Cheney Receives Angry Welcome In Dallas — Protesters Interrupt Vice President’s Speech, Snag Spotlight Of Local Media Coverage

DALLAS “This is MY sidewalk,” said a plainclothes Dallas police officer with a snarl of anger. “And we ain’t gonna argue that. You move, or you go to jail. Got me?”

Dismayed, a small, splinter group of dissenters who had walked around to the rear of Dallas’ Hyatt Regency Hotel turned around and shook their heads. “This, ladies and gentlemen, is the land of the FREE! Obviously!” shouted Rick Burnley, poet laureate of the Crawford Texas Peace House, into his weathered, worn bullhorn.

As Burnley’s words reverberated off the side of the skyscraper, situated directly at the base of Dallas’ famous Reunion Tower, the sidewalk’s owner flashed a scowl of annoyance and charged back toward the group. “And you can’t use that so close to the building!” he shouted, index finger shaking furiously. “If I catch you doing that one more time, you’re going down!”

Increasingly frustrated, Burnley dropped the megaphone and glanced at his fellow protesters. “That’s just fing bullst!” he curled. “We can’t walk on a public sidewalk or use our instruments to amplify our voices? Thank you, Royal Imperial Guard!”

A row of motorcycle officers, some 25 strong, stood idly across the street watching the confrontation. On that day, Vice President Dick Cheney was in town, promoting the administration’s war in Iraq and drumming up support for an attack on neighboring Iran. His speech, followed by a question and answer session with a pre-screened audience, was the yearly crowning achievement, the couronner r