Airport accused of ejecting woman with anti-war poster

[CShine]

A 57-year-old woman says she was ejected from a terminal at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport after showing military recruits an anti-war campaign poster. Carole Ward showed the recruits an 8 1/2-by-11 inch poster of a composite illustration of President Bush made up of the faces of soldiers who have died in Iraq. It bore the title "Faces of Death."

Some people found the poster offensive and the woman became belligerent with an American Airlines gate agent, according to Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the airline. He also said Ward made some passengers feel uncomfortable while waiting to board her plane during a thunderstorm Tuesday night and presented a security threat.

"She's not only going around talking to these recruits, saying they shouldn't join the Army, they shouldn't fight in the war, she's also forcing the poster on them," Wagner told The Dallas Morning News in today's online edition.

Ward, who was returning home to Albuquerque, N.M., from a Libertarian convention in Atlanta, said she started a conversation with a few of several dozen recruits in the airport. She passed around the poster, that had messages to elect Libertarian Aaron Russo president and to stop a possible military draft.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2606929

[PartyPooper]

1. This woman is a true American patriot in my book. She deserves an award!

She "made some passengers feel uncomfortable...and presented a security threat."

:wtf:

She had a friggin' poster and she talked with some recruits. How is this a threat?

Junior and this misadministration is the real security threat!

:grr:

[Voltaire99]

8. Agreed. Another one of our better angels. (n/t)

[nodehopper]

2. oh, it's ok for nuts w/fetus pictures to hang out outside abortion clincs

But this woman makes people uncomfortable

[Raster]

3. it's about what you'd expect at DFW... north texas is firmly repug...

...some of the largest donors to the repugs live in the dallas area.

[DemoTex]

4. DFW's biggest airline, AA, is a big Bu$h contributor.

Don't rock the boat.

[struggle4progress]

5. We've lost a lot of ground on free speech in the last 20 years.

At one time, the courts were extending free speech to all public places. Now it looks like we're headed back towards the old "You have free speech on the steps of the Federal Courthouse" theory.

[0rganism]

9. Still, you gotta admit it hasn't reverted to how it was during WWI

Eugene Debs spent 10 years in prison for wartime criticism of the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

Rev. Clarence Waldron was sentenced to 15 years in prison for telling a bible study class that "Christians could take no part in the war."

Charles Schenck was sentenced to 15 years for publishing pamphlets urging draft resistance, with appeals resulting in SCOTUS Justice Holmes' "clear and present danger" standard.

A Mexican-American Labor organizer named Ricardo Flores Magon was sentenced to 20 years for taking issue with the administration's Mexico policy.

So yeah, it sucks now, but it used to suck even harder.

[Scurrilous]

13. Some freepers are calling her actions a crime...

...they want Ashcroft to dust off this baby and start prosecutin':



United States Code
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 115 - TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES

Section 2387. Activities affecting armed forces generally

(a) Whoever, with intent to interfere with, impair, or influence
the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces
of the United States:
(1) advises, counsels, urges, or in any manner causes or
attempts to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal
of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the
United States; or
(2) distributes or attempts to distribute any written or
printed matter which advises, counsels, or urges insubordination,
disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the
military or naval forces of the United States -
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten
years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the
United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five
years next following his conviction.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the term ''military or
naval forces of the United States'' includes the Army of the United
States, the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Naval
Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve of the
United States; and, when any merchant vessel is commissioned in the
Navy or is in the service of the Army or the Navy, includes the
master, officers, and crew of such vessel.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/18/parts/i/chapters/115/sections/section_2387.html

[Cooley Hurd]

14. Iron Jawed Angels (HBO movie) also illustrated this...

God forbid you criticize the President in a time of war!

[struggle4progress]

19. No, the EvilSide is more sophisticated now:

first they put a few folks in custody without trial on the grounds "those folks are terrorists" -- then they generally accuse anybody who disagrees with them of "helping terrorists." They've scared a lot of people into silence.

[LiberalBushFan]

6. support the troops!

keep the dead ones secret!

[DustMolecule]

7. Truth has a way of doing that to people, I guess....

...making 'em uncomfortable and all.

[saigon68]

10. SO IT BEGINS

THEY WILL BE BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF THESE PEOPLE SOON. I SAW OFF DUTY SOLDIERS KICKING ASS ON LONG HAIRED HIPPIE ANTI-WAR TYPES, 35 YEARS AGO.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME.

[Turley]

11. Um, I dunno about this one

I fly quite a bit and I'd just as soon not have anyone of any political stripe politicking in the waiting area.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

17. Speak for yourself buddy.

I WILL be friendly towards people politicking MY political stripe. And I'll rat freepers to security. If they wanted me to be "impartial", they should be impartial themselves.

[Mari333]

12. Back when the flag waving rah rah rah crowd

were in full swing in my town, and tons of people were screaming about how wonderful Bush was for attacking Iraq because they couldnt disassociate Iraq from "all muslims", and they believed the lies the Bush administration told about Iraq and its WMDs, etc, and they believed the lies about Iraq having something to do with 9/11, thats when I saw the faces of people in the area turn to rage when I posted my stepson's picture on my car along with anti war sentiments.
Now, people look, but the red faces arent there, the rage seems to have died down, but the truth shall set you free.
Its longggggggggggggg overdue that the US public saw the faces and names and families of Iraqi people also, including the dead and wounded children, as well as the US soldiers. Its LONG overdue.
Again, we have a press that hides the truth.
Eventually the truth will come out.
Everything I knew would happen over there, has happened. Everything I knew from the beginning of the war til now, every picture of a child in Iraq, every dead and wounded soldier, I knew about.
Many people prefer denial.
And we have the highest mental health crisis rate in the world. Denial is a part of that.
Depression is even more a part of it, you cannot live in a world of pumped up fear and angst and denial for long before you go bonkers.
This woman just spoke the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

[arikara]

24. You are right Mari, and the truth is already starting to come out

And they could do composites of the whole entire gaggle of neo-con warmongers with the faces of the poor dead Iraqi's and the forgotten Afghani's.

[ithacan]

15. someone should make a t-shirt with the Bush composite photo on it...

This is just pathetic.

People are so frightened and insecure that they cannot even deal with a small (8½ x 11 !!!) photo montage.

[truthisfreedom]

22. you might want to contact the artist first. there's a 1 meg image in #20

below.

[fortyfeetunder]

25. Backpack advertising

Which leads me to an idea...make little luggage tags for carry-on luggage with anti-war advertising...are they going to make a big deal about that?

And if TSA wants to dump my backpack, it'll be stuffed full of my monthly supplies....

[preciousdove]

16. Wow, Flashback to Summer 1971

Atlanta Airport. Heading for Ft McClellan with other US-WAC recruits. Corporal who claimed to be a General's daughter (said she joined to PO her Dad). Told us to get on the plane and go back home that there was nothing but misery, harassment and pain waiting for us at our destination.

She was right. We didn't listen to her but wish we had. Everyone there on that base at that time had to come out with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome if they stayed sane at all. Race Riot followed by weeks of sniper activity causing lock-down at after dark. Hunting of the snipers during the day. Gun shots at all hours. Physical and psychological abuse. Prostitution ring being run out of the "counseling unit". About a third of us took the "get out the Army free with an Honorable Discharge deal. Those that stayed in thinking it was just that place wrote to me later that it wasn't and that it only got worse.

[AspenRose]

18. I would like to see the poster reproduced in some way

and used for fund raising. It sounds like it took a lot of work to complete that poster...."a composite illustration of President Bush made up of the faces of soldiers who have died in Iraq."

Art imitating life.

[truthisfreedom]

20. you can print it yourself. here it is.

[Sparkle]

21. WoW!

...

[baldguy]

23. "If liberty means anything at all...

...it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear." — George Orwell