Jose Bove's Not Welcome in Bush's USA

[Sequoia]

Few figures have contributed more to the debate about corporate globalization than Jose Bove, the French farmer whose dismantling of a McDonald's restaurant that was under construction near his sheep farm was something of a "shot-heard-round-the-world" in the struggle against the homogenization of food, culture and lifestyles.

While his assault on the local manifestation of the restaurant chain that has come to symbolize the one-size-fits-all character of globalization was a blunt act, Bove is known in France and abroad as a thoughtful theorist and strategist whose critique of the World Trade Organization's pro-corporate agenda has done much to alert activists around the world to the threats posed to workers, farmers, communities and democracy by WTO moves that allow multinational firms to disregard the laws and traditions of countries in which they operate.

But Bove, who has been a frequent visitor to the United States since he played an important part in the 1999 anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle, is no longer welcome in George W. Bush's America.

When he arrived Wednesday at New York's JFK Airport on a trip that was supposed to take him to Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations for events sponsored by Cornell's Global Labor Institute, Bove was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who told him he was suddenly "ineligible" to enter the U.S. Before the night was done, Bove was hustled onto an Air France flight that returned him to his homeland.

<le snip>

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0210-35.htm

[LynnTheDem]

1. Typical.

Let's just keep showing the world what we really think of "freedom" and "democracy".

Like they didn't already know long ago.

[Kierkegaard]

2. Hey, who can blame them?

Wouldn't want any smart people showing up here and spreading around truths, would we?

:sarcasm:

[Sequoia]

4. That reminds me (sort of off base though)

I just finished "Founding Myths" a book about the stories of the Revoluntary War that are bogus but written as gospel truth in history books...Molly Pitcher, Paul Reverve being the only rider, slaves being happy on the plantation and not wanting to join the Brits, etc. Anyway, the author mentions how this woman from the Daughters of Colonial American (?) wanted kids history books to be all about teaching "Americanism" and not to let the kids think for themselves by not telling the Brit's side of the story and making them out to be pure evil and blood thristy. Also, at Kings Mountian in SC the armies were tories and patriots, and only 1 British commander. The patriots would call out their Torie neighbor's name and kill them. It was a very blood thirsty battle and I went there as a kid. The lies, I tell you...the lies. It's a great book if you like history and the Revolutionary War like me. He rips apart that lying movie with Mel Gibson, "The Patriot" which I thought was pretty funny!!

[YOY]

3. My one criticism of Bove is that he was not critical of Quick

The French fast food chain.

I'm no fan of MacDs, but if you're gonna take on Globalized fast food that hurts local farmers, then don't be afraid to take down your own country's as well.

Other than that I feel for the guy. Escorted out on "Moral Crimes"...sounds a little strange to me. I think this might be a publicity stunt, because it just sounds too strange...why did they offer him a visa in the first place?

Ah well, if it's true either way then it is no surpise to me.

[depakid]

5. People get booted ALL OF THE TIME for less

It just rarely makes what passes for "news" in America.

You may or may not remember this:

Bernadette Devlin McAliskey -- a former member of the British Parliament who was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize -- was detained by immigration officials in Chicago on February 21 and denied entry into the country because of "national security" concerns.

INS agents threatened to arrest, jail and even shoot the legendary Irish civil rights advocate when she arrived at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com//mcaliskey.html