Secret Service Facing Lots of Lawsuits

[L. Coyote]

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/
Dispatches from the Culture War.

Secret Service Facing Lots of Lawsuits

"And rightly so. One of the hallmarks of the Bush administration has been their policy of not allowing any dissent or protest anywhere near the President anywhere he appears. And we're not just talking about protests. There have been dozens of incidents where even people with a Kerry/Edwards sticker on their car, or a button on their shirt, have been removed from the premises wherever Bush is speaking. In Kalamazoo, where the President was speaking at a campaign stop in 2004, a group of students were kicked out of the event merely because members of a Republican group on campus identified them as members of a Democratic group. ..."

Post by Ed Brayton, a freelance writer and businessman. He is the co-founder of Michigan Citizens for Science and The Panda's Thumb and has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education.

You tax dollars at work!!

[rfranklin]

1. They are acting as political secret police instead of....

as protectors of the Preznit's life. In 99 out of 100 cases, I'm willing to bet, those ushered off, arrested, or intimidated have been no threat to Bush.

[L. Coyote]

3. " ...no threat to Bush." Political threats. Political Judges.

" ....I'm willing to bet, those ushered off, arrested, or intimidated have been no threat to Bush."

Exactly. They are a political threat. This is abuse of power. It should be interesting to watch these suits, and see where power really resides--with the appointees on the benches. We may not like the answers!

[napi21]

2. I'm glad many are sueing!

I am sad that it has to be the SS that is being sued because THEY are just doing what they are told to do. Their choice is to do as told or QUIT their job. I have 2 friends who are SS agents, and one of them had the Cheney detail for a while. This agent is really a good guy, and he knows his #1 job is to protect the life of his subject. I hate to see the SS punished for the stupid policies of this admin!

[L. Coyote]

4. Many other jurisdictions are involved

The locals often seem to be doing Bush's bidding w/o regard for citizen rights.

[unblock]

5. what pisses me off is that they've gotten away with it for so long

maybe, MAYBE, there will be a payoff by shrub's EIGTH year of presidency. most likely, the government will make a cash settlement with the plaintiffs. big deal. it won't even be shrub's money or the banana republicans' money. it will be OUR TAX DOLLARS.

so shrub and the gang get to reap the benefit of illegal speech supression for all of his first and at least most of his second term, and if there's a price to be paid, it's still not paid by him.

who says crime doesn't pay?