One of the joys of being an American is the right to peacefully protest without undo governmental harassment. It's a good thing to have--the ability to let those in power know you're not happy with how they're handling their job.
Unless you're the president. An informative (and disturbing) article in the Washington Post reveals how far your government will go just so Mr. Bush doesn't have to see any dissenters while he's on the road.
"The 'Presidential Advance Manual,' dated October 2002 with the stamp "Sensitive -- Do Not Copy," was released under subpoena to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of two people arrested for refusing to cover their anti-Bush T-shirts at a Fourth of July speech at the West Virginia State Capitol in 2004. The techniques described have become familiar over the 6 1/2 years of Bush's presidency, but the manual makes it clear how organized the anti-protest policy really is."
First you try to keep the protesters out and if that doesn't work. frisk 'em for inappropriate signage and then if they get noisy, drown then out. Or in the case of the two folks cited above, arrest them for their anti-Bush tee shirts.
A real president welcomes dissent, encourages debate. A real president LISTENS to the citizens of this nation. Sadly, we're cursed with someone who is about to invoke Vietnam as the reason we have to stay in Iraq because our withdrawal from that nation three decades ago is the reason we have terrorists attacking us today.
The man is freakin' clueless. All we can do is make sure the next Prez of these United States isn't the same.
1 comment:
It's enough to make one nostalgic for LBJ. And while Nixon had his enemies list, I don't think anyone was ever arrested for wearing an anti-Nixon T-shirt.
Bush, or rather, his handlers, have gone much farther in suppressing free speech than even the paranoiacs of the Vietnam era.
Post a Comment