Mayor slams ‘dishonest, war-mongering’ Bush

During a rally held in Salt Lake City yesterday, thousands cheered Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson as he blasted George Bush as a “dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating president.”

The protest against Bush’s Iraq war policies was held prior to the president’s arrival Wednesday night in Salt Lake City to give a speech to the national convention of the American Legion this morning.

Utah is considered to be the “reddest” state, showing that there is growing debate about the Iraq war even in friendly Bush territory.

“A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience and deference to a dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating president,” Mayor Anderson told the crowd, estimated by organizers to number between 4,000 and 5,000