Freedom of Speech

President Bush delivered a July 4th address before a naturalization ceremony for new citizens at Thomas Jefferson's home of Monticello that was repeatedly interrupted by protesters who called out "war criminal" and "impeach Bush."

According to news accounts, "shouts from protesters were heard during Bush's remarks," while a transcript notes repeated occurrences all through the speech of "Audience disturbance," "Audience interruption," and "Audience interruption continues."

"Protesters made it hard to hear President Bush Friday," Fox News reported.

  Raw Story

He wasn't saying anything worth hearing anyway.

Is this a harbinger of a slight improvement in our situation? Usually in the Reign of George the Bush these people would have been relegated to “free speech zones” and not seen or heard in his presence.

Workers of the World Unite

Thousands of dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports took the day off Thursday, effectively shutting down operations at the busy complexes in what the union called a protest of the war in Iraq but employers worried might be a prelude to labor unrest.

  LA Times

Well, it’s about GD time. I was beginning to think American workers had become Stepford wived.

The stand-down at ports including Los Angeles and Long Beach -- which combined handle 40% of the imported goods arriving in the United States each year -- idled ships and cranes, stranded thousands of big rigs and halted movement of about 10,000 containers during the eight-hour day shift.

And this is no small thing considering the Bush Administration made out to turn May Day into a day of prayer, attempting to roll over both laborers and the divine feminine (just another in a long history of God's people's attempt to destroy that).

Go Home You Stupid Garden Gnomes

Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want any more “Buddhas” on her lawn.

"I had, for five months, [anti-war] people sitting outside my home, going into my garden in San Francisco, angering neighbors, hanging their clothes from trees, building all kinds of things -- Buddhas? I don't know what they were -- couches, sofas, chairs, permanent living facilities on my front sidewalk."

[...]

"We have to make responsible decisions in the Congress that are not driven by the dissatisfaction of anybody who wants the war to end tomorrow," Pelosi told the gathering at the Sofitel, arranged by the Christian Science Monitor. Though crediting activists for their "passion," Pelosi called it "a waste of time" for them to target Democrats. "They are advocates," she said. "We are leaders."

  WaPo

I guess that puts us in our place, eh?

Pelosi admitted no mistakes and claimed no regrets as she reflected on her first session in the speaker's chair. "I'm very proud of the work of this Congress," she declared. Evidently so: She repeated how "proud" she was nine times. Passing the recommendations of the 9/11 commission made her "very proud," while energy legislation made her "very, very proud," and new ethics rules made her "especially proud."

"What do you see as your greatest mistake?" asked one reporter.

Pelosi smiled. "Why don't you tell me?" she proposed. She smiled again, then laughed. " 'Cause I think we're doing just great."

  WaPo

Okay, everybody. Back to Nancy’s house. She obviously isn’t getting it.

Free Speech at the UN

About a dozen anti-war protesters were arrested during a peaceful demonstration of President Bush's speech before the U.N. General Assembly. They were among about 400 people opposing the Bush Administration's war in Iraq, and its incarceration in Guantanamo Bay of more than 300 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban. Many in the crowd wore orange jumpsuit in solidarity with the Guantanamo detainees.

The arrested demonstrators were taken into custody by police after kneeling on the sidewalk in an act of civil disobedience near the United Nations. One of them, 58-year-old Bill Ofenloch of Manhattan, said they were trying to serve an "arrest warrant" on Bush for "high crimes against humanity."

  AP

I would like to tell you what is illegal about kneeling on a sidewalk as a protest, but I don't know any more details. Perhaps it's the proximity to the UN?

Nope, that couldn't be it.

Thousands of protesters jammed into Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the United Nations [...] to speak out against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in New York to attend a meeting of the General Assembly.

Carrying signs that read “Stop Iran Now” and “Israel Is On The Map To Stay,” the older demonstrators set up on the benches that flank the long narrow plaza while the younger set roved about the park with groups of friends.

  Columbia Journalist

Members of the anti-war group Code Pink performed a bit of street theater where a person wearing a Bush mask was arrested.

"What do we say?" shouted Code Pink's Medea Benjamin. "Arrest the criminal!"

The crowd picked up the chant. Once the arrests were made, the rest of the group began marching downtown. The demonstrators, in orderly fashion, walked along the sidewalks since they lacked a permit for a street march.

  AP

I would also like to tell you what's illegal about wearing a Bush mask. I'm just not very helpful today.

Cuba‘s foreign minister walked out of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday in protest of President Bush‘s speech in which he said the "long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing its end" on the communist island.

  News One

Luckily, he's a foreign diplomat, or he might have been arrested, too.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Anti-War Protests in DC

The first major protest against the Iraq War in Washington since January kicked off today with speeches near the White House, to be followed by a "die-in" at the U.S. Capitol featuring the playing of taps and a mock 21-gun salute.

Protesters and counter-protesters started to gather by 8:30 a.m. for the event, which is expected to be followed by a week of civil disobedience in the Washington area intended to shift the anti-war movement to a more confrontational phase.

[...]

The demonstrators were immediately confronted by several hundred counter-protesters, who came to the Mall to demand that politicians see the war through to victory. At a large stage on the Mall at 7th Street, speakers said they did not want to abandon the Iraqi people, as they said America had done in ending the Vietnam war, and that they wanted soldiers to be shown respect when they returned from Iraq.

  WaPo

There are a lot of directions to go with that line about the pro-war people not wanting to abandon the Iraqi people, but I'm not going in any of them.

Anti war protesters who approached the fringes of the counterdemonstration on the Mall were quickly chased off. One man in a tie dye t-shirt was surrounded by several screaming counterdemonstrators who called him a traitor.

Okay, well maybe I'll say this: they weren't meaning he was a traitor against the Iraqi people, I'm quite sure.

"[The counter-protest] will be a lot of bull horns, a lot of 'singing God Bless America', " said Betty Kilbride, 48, of Arlington, a writer who described herself as supporting the troops. Deborah King-Lile, 55, of St. Augustine, Fla. said the Gathering of Eagles prided themselves on not being arrested at protests. "We just want a chance to show America we don't agree with the vocal minority."

Minority?

An Outside View

It is indeed, discouraging to see serious military scholars(Kinseki, Abizaid, Powell et al) twisting in the foul breezes from Crawford.

Now, we have Petreaus evidently channeling Gonzales and the Ides of September promise more whimpers, although the bangs continue apace elsewhere.

Outside the Land of the Brave, we watch in shock+awe as the Yellow rose abnegates all that is true or fair or just with impunity.

If your chattering classes can't muster, say a million, in the streets of Washington this saturday (A pittance compared to the 15+ million of us who pleaded with you to arrest these criminals in March of '03) then its time for you to STFU, bend over and take your just deserts.

We find it inconceivable that Petreaus skates without ever beig asked about "Ass kicking".

Your MSM is back to Brittany 24/7+ Wolfie piddles about Mexican truckers trying to make a living.

Read some Roumanian History for hints on how real people deal with this bullshit or go back to the Mall, chickenshits chattering about chickenhawks, cowards all of you, except maybe Ms. Sheehan and her son and all who serve.

Honour the troops, my ass.

BTW, nice all those tributes to Pat Tillman around the league this sunday, Hooha.

Best of Luck

Posted by: gavin immerson

Date: September 11, 2007 9:13 PM

  TPM Muckraker Comment

He's absolutely right, of course. But I won't be in Washington. I've only been on the streets twice during this whole long ordeal.

How about you?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Land of the Free

You know those soldiers who are "over there" fighting for your right to disagree with your government over here? Maybe they don't know about this.

Mounted police charged in to break up an outdoor press conference and demonstration against the Iraq war in Washington on Thursday, arresting three people, organizers and an AFP reporter said.

"The police suppressed the press conference. In the middle of the speeches, they grabbed the podium" erected in a park in front of the White House for the small gathering, Brian Becker, national organizer of the ANSWER anti-war coalition, told AFP.

"Then, mounted police charged the media present to disperse them," Becker said.

The charge caused a peaceful crowd of some 20 journalists and four or five protestors to scatter in terror, an AFP correspondent at the event in Lafayette Square said. No one appeared to have been hurt.

Three people -- Tina Richards, the mother of a marine who did two tours of duty in Iraq; Adam Kokesh, a leader of the Iraq Veterans Against the War group; and lawyer Ian Thompson, who is an organizer for ANSWER in Los Angeles -- were arrested, Becker said.

  Raw Story

I’m not finding any more information on this, so I don’t know what the police were saying about violations of any kind or why they were crashing this protest. My guess is that they weren't in a "Free Speech Zone", but I don't know.

Back in the days during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq when tempers were short and many more people were in favor of the whole insane affair, I was participating in an arborists' forum on the internet that provided a space for political discussion as well. The more rabid among the crowd would, out of one side of their mouth, be telling people like me to get out of the country, move to France, while out of the other side of their mouth (or keyboard, as it were), they would be spouting "patriotic" cliches and insisting that one of the things that is great about this country that we apparently didn't appreciate was that we are free to disagree and hold our traitorous anti-war views, and that they would be willing to fight to the death for our right to speak them. I always politely suggested they run on down to the nearest recruitment center, and as the age restrictions for enlistment kept rising, that particular line of attacking us went silent and the one where we were scum because we weren't supporting the troops who were already fighting for our right to disagree was used instead.

Rumble Down Under

The largest protest so far during US President George W. Bush's visit to Sydney ended peacefully Wednesday, but police predicted a "full-scale riot" later in the week.

About 300 students, many still in their high school uniforms, marched through central Sydney chanting anti-war slogans in protest at the US leader's presence in Australia for this week's Asia-Pacific summit.

[...]

But authorities successfully appealed in the courts for a curb on the main protest action planned for Saturday, which police estimate could attract up to 20,000 demonstrators.

Chief superintendent Steven Cullen, head of the state Public Order and Riot Squad, said he had never been so worried about a demonstration in his career, predicting "horrendous" implications for public safety.

"Police lines will come under attack and a full-scale riot is probable," Cullen told the Supreme Court.

  Raw Story

Well, that's an interesting stance to take.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

ANSWER Update

Actually, ANSWER wasn't even fined anything. They were told to take down the illegal posters or face fines.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Response to ANSWER

A reader sent a comment to my earlier post (see the comments) about ANSWER being fined in regards to its posters for a September 15 march in DC. I haven't tried to check it out, but the commenter offers the following as the contents of an email from the DC Department of Public Works citing ANSWER's violations of code:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: LINDA GRANT

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 (202) 671-2375/desk

(202) 497-1080/cell

Linda.grant@dc.gov


DPW STATEMENT REGARDING FINES LEVIED FOR IMPROPERLY POSTED ANTI-WAR POSTERS


*

DC regulations (DCMR Title 24, Section 108) provide guidelines for posting signs in public space. The regulations balance free speech with keeping the city neat by: 1. supporting the right to free speech by giving people access to public space to express themselves; and 2. Keeping the public space from appearing cluttered by limiting the number of signs per block. The District hosts marches and protests all the time and we never weigh in on the merits of the issues, rather our role is to keep the city neat.


*

DPW asks people to respect District of Columbia residents by following the guidelines.


*

These posters were improperly placed for the following reasons:


o

More than three signs were posted on one side of a block, the guidelines limit the number to three. (108.10)
o

The posters were placed on more than lampposts, which is the only place where they are allowed. (100, which says if the site is not mentioned, posters cannot be placed there.)
o

The posters were fixed to lampposts and utility boxes using an adhesive, which is not allowed. The larger posters are taking 20 to 30 minutes to remove. (108.9)
o

The posters do not provide the date they were placed. (108.7)
o

No one filed two copies of the materials with the Mayor's DC government designee (Office of Surface Permits). The filing should be made within 24 hours of posting each sign and include the name, address, and telephone number of the posters' originator. (108.11)

If true, it would seem that ANSWER's claim to have been within the law is false. It might be interesting to have some information on other fines for poster infractions in DC. But I'm much too lazy to check into it.

Update 8/16/07: ANSWER wasn't actually fined, after all. They were told to remove the illegal posters or be fined.

ANSWER Fined $10,000

The anti-war group has been fined for putting up posters in DC announcing a September 15 march on the capitol. ANSWER says the posters are legal and that they expect more fines to come. Bob explains that it was at the urging of Fox News and offers ANSWER's response and a way you can help.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Update: See "Response to ANSWER"

Every Picture Tells a Story

"Liberation" of Baghdad Celebration, April 9, 2003

Anti-American Protests on the 4-Year Anniversary of the "Liberation", April 9, 2007

U.S. Department of Pre-Crime

I just came across this. Amongst the cyclists who were arrested just prior to the 2004 Republican Convention, a young man with a very clever invention was prevented from protesting as well. And lost a lot of expensive equipment to NYC in the bargain, which I hope will be returned to him, if it hasn't already. Too bad they can't return the opportunity to complete his thesis.

Josh Kinberg's blog, Bikes Against Bush, has the story, along with other information about Free Speech Zones and police spying on peace demonstrators, and another young man, Josh Wolf, who went to jail when he refused to turn over video he took at a San Francisco protest.

Wolf, who was released on April 3 after spending 8 months in prison, also has a blog: The Revolution Will Be Televised.

The first and last reason

President Bush answered growing antiwar protests yesterday with a fresh reason for US troops to continue fighting in Iraq: protection of the country's vast oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists, the AP reported Wednesday via the (registration-restricted) Boston Globe.

  Raw Story article

I guess it's okay to tell the truth now that gas is approaching $4.00 per gallon.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Power to the people

It never seems to actually manifest, does it?

However, there's a lot of "people power" blowing through the countries of our Southern neighbors. Why not here?

With support for his war in Iraq plummeting and a massive protest against the war looming, Bush has been forced to do a little "work" this week. The White House has announced that he will take a break from his five-week vacation for a "five-day push" to try to shore up support for the war. But now the tide has turned decisively against his administration's criminal war - and there is no going back. This powerful sentiment has been stated most firmly - not by the loyal opposition of the Democratic Party, but from the people themselves. The Democrats have taken to the airwaves to announce that they support even more troops going to Iraq! It is the people that have mobilized to stop the war and it is the people who are mobilizing to force Congress to introduce articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney and their partners in war crimes.

[...]

ImpeachBush and VotetoImpeach members are organizing contingents from around the country to be at the White House on September 24 to join in the huge antiwar protest and march. We have learned that the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, which is organizing the antiwar protest at the White House, has obtained permits to rally on both sides of the White House and has secured the first march permit in years to go on Pennsylvania Avenue directly in front of the White House!

And if I weren't leaving the country Wednesday for a teaching position in Mexico, I would be there.

For more information, check here:

The Great Uniter

Maybe if we stay the course, Iraq won't be the only country embroiled in civil war.

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah television station has rejected an antiwar advertisement featuring the California mother whose son's death in Iraq prompted her August vigil outside President George W. Bush's Texas ranch, deeming it "inappropriate" for the local market.

In the ad, Cindy Sheehan pleads with Bush for a meeting and accuses him of lying to the American people about Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction and about that country's connection to al-Qaida.

[...]

A national sales representative for KTVX, the local ABC affiliate, rejected the 60-second spot in an e-mail to media buyers, calling it an "inappropriate commercial advertisement for Salt Lake City."

  Edmonton Sun article

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Salt Lake City's Mayor Rocky Anderson used e-mail this week to call for "the biggest demonstration this state has ever seen," when President Bush appears before a national veterans convention Monday.

Anderson says Bush policies are disastrous for the country and that to stay quiet during the president's visit would be send a message of apathy.

The mayor's e-mail called for a collaboration of health care advocates, seniors, gay and lesbian advocates, anti-Patriot advocates, civil libertarians and anti-war folks to protest outside the convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

  KPVI article

[A] patriotic camp with a "God Bless Our President!" banner sprung up in downtown Crawford, Texas Saturday, countering the anti-war demonstration started by Sheehan. The camp is named "Fort Qualls," in memory of Marine Lance Cpl. Louis Wayne Qualls, 20, who died in Iraq last fall.

   article

Because being anti-war is unpatriotic, remember.


"The citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal; he is a traitor........Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul." -- Mark Twain

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Where the vigils weren't

Interactive map at MoveOn.

Vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan

Columbia, Missouri.

Small, but present.


Complete with warmongers. They've gotten organized now that the anti-war crowd is growing.

Aside from the inane "Remember 9/11", the second girl's sign reads, "50,000 terrorists dead or captured. We are winning!"

Alas, some people just don't get it. Perhaps they never will.

Thanks to Marlon and Kelley for organizing the vigil, and to Marlon for reciting Gil Scott-Heron's "Work for Peace"...

The Military and the Monetary.
Get together whenever they think its necessary,
they've turned our brothers and sisters into mercenaries,
they are turning the planet into a cemetery.

From the talented TJ at POAC
who could use some help getting to Crawford

AP photos from other vigils: Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Omaha, Jackson (MS)

Uh-oh

Denver police say a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force has admitted to vandalizing cars bearing pro-President Bush bumper stickers at Denver International Airport

[...]

Lt. Colonel Alexis Fecteau, 42, of Colorado Springs, turned himself in to Denver police Friday.

  9News.com article

Sounds French to me.

"It was pretty good police work," said Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson. He said his department took this case very seriously. "You still have a right to express yourself in this country and you shouldn't have your car vandalized because of it."

But, maybe you should go to jail?

So much to do, so little time

Apologies for the gap in service. Departure time to México is rapidly approaching. Last minute chores and arrangements are conflicting with blogging.

Let's get started...

This billboard in Wellington, New Zealand, was defaced

[...]

The Hell Pizza billboards have been erected around Auckland and Wellington. Half of the poster is taken up with a photo of the president and the other half has the phrase 'Hell: Too Good For Some Evil Bastards.'

Raw Story article