Archive for 13 May 2005

DeLay’s Congressional Carnival

“What are the sex slaves all about, Tom?” said Scott Goodstein, above, referring to Tom DeLay’s support of the Northern Mariana Island’s slave economy that DeLay once called a “perfect petri dish of capitalism.”

Drivers caught in early evening traffic along Sixteenth Street NW watched and listened as the comically dressed activist in a plastic strawhat barked allegations into a microphone.

Roughly 60 protesters lined the sidewalk in front and opposite of the Capital Hilton entrance Thursday evening, May 12, to demand an independent investigation of the house majority leader. DeLay, under heavy fire for alleged ethics violations, was honored by the American Conservative Union at a $250-a-plate dinner held in the hotel.

Protesters took turns hammering the bell to “smash corruption” on a strong-man game decorated with red, white, and blue balloons. Others spun “Tom DeLay’s Wheel of Corruption” at the so-named “K Street Carnival O’ Corruption.”

Demonstrators also distributed bars of soap with labels reading, “Help Tom DeLay clean up his act.” Dinner organizers provided a 40-gallon tub at check-in for dinner participants to “donate your soap here for our brave men and women in uniform.” Nine bars of tiny soap sat at the bottom of the dirty tub, below.

The demonstration was peaceful and dissipated shortly after most dinner participants had entered the hotel.

Published May 13, 2005 in Protests. Photography by (RSS).

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