from the desk of John Tenney
ELECTION 2000
George W. Bush - Royal Oak, Michigan 02-22-00

During Michigan's recent primary (02-22-00) my hometown of Royal Oak,
Michigan was visited by Presidential candidate George W. Bush (See news article), he was to meet with everyday people from my city at a local restaurant. It seemed as though the perfect opportunity had crossed my path to directly ask a presidential candidate a question regarding the UFO phenomena. I of course was aware that many organizations, including X-PPAC & UFOCity were "putting on the
push" to get some statements from the candidates, so with video
camera in hand I drove over to Jimi's Coney Island for an early morning visit with Mr. Bush. The crowd of supporters numbered around 100 and as I later found out Mr. Bush's "press people" would be selecting who was "coming in" and who was "going out." I thought for sure this was a "clearing" out of undesirables and believe me, it was! When I approached the door I stated my name, that I was a resident of Royal Oak, I was allowed in. As I sat and waited for Mr. Bush to arrive I gathered my thoughts and prepared myself for what I knew would probably only be 5 to 10 seconds of contact, as we were told that he would just be shaking hands and signing autographs. Well he arrived, people cheered he signed some quick autographs, (very quick, I even got a book signed but that's another story) and the "spin" was on.

The restaurant is small and the people were crowded everywhere around him, not to mention the numerous Texas Rangers who were monitoring the crowd. I decided the best chance I had to ask Mr. Bush my question would be as he exited the restaurant and moved toward his tour van. I slipped outside and waited. I chatted for awhile with a camera crew from CNN and then the moment arrived. Again the crowd cheered and as he made his way through the crowd I squeezed myself through the masses of camera crews and into position, this was the moment. I pressed my hand into Mr.Bush's, looked him in the eye and said...

"As a presidential candidate, would you like to issue a statement concerningthe American public's right to access whatever information the United Statesgovernment currently has available on topic of UFO....."

I was instantly turned around by a Texas Ranger, Mr. Bush was pushed onto the van, another Texas Ranger grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the crowd and before I knew it Mr. Bush was gone "What was that all about?" I asked the officer who pulled me from the crowd He shook his head and walked away from me without saying a word. The crew from CNN came up to me and the camera-man said, "Well that was weird it
was like they knew you were going to say something strange." I asked them if they had gotten the event on film and they replied that they didn't. My footage is just jumbled shaky crowd shots as I was being push and pulled through the crowd.

I walked back to my car, in defeat and yet somehow victorious, I had done what I had set out to do, ask a question. The answer I received although unspoken will remain with me.