Sep 24 2003
Anti-Administration Protestors Need Not Show Up
If their intent was to marginalize people who disagree with the attorney general, they certainly did that. The way they’re going about this indicates they’re on the defensive. When the attorney general essentially sneaks into town to address a select group of people, it doesn’t raise anybody’s confidence. - Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold on yesterdays visit to Milwaukee by attorney general John Ashcroft
As a lot of people recognize though, Ashcroft doesn’t want the general public to be able to know where he’ll be speaking. Having people protesting and holding up placards against the policies of this administration would shatter the illusion shown on the 10pm news that this creep has overwhelming public support.
As Sen. Feingold says, its a PR campaign, and there’s no better proof of that than making sure you’re speaking to a ‘receptive’ audience of supporters who are naturally going to applaud when Ashcroft (or Bush for that matter) so much as scratches his nose, just so they can show their undying support for the GOP.
I think the one thing we need less of in this country is less PR spin, and more access to our leaders, something this administration just doesn’t seem comfortable with, despite their “We’re just regular down home folks” bullshit.
Thought you might appreciate this:
"However, students who wanted to attend the game and show support for the union strikers by wearing AFSCME T-shirts or carrying signs or fliers were not permitted into the game arena."Source
Richard Little (director of communications at MU) said that they don’t allow group promotions at games. ?????? Since when? When was the last time they enforced that?
It’s surprising how pervasive the supression of freedom of speech is when it’s in opposition to those who hold the power.
Since you are ripping on the repubs idea of free speech, I’m just wondering about your thoughts on the Dems idea of Free Speech.
Thoughts?
I’m afraid the only people who were in the ‘free speech pens’ were people protesting the free speech pens.
http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_3623293.html?place=home01
Oh, I see, so it’s ok they put up pens with barbed wire designated for the protestors. Come on, mwarden. It’s not right to “designate” protesting areas, especially in such remote, jail-like areas.
The point of me posting this was simply this:
Democratic Party == Republican Party.
I don’t agree with it regardless of who’s enforcing it. Now that some Republican’s are getting a taste of their own medicine (And as matt pointed out, they are self-administering that medicine.) they’re up in arms? Where was the outrage over the past three years this has been happening?
Yeah Boy, I think you misunderstood. I wasn’t trying to say that it was okay. It certainly isn’t. I was just trying to point out that people who were protesting and weren’t in the pens weren’t being beaten to a pulp. In fact, despite there being a designated area for protestors, no one was forced to protest there. When I said that the only people in the protest pens were people protesting the protest pens, I’m saying that I think they were there by choice (where else would you protest the protest pens?).
You are absolutely right that the idea of the protest pens in general is a whole lot of BS. They should have never been constructed. However, the next best thing is that they aren’t used.
(Sorry about the dupe post, too. It didn’t look like it was posting.)
(where else would you protest the protest pens?)
That’s good irony.
I wasn’t trying to say that it was okay. It certainly isn’t.
Thanks for the clarification. :)
However, the next best thing is that they aren’t used.
Amen.
I don’t agree with it regardless of who’s enforcing it.
Good.
Now that some Republicans are getting a taste of their own medicine they’re up in arms?
I don’t see this as Dem/Repub … AMERICANS are being sent to pens to protest. (Man, I sound like Obama ;) ) You seem to be saying that the pens are ok because the Repubs used them, so now Dems can use them because it’ll give Repubs a “taste of their own medicine”.
Where was the outrage over the past three years this has been happening?
Where is the outrage now?
The fact of the matter is, if you are waiting for TV stations to cover this type of stuff, don’t hold your breath. The outrage for this type of “censorship” can only be found on websites like your own.
I don’t see any difference between this week’s “outrage” and the outrage when Repubs were putting protestors behind buses. No TV station carried it, I had to find out about it on the web.