White House Manual Details How to Deal With Protesters »
Posted By berkeley 1 year, 1 month ago in NewsThe White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn't want any. A White House manual that came to light recently gives presidential staffers extensive instructions in the art of "deterring potential protestors" from President Bush's public appearances.
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bubba21 year, 1 month ago
This 'manual' is a violation of free speech and free expression - i.e. a violation of the Constitution.
I have not been in a circumstance where I could have been "deterred" from protesting, but if I ever am, I will SUE, and I hope that anyone (like the 3 people 'thrown out' of a Bush appearance a few years ago out west - they sued and they won) that encounters this will sue the government.
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e27181 year, 1 month ago
The US Constitution, Amendment I guarantees "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
That's about as specific as you can get without naming Bush directly. If he doesn't want to have to listen to the protesters, all he has to do is resign and cease being part of the government.
As to all of the Bush supporters who believe that Bush has the power to decide which parts of America are free speech zones and which aren't: You obviously don't understand America, and don't love it. Feel free to find a country consistent with desire for limited freedom, and live there in peace.
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MiraJane1 year, 1 month ago
bubba,
if it's a private event, then there is no "free speech" protection for anyone. that's the law.
in 2004, Laura's husband was at a fundraiser near where I live. and it was as stated in the story, no one but the invited could come within half a mile of him. major roads were closed down three hours before his arrival. the protest area was at the edge of that half mile, ringed with state and county police and secret service.
I've got a picture of my dog peeing on a secret service car; the CBS camera crew took the picture for me. my dog got steak for dinner that night.
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bubba21 year, 1 month ago
You are correct about being IN a private event. But OUTSIDE of the event, across the street or whatever, is NOT "private".
The Bushies set up "free speech zones" -- there is NO SUCH THING! Any area that is PUBLIC domain allows peaceful protests.
I can't go into the White House, but at the point where the area is 'public' around the White House, I CAN protest.
As dandt1612 said below, this suppression of free speech has NEVER been this bad.
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hamy1 year, 1 month ago
Is anyone suprised anymore at the supression tacticts of this administration? Please. This president is so full of B.S. his eyes are brown.
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tanglang1 year, 1 month ago
If you paid for a ticket to hear someone speak, and some idiot was there protesting so you can't what the speaker is saying, you would not be pi$sed?
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Charlson1 year, 1 month ago
The couple who sued didn't disrupt the rally with large signs or shouted anti-Bush slogans. They were wearing t-shirts with Bush's photo with a red slash across his face. I doubt that interferred with anyone's attempt to listen to what the jerk had to say. You're just pi$$ed they weren't sheeps like you.
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hamy1 year, 1 month ago
Anyone who would pay to hear Bush speak should buy this snake oil I have right here that can cure cancer and bad breath at the same time.
Really if someone is that stupid, tests should be done to see how they are still able to function in a modern world.
And if I were that dumb, I don't think I would be able to understand the protest anyway, as I would be too busy jingling keys in front of my own face.
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Raiderwall1 year, 1 month ago
Another piece of evidence that proves this adminstration is not a government of, for, or by the people. It's about as UN-AMERICAN as you can get. All the flag waving, and talk of supporting troops is just trype meant for the peons who make up the president's ever shrinking base of support.
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CORVIDIVS1 year, 1 month ago
SIMILARLY THIS:
http://news.google.ca/news/url?sa=t&ct=ca/0-0-0...
a story I just submitted about the meeting Bush is attending today [or was it yesterday], whereby the peaceful protesters supposedly had Police Agents Provacteur amongst them trying to turn things ugly.We Canucks can be just as corrupt...
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zman1 year, 1 month ago
What a coward this so called president is - he does not want to see the people he was elected to represent - is that not the definition of arrogance and the antithesis of Democracy. Let's learn the many lessons about selecting Leaders that unfortunately we've had to endure because of our last pathetic mistake. I absolutely cannot understand why this President has not been Impeached for his many serious transgressions. The Bush legacy is one of failure, arrogance, disgrace, and illegal action on the grandest scale.
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e27181 year, 1 month ago
> The entire Democrat ideal is to be the opposition party.
You are confused. When the Democrats were the minority party, all they could do is work in opposition. Just as the Republican party has been reduced to the party of "we don't know how to win the war, or how to get our of the war, but we'll make sure nothing changes!"
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slate1 year, 1 month ago
WE DID that's why no dem has been elected the last two times, though I have to admit your choice of candidates have been weak and those you have up again are about the same, though Bush hasn't been close to stellar, one can hope someone from one or the other pary will step up and be a good choice, I won't hold my breath.
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djrevelky1 year, 1 month ago
ProudBlueTexan,
PREACH ON BROTHER!
I will never forget how spineless, prostate, and defenseless America was before Bush.
I will never forget how many times terrorist attacked us and how many times we retaliated by shooting a baby food factory.
I will never forget that America has not been attacked once since Bush took the war to the terrorist.
I will never forget lower taxes that have allowed myself and my family to have more money in our pockets.
I will never forget expanded Medicare benefits that take care of our elderly.
I will never forget that while Clinton spoon-fed dictators in North Korea and Libya that Bush disarmed them.
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_-m-_1 year, 1 month ago
Times America has been defenseless -- zero. (ever)
Number of times America attacked by Iraq -- zero. (ever)
There is NO SUCH THING as a 'war on terror'. _Terrorism_ is a CONCEPT, a set of methods and techniques. _War_ is a political tool that can only be exercised against nations, not concepts.
The only result of the Shrub's illegal pre-emptive attack upon a nation that had nothing to do with the attack on September 11 has done nothing but cause the death of thousands of american soldiers, tens of thousands of civilians, and to make the world a far MORE DANGEROUS place.
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djn3nunez31 year, 1 month ago
--I will never forget how spineless, prostate, and defenseless America was before Bush.
We were never more defenseless than during the first 8 months of his presidency. They knew a spectacular attack was coming but did nothing to stop it.
--I will never forget how many times terrorist attacked us and how many times we retaliated by shooting a baby food factory.
The only people who stated that were America's enemies overseas, and of course you believe them don't you?
--I will never forget that America has not been attacked once since Bush took the war to the terrorist.
The POS diverted the war on the terrorist who attacked us on 9-11 to the blunderous invasion and occupation of an oil rich Arab nation that did not attack us. Which is exactly what bin Laden wanted the US to do.
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HonestlyNow1 year, 1 month ago
Today, while at the Reno, Nevada, Veterans Administration
Hospital, I saw many Veterans who, like myself, were appalled
at The Dictator Bush! He was on TV talking to a MidWest V.F.W.
and blantantly there was canned applause that sounded totally phony!! The Dictator Bush clearly sees himself as becoming such as the one in the movie "V" for Vendetta!! What I found fictitionously odd was that within less than a hour, The Dictator Bush was allegedly to come to Reno to talk to the V.F.W. Convention here! The local newspaper said "The public is not invited" as its last statement. The Dictator Bush was desperately trying to make parallels between WWII, The Korean Conflict, The Vietnam Conflict,
and the current occupation of Iraq!IMPEACH NOW!
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LumFan1 year, 1 month ago
Oh my! Now we see that we no longer have a Commander-in-Chief, but a head of the Republican pep squad. Is that what we in the USA have come to?
Now I know what Bush will do after he leaves the office. He is going to be in the WWE in charge of the Spirit Squad. ;)
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CORVIDIVS1 year, 1 month ago
I THINK AN IMPORTANT Hallmark in all of this is that he was indeed elected, is the end of a long chain of need to know management, isn't necessarilly running the show, but getting on with and old program not needing to have to be GOP...
IN A WAY, POLITICS, that dirty word, has its crescendo in the current setting...
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_-m-_1 year, 1 month ago
Actually, there's still significant doubt that he's _ever_ been elected.
In 2000 he was not elected. He was effectively _appointed_ by the Supreme Court, who set aside the mandatory recount laws in place in Florida in order to do so. (Read the actual Supreme Court ruling. It's on the Supreme Court website. They set aside the time requirements and gave a deadline to complete the recount that was within ninety minutes of issuing their verdict [a deadline impossible to meet], disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of Florida voters.)
In 2004, instead of Florida, the swing state was Ohio, which was delivered by Diebold and Ken Blackwell. They've already tried and convicted poll workers involved with Ohio's recounts for ballot tampering, but brushed it under the rug, claiming 'it could not have affected the outcome of the election'. That assessment is disputed, but it was never picked up by the mainstream press. (Google using: Ohio poll workers convicted).
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jovial1 year, 1 month ago
This is a manual right out of Kim Jong Il's playbook. Grand theatrical appearances of prosperity and little dissent. All the while the misery is just out of sight. Beyond the facade.
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SlapALib1 year, 1 month ago
Rally squads? That's funny.
I figure if the administration put as much time planning its moves as it did into crafting this manual, then there wouldn't have been as much need for the manual.
"People have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room." -- George W. Bush, July 2007
That's it in a nutshell. A mindset of reaction instead of getting out ahead of issues.
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SlapALib1 year, 1 month ago
Non-profits still charge people for treatment. Some of the care has to be charity to maintain their tax exempt status, but not all of it.
There's been a ruckus up in Congress about non-profits not providing enough charity care while paying execs lavish salaries. I have seen nothing to indicate that Congress has done anything to resolve the issue.
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joeblowe1 year, 1 month ago
In a way, that's correct. By law, an emergency room has to treat someone until they are medically stable. Which means: someone shows up having a heart attack, they have to help them until they are stable. It does NOT mean they have to perform the quadruple bypass that's really needed to FIX the problem. It does not mean they are required to provide the medications that are needed every day to help PREVENT this condition. Health CARE is a different thing than emergency medical treatment. And anyway, that whole notion completely overlooks the fact that if everyone did just as he suggests, soon there would BE no hospitals to go to as no one could POSSIBLY pay emergency room fees out of pocket for anything half way serious. The hospital would go broke -- just as many are doing in the Southwest where illegals avail themselves of this type treatment regularly.
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kymbolini1 year, 1 month ago
what happened to the great country having freedoms and tagged under liberty and the bill of rights along with your constitution : all that was flushed down the toilet when you voted in george w bush
what do you expect when you have a nutter in charge that ius a lier and just full of ******e
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bourbon581 year, 1 month ago
I wonder if the manual has instructions on how to Goose step,
or the proper angle of the arm when shouting Heil.
The sad thing is there are still people who defend and support this non-sense, these are the truely frightening individuals.
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slate1 year, 1 month ago
Protesters at this summer's Democratic National Convention in Boston may be confined to a cozy triangle of land off Haymarket Square, blocked off from the FleetCenter and convention delegates by a maze of Central Artery service roads, MBTA train tracks, and a temporary parking lot holding scores of buses and media trucks.
What's the point to just have a rally, when you don't have an audience for whom the rally is organized?
"The area looks a little silly, to be honest with you," said Urszula Masny-Latos, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild's Massachusetts chapter. "People will not be able to express their concerns with whatever will be happening, because no one will have access to delegates. No one will be heard, and the area is just too small."
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slate1 year, 1 month ago
Urszula Masny-Latos, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild's Massachusetts chapter
Under a preliminary plan floated by convention organizers, the "free-speech zone" would be a small plot bounded by Green Line tracks and North Washington Street, in an area that until recently was given over to the elevated artery. The zone would hold as few as 400 of the several thousand protesters who are expected in Boston in late July.
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slate1 year, 1 month ago
Radio station WIOD, AM 610, has been the official channel for emergency information from Broward County government for the past year. The County Commission, all Democrats, balked at renewing the deal Tuesday, unable to stomach the station also being home to [Rush] Limbaugh's talk show. ... And so we reach the inevitable end of the left's campaign against the First Amendment. The Democrats in Broward County have officially declared themselves as the anti-free speech party. Commissioner Ritter is to be applauded for her candor, for declaring openly what elected Democrats across the country mutter quietly to themselves: "Rush, Sean and the rest must be silenced!"
I have heard of brass-knuckled politics before, but never anything on the order of denying your political opponents news of approaching hurricanes.
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djn3nunez31 year, 1 month ago
---The Democrats in Broward County have officially declared themselves as the anti-free speech party.
Really, did they try to get Rush Lyingbaugh off the air or just try and not have 610 not be an official channel for emergency information.
Rush and Sean are liars and are nothing but foul mouthed buffoons that frankly, I can't see how any rational individual would beleive their one sided, derogatory tripe.
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slate1 year, 1 month ago
http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com/2007/06/29/de...
Yeah baby!!! Democrat free speech issues are so much more fair than the evil Republicans
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djn3nunez31 year, 1 month ago
Every politican the Rush Lyingbaugh denigs on his show should have the oppertunity to address the charges this self proclaimed genious utters.
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slate1 year, 1 month ago
Because it makes people have to listen to a certain view,,, look we all know that liberal talk always fails,,, if they didn't there would be more, afterall it's about money in the end.... how bout putting a right leaner next to the left leners on every news cast on ABC, CBS, NBC and the others; as well as all the newspapers in the country? Would you also be ok with that?
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unome21 year, 1 month ago
Everyday this White House makes me more embarrassed to be an America.
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evelyna1 year, 1 month ago
Bush is a puppet for the corporate dictators and does not want to be involved in any controversy. He just wants to do what he is told and go home to have his beer and coke.
Ohio state does not look like the worse it will get. I think soom there will be people shot down in center square.
The right are not christains or are they?
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joeblowe1 year, 1 month ago
The ACLU has nothing to do with that. To prevent THAT happening, you need to contact your representatives in Washington. It would require an act of Congress to make illegal invaders somehow become legal.
I will allow as how I do NOT agree with the ACLU position with respect to illegal aliens, however. I have already tried to remind them that they are the AMERICAN Civil Liberties Union - not the Illegal Alien Civil Liberties Union. They insist on running their business to suit themselves, not me.
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walden31 year, 1 month ago
boy in a bubble.
more fitting to the kremlin than the USA.
so much for our right to "peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
"demonstrators who manage to get in anyway should be shouted down by "rally squads" stationed in strategic locations."
is this what we deserve aristocratic leaders insulated from the masses?
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