SALT LAKE CITY MAJOR: “100 percent of the calls were getting from outside the city are in opposition” September 1st, 2006
[SOURCE: 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for August 31]
OLBERMANN: President Bush won over 71 percent of the vote in Utah in 2004, the greatest percentage of any state in the Union. So when his visit there this week was greeted not only by protesters but by the protesting mayor of Utahs biggest city, it definitely raised some questions about his core support.
Our fourth story on the COUNTDOWN, protesting the president. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson joins us in a moment.
First, the protest itself. An estimated 4,000 marched to the federal building there and delivered a symbolic indictment against the president and Congress for abuse of power. But before the march began, they gathered at the Salt Lake City county building to listen to Mayor Anderson lay out his case against the administration.
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MAYOR ROCKY ANDERSON, SALT LAKE CITY: This is a new day. We will not be silent. We will continue to raise our voices. And we will bring others with us. We will grow and grow, regardless of political party.
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OLBERMANN: And Mayor Anderson joins us now from Salt Lake City.
Thank you for your time this evening, sir.
ANDERSON: Its a real pleasure, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Salt Lake City actually voted for John Kerry in 2004. So what kind of reaction have you had from your constituents there about your protect speech yesterday?
ANDERSON: Oh, obviously its mixed. I think that we have tremendous support for this demonstration that was held, thousands of people coming out, thousands more wished they could have come out in the middle of a workday. But also were hearing from the other side. Of course, outside of Salt Lake City, probably 100 percent of the calls were getting from outside the city are in opposition, except were hearing from a lot of other areas in the nation, people very supportive, very surprised that this is happening in Salt Lake City.
But we felt that it was so absolutely crucial that even here, in the reddest state in the country, where President Bush has his highest approval ratings, we could demonstrate this tremendous opposition to this incredibly dishonest presidency, this disastrous presidency thats led us into this unconscionable illegal war.
OLBERMANN: The whole question of partisanship at this time is so superheated, nuclearly heated, it seems at times. As mayor, obviously, you dont represent just the people who voted for you, you represent the entire city. Do you think that the citizens who agree with the president have any validity in their complaint, in their objection to you, in your capacity as mayor, representing them in an antiwar, anti-President Bush protest demonstration?
ANDERSON: Well, I understand why some of my constituents, if they agree with the president, would disagree with me participating in this demonstration.
But just think about it. If I had been the nice, polite host and greeted the president at the airport and gone to the American Legion convention and stood up politely and applauded him, giving him a standing ovation along with everybody else, nobody would have anythought anything odd of that. So it seems really, in a lot of peoples views, it is only supposed to run one way.
And I am firmly of the view that those of us who see our nation being taken in a disastrous direction under this presidency, we all, especially those of us in any leadership position, have an enormous responsibility to stand up and be heard.
OLBERMANN: At a rally on the presidents behalf yesterday, the attorney general of the state of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, according to the Salt Like Tribune, saidnow, let me quote it. I have the rightI have to support the right of Rocky to be stupid, but I will not support his right to hurt people. What he is doing is hurting those people whose loved ones gave the ultimate sacrifice. Thats the end of that quote. Whats your response to that?
ANDERSON: Well, first of all, Im surprised that Mark Shurtleff would stoop to those depths. I believe in civil dialogue. I also believe strongly in addressing the merits, talking about the facts, about the issues, rather than attacking someone so personally and resorting to these ad hominem comments.
But I think thats what were seeing from a lot of these folks that are in the Bush administration, and I think that it filters down to others in these Republican ranks, that they think that attacking the person, telling people, for instance, theyre like those who appeased the fascists in Germany, that we are morally and intellectually confused, making those kind of attacks, the Republican Party here actually sponsored a massive radio campaign against me, saying that I was basically un-American, that I was giving aid and assistance to the enemy.
It is astounding how desperate these people are in avoiding a discussion on the merits, because if they were discussing the merits, they would have to admit the president lied to us, many members of his administration lied us into this war. And it was a war that this president and his neocon advisers did choose. There is no question about that.
Now, in terms of whether Im hurting those families of service people who have paid the ultimate price, that is absolutely a despicable claim. Probably the greatest cheer that came up yesterday during the demonstration was when I asked them to display for everybody our great support for our troops and our tremendous gratitude for our veterans who gave so much to preserve our freedoms, to allow us to come out and demonstrate as we did yesterday.
OLBERMANN: And we…
ANDERSON: I think people like Mark Shurtleff have completely forgotten that patriotism is about love of country. And those of us who were out there yesterday were there because we do love our country, and we have the same values that underlie the foundation of our country, and that form the foundation for our Constitution, whereas we feel very strongly that this administration has lost complete touch with those values.
OLBERMANN: And we never honor the war dead by smearing the people who did not want them to die in the first place.
The mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson. Great thanks for your time, Mayor.
ANDERSON: Thank you. And thanks for your great statement yesterday.
It was inspiring.
OLBERMANN: Thank you, sir.
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