Rally of a thousand recalls Vietnam era

Anderson was announced as "one of the most liberal mayors in the United States." The crowd began chanting the mayor's nickname, but he called for them to change the slogan to "We're not going to take it anymore!"

"Even in the reddest of red states, where George W. Bush enjoyed the greatest margin of victory in both of his presidential elections (the crowd booed at this mention), there is now enormous concern about the dangerous, irresponsible and deceitful public policies being pursued by this president and his administration," he said.

"We'll continue to speak out with the growing ranks of people in this country finally willing to stand up and say, 'We're not going to take it anymore!' " Demonstrators joined in with the slogan.

Although several dozen protesters, as well as supporters of the president, gathered outside the Salt Palace, the main demonstration was held at Pioneer Park. Earlier, the mayor said that location was chosen out of respect for the veterans group.

"This is not a protest against this convention," Anderson said. "If he were here for the National Kool-Aid Society, we would be expressing our views in opposition to the president's policies."

Robert "Archie" Archuleta, activist with Utah's Hispanic community, said the protesters did not want to disparage the service personnel. "We cannot — and we should have learned a long time ago — that we cannot export our brand of democracy by force anywhere in this world," he said.

At the Salt Palace, Ira Wilkerson, a veteran from Delaware, had a comment while people were chanting "Show me what democracy looks like." Turning to his friend John Stroud, a Nevadan, he said, "If they want to know what democracy looks like, they can go to any veterans' cemetery."

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche, Scott Winterton

E-mail: bau@desnews.com