Masters protesters set to picket today

? A year ago, former U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive and Augusta National Golf Club member Lloyd Ward told USA Today columnist Christine Brennan that he would work from within the club to get a female admitted as a member.

Brennan’s article caught the attention of a women’s rights activist named Martha Burk, who today will take center stage at The Masters when her National Council of Women’s Organizations protests outside Augusta National’s gates.

Burk will be joined by a smattering of other groups, including Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and groups protesting Burk’s protest.

After 10 months of innuendo and a very public controversy between Burk and Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson, the circus is finally coming to town.

Burk, who has a permit to bus in 224 protesters, said she may end up with as few as 100. And she acknowledged her message hasn’t packed the same punch since war erupted in Iraq.

“I don’t know if you would say it’s lost momentum, but it’s lost some of the spotlight and that’s appropriate,” she said.

“But it doesn’t matter if it’s on people’s radar right this minute or not. What matters is that, in the long run, sex discrimination becomes a no-no for people who hold power in this country. And Augusta National is emblematic of this group.”

Todd Manzi, the self-proclaimed “Anti-Burk,” has been granted a permit to demonstrate on the same piece of land.

Though Jackson will not be present for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition protest, it will have approximately 100 demonstrators from churches in Atlanta, Savannah and cities in South Carolina. Their main protest is planned for a spot near the back entrance of the golf course.

It’s possible that both Burk’s and Jackson’s groups will send small groups of protesters right to the front gates, a move that could lead to arrests.

Burk, in a lawsuit backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), attempted to get approval for a protest right at the front gate. That request was denied in federal court. Burk also failed to get an emergency appeal.

Burk hinted her attention will turn to companies whose chief executives are members of Augusta.

“We turn now to concentrating on the stakeholders, those corporate CEOs who have power as members,” Burk said. “If they believe the Augusta National is right to continue excluding women, we challenge them to hold a news conference and say so publicly.”