by swinging a neon green anti-war banner reading “No to War and Occupation” and “Troops Home Now!” into an intersection.

In a battle between a handful of protesters and a presidential motorcade, [reported the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday,] bet on the motorcade - especially if it’s backed by hundreds of pounds of police horse, a mounted cop and an officer on a Segway. ...

As Andy Thayer, a Chicago paralegal leading the group, entered the street, he appeared to lean his weight into a police officer’s horse, which barely moved. A cop on a Segway appeared to push into the animal from the other side, moving Thayer back to the curb. Officers quickly handcuffed Thayer and three other protesters who refused to drop the sign and exit the thick of the skirmish.

Some of those holding the sign were not arrested. ...

Thayer admitted even before the mounted officers aligned in a barricade that there was a slim chance the president would get an unobstructed look at his sign.

“I don’t think they’re going to allow us,” he said.

So why does this apparently unsuccessful effort lighten the mood a bit? Because it happened! Because people were prepared to do it. Because people were prepared to do something to harass Bush. And besides, this was playing on a boom box: