WP: Policing Is Aggressive at Bush Events

[kskiska]

To Some, Protesters' Arrests Recall Vietnam War Era

(snip)

As Bush has traveled the United States during this political campaign, the Secret Service and local police have often handled public protest by quickly arresting or removing demonstrators, free-speech advocates say. In addition, access to Bush's events has been unusually tightly controlled and people who do not support Bush's reelection have been removed.

(snip)

Alex Vitale, a sociology professor at Brooklyn College who studies police behavior at political protests, argues that the United States has not seen such tactics during protests since the Vietnam era.

"This seems to be on a new level from what we've seen from past administrations," Vitale said. "It's clear that some of these security zones are not based on legitimate security concerns. They are based on the idea of the president not seeing someone who disagrees with him, which basically undermines the whole idea of the First Amendment."

Tickets to Bush events, distributed by the Republican Party, go only to those who volunteer or donate to the party or, in some cases, sign an endorsement of the GOP ticket and provide names and addresses. Party workers police the crowds for signs of Kerry supporters, who are frequently evicted.

Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said the tickets are distributed by precinct leaders and volunteers, who have discretion about who should receive them. He said those in attendance include undecided voters.

"We give out tickets . . . to people who support his reelection and people who may be undecided but want an opportunity to hear what he has to say," Stanzel said.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3695-2004Oct27.html

[liberalmuse]

1. Fascism.

I'll be soooooo glad when the little dictator is OUT.

[CottonBear]

8. Off subject

I love your pictures.

[truthisfreedom]

2. and Kerry lets 'em all in. bush is just chicken. he can't HANDLE the truth

eom

[morcatknits]

4. Makes Sense

That's why they have mostly empty venues for Bush rallies, and Kerry rallies show 10,000 and up. I saw Bush today speaking to a bunch of empty seats, when the camera swung away from him. Kerry has undoubtedly reached many more.
morcatknits

[LiberalFighter]

13. The smaller the crowd the easier to control

[GP6971]

3. IMO, I think

the situation today is worse than it was during Vietnam.

[UpInArms]

5. Welcome to DU GP6971!

:hi:

[burrowowl]

17. Welcome to DU, IMO, I think!

It seems to be worse than under J. McCarthy and his HUAC. I was very little at the time but I remember it was vicious and scared my parents.
And what is worse today, to cite Gore Vidal, America has two right-wings.

[saigon68]

28. The Nazi police thugs haven't gunned down anyone YET

A lot of them are just itching to KILL some long hair liberal scum

A lot of Thug, Hoodlum Cops now look like Marines with their little SS EinsatzCommando haircuts.

[Willy Lee]

32. YET being the key word-

I listened on NPR yesterday to a report about the girl who was shot (and killed) by police after the Sox won their division championship. They were using new "pepper guns" (I think) that they had bought specifically for the Democratic Convention. Only they didn't get to use them there. These guns shoot at a much higher velocity than their older model.

[saigon68]

42. Nothing will happen to these killers

I'm afraid however payback in heaven will be a bitch.

[Philosophy]

6. So if an undecided voter decides not to vote for * right after hearing him

is that a crime?

[w4rma]

7. How would an undecided voter ever get to hear him in person? He requires

loyalty oaths at the door, a donation to his campaign or volunteer work for his campaign.

Hmm, scratch that. It seems that if you are an undecided voter who is a friend of a Bush supporter you are let in.

[CottonBear]

9. President Kerry will welcome all of us. n/t

[LibDemAlways]

20. Today he was carting Zell Miller

around with him. For what purpose? Is Zell supposed to attract Dems? (Laughable, I realize.) Ok, so say some Dem thought, "What the hell, Zell likes him. Maybe I should go hear what he has to say." So the unsuspecting Dem shows up at the venue, is honest about being a Dem, and is immediately tossed out on his ear. What's the point?

[Bandit]

30. Yes and they should get ninty-nine years in the electric chair

:+

[MagickMuffin]

10. Not even soldiers getting ready

to go off to Iraq can see the Fuhrer!

[Zorra]

11. Bu$h would have protesters executed if he didn't have to worry about

being re-selected.

Give him 4 more years and the US will be worse than an Orwellian nightmare.

[Jerseygirltoo]

12. I was at the rally in Philly on Monday

I was in the huge crowd of people there to see Kerry and Clinton. We were right in the middle of downtown, completely open to the public.
No checkpoints. I got an email invitation and printed it out, but no one ever asked me for a ticket.

[mitchum]

14. Chickenshit

[JSJ]

15. everybody rightly blames bushfucker for this, but what about the cops?

Are they that fascistic as to always comply with the dumberfuhrer?

[ReadTomPaine]

16. Yes.

[harpo]

19. agreed...cops shouldn't be arresting anyone but people breaking the law

[saracat]

18. Paranoid. We wouldn't want to burst Chimpy's bubble.

We don't really like you ,George!

[murielm99]

21. I hope there are lawsuits.

People who have their first amendment rights violated should sue the local cops and the * campaign.

They should sue even after * is kicked out of his stolen office.

[leftchick]

22. kick

:kick:

[ozymandius]

23. Subverting democracy everywhere he goes.

Note my sig line.

[No Mandate Here.]

24. Give Me an 'F, Give me an 'A', Give me an 'S'...

...a 'C', ...an 'I', ... an 'S', ... and a 'T' !!!!


What's that spell?? What's that spell???

I want * to get nostalgic for the days he hid behind a megaphone as a Yale cheerleader. It'll give him something to think about as he sits in his retirement cell ... I'm sorry. I don't know where that word 'cell' came from. ... in his retirement home..

[Doug Decker]

26. Slight correction, I believe * was a cheerleader at....

Andover, his prep school, not Yale.

[MADem]

36. He was

At Yale, he got drunk and played rugby. He might have cheered there as well, not sure. In any event, he looks good in prison-like stripes...would love to see him in this sort of get-up again.

[leesa]

41. He must have been really good if his positions were split

between center fielder, free safety and CHEERLEADER! Oh brother. Bunch of rich kids at a rich resort area.

[Soth]

38. Aw, I thought you were gonna spell...

"Fascinating that Bush can't stand up to any dissent, probably because his handlers would be unable to prepare him for it, thus the little moron only gets extreme party loyalists at his damn rallies."

It looked that way from the first three letters...

[doubleplusgood]

25. so NOW they do a story on it ?

What does the WP think has been going on at * rallies for the past 3+ years ?

[Willy Lee]

33. Love that picture!

[doubleplusgood]

39. lots more here

"The Propaganda Remix Project" at http://homepage.mac.com/leperous/PhotoAlbum1.html

[DrBB]

27. "Public protest" defined as

...wearing a completely party-neutral "Support Civil Liberties" t-shirt or other innocuous (to any admin NOT dedicated to extinguishing civil liberties) slogan.

These people are un-American. A term I hate. But nothing else fits.

[saigon68]

29. They are beasts

The term thug and hoodlum is not strong enough to describe these Criminals.

[JPZenger]

31. Distinguish Between Disrupters vs. Non-supporters

Certainly if someone is disrupting a rally, they should be removed. However, it is completely un-American for police officers or secret service personnel to assist in removing people because of a T-Shirt they are wearing, which has happened in several cases.

Randi Rhodes told a story of someone being removed from a Bush rally because they had a T-shirt that said "Protect Civil Rights." Talk about ironic.

In Kutztown PA, a person with a ticket to an indoor Bush rally was ordered to leave the building because she showed her Kerry T-shirt.

[young_at_heart]

34. Even the police should realize how "unAmerican" this is

Tickets only....loyalty oaths....throwing out people because of a T-shirt??? THIS is not the US I grew up in. Where is the outrage?

[bitchkitty]

35. Because Bunnypants can't handle the truth, and he's

afraid of "those people".

[jokerman93]

37. these security tactics

are very similar to those employed by religious cults. Rev. Moon would be proud.

[clover]

40. question: isn't this illegal, considering that he speaks

on gov't owned properties? access was restricted at a community college in iowa a few months back, costing thousand$$ from the school's budget to ready the venue, which was a few weeks from building completion, and it really took a toll on the police dept.'s budget as well. are gov't funds used for travel, lodging, etc. for bush's campaigning? thanks