Germans Protest Bush Visit

Protesters made their feelings known in Mainz Wednesday as President Bush's itinerary avoided contact with everyday Germans. A meeting with the public was canceled for fear the audience would be hostile.

President Bush of course is not the first president named Bush to come to this town on the Rhine, but the very physical circumstances of this president's stopover here on Wednesday suggest how different, how less automatically warm, German-American relations are now than they were when his father stopped in Mainz 16 years ago.

Most conspicuous was the lack of contact between ordinary Germans and an American president visiting what could almost have been a stage setting: a town with buildings but no people, the shops and restaurants in the center of town closed, and only uniformed police officers on the streets.

full story:
The Germans Bush Wasn't Able to See

also:
President's visit brings town to a halt

More on Germany trip:

During his trip to Germany on Wednesday, the main highlight of George W. Bush's trip was meant to be a "town hall"-style meeting with average Germans. But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. Was Bush afraid the event might focus on prickly questions about Iraq and Iran rather than the rosy future he's been touting in Europe this week?

With a Hush and a Whisper, Bush Drops Town Hall Meeting with Germans