Picketers endured sweltering heat as they handed out leaflets highlighting the plight of the museum and hoping to appease the disappointed visitors.

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In the current, friendlier, versions, picketers put down their placards to pose for pictures with the mayor when, as is his wont, he stops to chat.

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In 2004, picketers gathered outside his home in Clear Lake, southeast of Houston, to protest his support of President George W. Bush and the Swift Boat campaign.

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