The Manual for Silencing Dissent

clipmarks on July 5th, 2007 filed in Politics

Juxtapose this against the President’s remarks on “freedom and democracy” during the Fourth of July celebrations… doesn’t seem at all free or democratic to me.

The ACLU said it is clear from the manual that the aim of the White House policy is to keep people who are critical of the president away from him and from the news media. According to the manual, “if it is determined that the media will not see or hear” demonstrators, then event staff can ignore them. The manual’s guidelines are designed for use at all presidential events, not just fundraisers or political rallies. However, the ACLU noted that there are stricter constitutional guidelines for taxpayer-funded events than for privately- or politically-funded events.

“When the president attends a public event, the First Amendment does not allow him to speak or listen only to those who agree with him,” said Arthur Spitzer, Legal Director of the ACLU of the National Capital Area and co-counsel in the lawsuit. “Public places cannot be ‘cleansed’ of all dissent just to make the president look popular on television.”

Clipped from www.aclu.org

Technorati Tags: politics ACLU dissent george w bush culture of corruption

2 Responses to “The Manual for Silencing Dissent”

Lori Says:
July 6th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
“Public places cannot be ‘cleansed’ of all dissent…

Sure, they can. It’s called “oppression”. (Not to be confused with suppression, which is just as bad.)

Ugh. If we get out from under the horseshit this administration alone has dumped in its 7-year reign within 50 years, I’ll be sorely amazed.
Áine Says:
July 6th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
You and me both. Corruption is running rampant, doesn’t matter which political party we’re talking about really, and it’s infected pretty much all aspects of the business world, as well. I keep hoping there’s a few white-hatted intelligence agents who will spill the beans and put a stop to all this crap, but I know it would never get in the mainstream press… at least, not in the USA.