vive la répression!

isn't it beautiful to leave in a free country? To have the right to walk wherever i please in the city, have the right to carry banners expressing my views or other views as I please? Well, let me rephrase: WOULDN'T that be beautiful?
A gaggle of clowns and I went off to Pariser Platz tonight to welcome sarkozy in town. We'd decided to greet him enthusiastically and happily because he's such a great man and represents our values - more work, more discipline, more authority. We met ahead of time, got dressed in bleu blanc rouge, painted our faces accordingly, and prepared two or three cardboard signs that said "TRAVAILLER PLUS et vivre moins" and similar sarkozy-friendly words.
We marched on to Pariser platz, where the French embassy is and another group was protesting with kärchers in their hands. Five policemen immediately rushed towards us and stopped us from joining the square. They required a translation of our cardboard signs - the gathering was allowed under the condition that no signs insulting the new president were used -, checked our bags more than thorougly, asked questions. The gathering of people on pariser platz protesting against sarko was attracted by us and rushed towards us and started filming and taking pictures while the police was unsure how to handle us. Eventually we were allowed to go on the square, although it still seemed we appeared dangerous to them.

People were happy to see us chaotic absurd people arrive on the square, although more than one person wondered how in hell we could screem TRAVAILLER PLUS et vivre moins, or "Vive sarkozy, plusss de hierarchie!" - which I ended up chanting in a microphone and everybody - everybody! - chanted and repeated after me. We were all praising the new president and asking for more disciplin! How much more dangerous can a political gathering get... We created a human machine and worked ourselves to death. Saw Ulli whom I keep seeing at political gatherings - and Micha, whom I also last saw on may first. Micha thought we were really cool.
Eventually the gathering had to be broken off and - on police orders - we were not allowed to leave in groups. Which, for clowns, is a little problem. We started running around like headless chickens, then decided we wanted to go to the chancelor's office. We left as ungrouped as possible under brandenburg gate and headed towards the governmental quarter. The bunch of policemen and one policewoman followed us. Immediately after brandenburg gate, they shouted at me I had to stop moving. I was carrying my "travailler plus" sign, I was visibly part of a group, and that was just NOT ON. Plus I was heading in a direction they didn't want me to head in. I found the whole situation so absurd I just couldn't take it seriously - what, you're seriously going to try to stop ME from walking wherever I want, with the make up I want, and carrying the sign I want, especially such a conservative sign? Hello? Freedom of anything? One of our clowns came up to me while I was being dictated what was right and what wrong, and took my sign down for me. I was frustrated.
Another clown crossed the street and died dramatically near a tree with his sign in front of him. The policemen immediately ran over to him to tell him that was not acceptable. We were told to walk south, which we had no intention of doing.
We eventually headed back through brandenburg gate and onto pariser platz to take the train back to the clown's home. But first we all sat down on a bench. How pretty we were, all white and blue and red facing the french embassy. But even sitting wasn't allowed and the policemen came to us to move us away. We walked to the next bench, walked slowly on, and they accompanied us. Eventually we caved into the train station faking discretion. A few minutes later, the police came after us to check we were really going off. We screamed in horror at them and ran around to hide, but they didn't seem particularly amused. They saw us off on the train.

So, let's list it all: Not allowed to walk freely, not allowed to carry a sign enticing people to work more, not allowed to sit, not allowed to accidently be wearing the same facial make up as 10 other people. As I said: we're all terrorists now.
I'm a normal person, and I'm anti-violent. But I feel the stately repression is closing in on me , on us normal people, and pushing the confrontative front gradually closer. Boy what fun.

People didn't necessarily know how they should understand our signs and our vive sarkozy. Confusion is fun. I enjoyed the action. Felt exhausted afterwards though, and I'm already wondering how it will be to be a full-day clown in early June - with a lot more repression to face. excitement excitement.