More than 100 protest for peace
By CANDACE CHASE
The Daily Inter Lake
More than 100 people marched for peace in Whitefish on Wednesday, sending a message to Vice President Dick Cheney as his motorcade drove through Whitefish.
Joan Ehrenberg, one of the march organizers, estimated that more than 200 people participated over the course of the event that began at 11:30 a.m. in Depot Park in Whitefish. Participants ranged from small children to senior citizens.
She said the march was to protest "this administration's reliance on violence" as well as "corruption in government."
Ehrenberg and others expressed anger that Secret Service agents closed the viaduct to marchers when the motorcade passed over it. The measure was one of many security measures taken as Cheney proceeded from Edwards Jet Center to The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.
The vice president was the featured speaker at a fundraising lunch for Republican Sen. Conrad Burns.
Some of the signs waving at the motorcade included "Wage Peace," "Do you feel safer?" and a few employed the vice president's first name as a vulgarity.
Signs supporting Burns' challenger Jon Tester were absent at the peace rally by specific request of the organizers. Ehrenberg said the idea was to focus the event on peace.
"People are pretty upset about the war," Ehrenberg said.
She called Cheney the architect of the Bush administration's policies.
According to Ehrenberg, the peace rally was organized by Veterans for Peace, People for Peace and the Flathead Democratic Central Committee.
State Rep. Mike Jopek, a Democrat from Whitefish, attended the rally. He said that he came to protest the high price of gasoline which he attributes to the administration's failed energy policy.
Others at the demonstration echoed Ehrenberg's remarks. Deborah Schmidt, pastor of the United Methodist Church, said she was not representing the congregation but her own views as she held a sign which asked "What noble cause?"
She said that the war in Iraq has caused America to lose "our moral edge" around the world. Schmidt said she follows the nonviolence teachings of Jesus Christ.
Rosemarie Morris, a Whitefish resident, said she accompanied a neighbor to the march to express her opposition to the war in Iraq. She said she didn't feel any safer with the military actions taken since the events of 9/11.
"I wish the soldiers could all come home safely," she said. " I thing that war breeds more war."
Local law-enforcement officers who were called to work for Cheney's visit reported no problems.
Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial said his department normally includes overtime work in its budget, so the time his officers spent working won't cost taxpayers anything. Overtime that was budgeted for the Fourth of July fireworks display wasn't used when the event was canceled.
Flathead County Sheriff's Office sent a dozen officers and administrators who were already on duty to Whitefish. That didn't cost any overtime, either.
Montana Highway Patrol provided troopers for the vice president's motorcade.
Captain Clancy King of the patrol said the department allocated 17 uniformed officers and a helicopter from Helena for the event.
Secret Service officers coordinated security for the event with local law-enforcement agencies.
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.