May Day Protesters Lash Out at Obama: 'Obama You Are Not Better Than Bush'

It appears the pitiful gathering in Los Angeles today wasn't an anomaly. Across the country the May Day protests largely lacked crowds, not to mention originality. Yet a common theme seems to have emerged. They don't much care for Barack Obama.

Demonstrators rallied at May Day events across the nation on Sunday, calling for reform on a host of issues and voicing frustration with President Barack Obama.

May Day events in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin were considerably smaller than in past years, as some of the hope for reform among Democrats that helped put Obama in the White House has faded.

Marchers in Chicago, where Obama cut his political teeth, expressed disappointment with aspects of his presidency, including his failure to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

"Obviously campaign promises and realities are completely different things," said Ricardo Ortiz, a student from DePaul University. "But do I think things could have been done better? Yes."

In New York, demonstrators called for immigration reform as well as support for environmental causes, tax reform and changes in U.S. defense policy.

Demonstrators carried signs reading "Legalization now, stop the deportations" and chanted "We are people, we are not illegal" as they marched down Broadway.

"Schools and hospitals are closing, jobs are being cut everywhere, and Wall Street guys are making money hand over fist," said Ronny Williams of New York City.

"And then Washington's spending billions on wars in places like Libya. Half the people I know are out of work," he said.

Some carried signs pairing Obama with former President George Bush. "Obama you are not better than Bush," read one sign.

Immigration reform was front and center in Chicago, where about 300 demonstrators gathered on the city's west side before marching downtown.

Three hundred people in Chicago? Pathetic.

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Obama economic adviser Richard Trumka was the main attraction. They also had a paltry gathering.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of demonstrators marched through downtown Milwaukee, calling for immigration reform and respect for workers' rights.

The march Sunday was part of a coordinated of May Day rallies across the nation.

They're looking very uncoordinated these days.

For his part, Obama showed solidarity with "the workers" by enjoying a round of golf today.

Don't Believe the Hype: LA Media Estimated 50K Would Show Up for May Day Rally, Event Draws Hundreds

Where'd they all go? This report said there would be 50,000 marching in Los Angeles.

An estimated 50,000 people are expected to march through downtown Los Angeles for immigration reform on Sunday, marking May Day.

The march and rally aim for full legalization. Two marches are scheduled with one starting at noon and the other at 12:30 p.m.

The message participants want to relay is for the government to create a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented people already in the U.S.

Reality check:

There were American flags, union banners and vendors hawking treats such as ice cream and hot dogs wrapped in bacon.

But what was missing from this year's May Day march on a crystal-clear Sunday morning were the crowds.

By 10 a.m. only a few hundred immigrant rights and labor activists had gathered at Broadway and Olympic Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles to rally public support for legislation that would legalize the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants.

"It's really sad," Luis Ortiz, an ice cream vendor who has been coming to the rallies for the last 15 years, said of the small turnout. "I've sold very little, almost nothing."

Peaceful Leftists Celebrate May Day in Berlin, 273 Police Injured

Maybe they ought to take a cue from Tea Party protesters on how to get your message out without resorting to violence.

Then again, these are leftists we're talking about. They're not interested in peace.

More than 270 police officers were injured in this year's May Day riots in the German capital, prompting criticism Saturday of Berlin security officials and calls for more officers.

Though the majority of the 273 officers suffered only minor injuries Friday, 14 were badly enough hurt that they will need to take time off work, said Berlin police chief Dieter Glietsch. He did not have more specifics.

In all, 5,800 police officers were on hand to try to keep a lid on the violence that has become a yearly ritual in Berlin. They used tear gas, pepper spray and water cannon as some of the roughly 5,000 leftist demonstrators, marching under the motto "capitalism is war and crisis," threw stones and bottles.

Dozens of demonstrators were injured but there were no exact figures; 289 were arrested. A bank and a fire station had windows broken.

This year's demonstrations turned violent earlier than in previous years, leading to more injuries and arrests. Last year, 112 police officers were hurt and 150 demonstrators arrested.

Rainer Wendt, chairman of one of Germany's national police unions, criticized Berlin interior minister Erhart Koerting's handling of the operation, saying protesters were allowed too much time to get out of hand and urging that a "no tolerance" policy be adopted in the future.

"Whoever throws a stone or wears a mask must be immediately taken out of play," he told the Neuen Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper.

Fire away.

Comrade Fidel Celebrates May Day, Trashes Obama

Chalk up another victory for smart diplomacy as Fidel Castro unclenches his fist and slaps Barack Obama upside the head.

Fidel Castro blasted US President Barack Obama Friday in provocative May Day remarks, saying the United States only wanted Cuba to return "to the fold, like slaves."

Castro, 82, who led Cuba for almost 50 years and remains head of the Cuban Communist Party, was not in outreach mode, though Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, 77, have made remarks aimed at easing Cold War-era tensions.

"Today, they stand ready to forgive us -- as if we would resign ourselves to returning to the fold like slaves, who after tasting freedom, go back to the yoke and whip," Fidel Castro said in a defiant address published in Cuban state media to mark May Day.

Obama has said the United States wants to see progress on human rights and political freedom from Cuba. That runs counter to Cuba's main interest in maintaining and projecting the Americas' only communist regime into the future.

Castro, who for decades referred to the United States as the enemy, warned: "The (US) adversary must never delude itself into thinking that Cuba will surrender."

I guess Fidel isn't too enchanted with Obama.

Elsewhere, open borders advocates and other sundry Communist groups today will also mark May Day with rallies nationwide. With the swine flu outbreak emanating from Mexico, I do say they have impeccable timing.

Immigrant rights advocates planning marches around the Bay Area and across the country today are optimistic that they have support in Washington, D.C., for immigration reform, but the fact that the rallies take place during a week of panic over Mexico's swine flu outbreak is further complicating a complex issue.

Aw, isn't that a shame. A possible pandemic may hurt their cause. Sigh.

Groups that favor a crackdown on illegal immigration have seized on the flu epidemic to call for closing the border with Mexico. The World Health Organization recommends not closing borders, and medical experts say overblown fear can lead to discrimination against Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans.

"There's real potential for harm to vulnerable groups like immigrants," said Jay Battacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford University. "It doesn't reduce the spread of the disease."

Nonsense.

Naturally they take a swipe at those who argue for reducing the number of illegals in the United States.

And conservative commentators on blogs and talk radio, including Michael Savage and Michelle Malkin, were blaming illegal immigrants for spreading swine flu to the United States.

Seems to me what Michelle Malkin has to say makes plenty of sense, and I'm sure the majority would agree.

I’ve blogged for years about the spread of contagious diseases from around the world into the U.S. as a result of uncontrolled immigration. We’ve heard for years from reckless open-borders ideologues who continue to insist there’s nothing to worry about. And we’ve heard for years that calling any attention to the dangers of allowing untold numbers of people to pass across our borders and through our other ports of entry without proper medical screening — as required of every legal visitor/immigrant to this country — is RAAAACIST.

It appears The San Francisco Chronicle reporter Tyche Hendricks is getting his talking points from the fever swamps of the AlterNet, which, conveniently enough, gets its information from (where else?) Democrat front group Media Matters, the vicious slander outfit bought and paid for by sugar daddy George Soros.

How convenient a group purportedly "monitoring" media is basically handing them their slanted talking points disguised as news.

No wonder the Chronicle's readership is down over 15% the past year.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

May Day Festivities at Union Square Park

Urban Infidel heroically treads where few sane people dare to go. May Day festivities among the human debris at Union Square Park in Manhattan.

The entire revolting spectacle can be seen here.

Keep an eye out for a unique form of protest: Bush as Hitler.

Never underestimate the creative juices of the far-left fringe.

Castro Skips May Day Parade

Shocking, isn't it?

Hundreds of thousands of cheering workers marched through Cuba's Revolution Plaza on Tuesday but Fidel Castro was nowhere to be seen.

The place where Castro would have watched the festivities - a raised platform under a towering statue of Cuban colonial independence hero Jose Marti - was instead occupied by his brother Raul.

Castro had attended the annual International Workers' Day march for decades. But the 80-year-old communist leader has not been seen in public since emergency intestinal surgery forced him to step down temporarily nine months ago and temporarily cede his duties to his 75-year-old brother.

Nine months is quite a long time to be considered temporary, no?

Meanwhile, another Communist swine, Hugo Chavez, continues apace with the destruction of the Venezuelan economy.

President Hugo Chavez's government took over Venezuela's last privately run oil fields Tuesday, intensifying a struggle with international firms over the development of the world's largest known petroleum deposit.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez declared that the Orinoco fields had reverted to state control just after midnight. Television showed oil workers in hard hats raising the flags of Venezuela and the national oil company over a refinery and four drilling fields in the Orinoco River basin.

Chavez, a strong critic of U.S.-style capitalism and a leader of the leftist movement in Latin America, planned a more elaborate celebration later on May Day, the international workers' holiday, with red-clad oil workers, soldiers and a flyover by Russian-made fighter jets.