Posted on 05/14/2004 8:20:31 AM PDT by freeeee
The King made a royal visit to Wisconsin last week, and as is common when monarchs travel, individual liberties were suspended.
King George Bush's bus trip across western Wisconsin closed schools and roads, prevented residents from moving freely in their own communities, and prevented citizens from exercising their free speech rights.
All in all, it was a typical George W. Bush visit.
But there's a slight twist.
People in western Wisconsin, who hold to the refreshingly naive notion that they live in a republic as opposed to an imperial realm, are objecting.
"There's a pattern of harassment of free speech here that really concerns me," says Guy Wolf, the student services coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. "If they're going to call it a presidential visit, then it should be a presidential visit - where we can hear from him and he can hear from us. But that's not what happened here, not at all."
Wolf and other La Crosse area residents who wanted to let the president know their feelings about critical issues came face to face with the reality that, when King George travels, he is not actually interested in a two-way conversation.
Along the route of the Bush bus trip from Dubuque to La Crosse, the Bush team created a "no-free-speech" zone that excluded any expressions of the dissent that is the lifeblood of democracy. In Platteville, peace activist Frank Van Den Bosch was arrested for holding up a sign that was critical of the president. The sign's "dangerous" message, "FUGW," was incomprehensible to children and, no doubt, to many adults. Yet, it was still determined sufficiently unsettling to the royal procession that Van Den Bosch was slapped with a disorderly conduct ticket.
Up the road in La Crosse, the clampdown on civil liberties was even more sweeping. Wolf and hundreds of other Wisconsinites and Minnesotans who sought to express dissents were videotaped by authorities, told they could not make noise, ordered not to display certain signs and forced to stand out of eyesight of Bush and his entourage. Again and again, they were told that if they expressed themselves in ways that were entirely protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, they would be "subject to arrest."
"Everyone understood the need for basic security for the president, but none of us could understand why we had to give up our free speech rights," explained Wolf.
La Crosse Mayor John Medinger shares that concern. The Bush-Cheney campaign leased a portion of a local park where the royal rally was held. Yet, Wisconsinites who wanted to protest Bush's visit were told they could not use a sound system in a completely different section of the park.
"I want to find out why the whole park was used when only a portion was leased," Medinger told the La Crosse Tribune. "So when demonstrators were told they couldn't have (sound) systems, the question is why."
The Bush-Cheney campaign paid a $100 fee to use one part of the park, but disrupted much of the city. Medinger is now assessing the full cost of the royal visit and hopes to deliver a bill to the campaign, which State Elections Board attorney George Dunst says the Bush campaign should pay. Other communities, including Prairie du Chien, are looking at following Medinger's lead.
But the challenge should not just be a financial one. The Bush visit attacked First Amendment rights up and down the Mississippi. A lot of people are owed apologies.
In a monarchy, of course, the King never apologizes. But in a democracy, the president is supposed to be accountable to the people.
By pressing demands that the charges against Frank Van Den Bosch be dropped and that the White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign apologize for participating in an anti-democratic endeavor, residents of western Wisconsin can, and should, take up the cause of this country's founders. It is time once more to challenge a King named George.
Caption: President Bush waves to crowds from his campaign bus as he passes through Prairie du Chien last Friday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Clinton had a habit of travelling through the streets of NYC during afternoon rush hour. Practically shut half of the city down.
None of these actions would be protected in any other venue political or not. And each situation was dealt with in a way that did not violate anyones rights Bush's or the hippy's. But at least all this allowed you to engage in a vain "I'm more conservative than the rest of you smucks" moment. Good luck with that.
The key phrase here is the rabble wanted to use loud speakers. We have seen the left cause such disruptions that the speaker cannot be heard. George Bush has the right to be heard also, and here's another little fact, people turned out to hear him speak, not the rabble rousers.
You and your ilks behaviour has been witnessed when ever the right attempts to make their sound points, you scream them down rather than let the truth be heard or any view other than your communist drivel mindlessly chanted like idiot drones.
The left is dying in the USofA, after decades of destruction, failed policies and ideals, no one cares to hear their dying screams and no one will mourn their passing.
At the expense of free speech and assembly?? HELL NO! The people in attendence at his public appearances will determine that what kind of photo-op he gets.
Public servants in free countries are not immune to protest or criticism when they are in public.
If W doesn't like it he can run for office in China or Singapore. Or stay away from the public.
Try having a little more Whine with that Wisconsin Cheese.
"In Platteville, peace activist Frank Van Den Bosch was arrested for holding up a sign that was critical of the president. The sign's "dangerous" message, "FUGW," was incomprehensible to children and, no doubt, to many adults."
What is this all about?
Debate the issue or go stink up another thread.
There are pics on a couple of old threads, but I couldn't locate them.
freeeee wrote:
Hypocrites, all.
I have a strong feeling they really don't care about most things they derided Clinton for. They're very opportunistic and will use free speech as a vehicle for criticism when it suits their purposes.
But their guy can do no wrong, even when he does the same exact things. Notice how angry they get when called on it. You can practically see the spittle on their computer monitors. "The Cult of Personality" explains a lot of it.
Hundreds of protesters turn out to greet BushBy LINDA McALPINE, La Crosse Tribune
Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, an Arab sheik and a Roman emperor were among the hundreds of protesters who turned out to chant, shout and sing their displeasure with President Bush. Protesters had planned to hold a rally of their own at the same time as the presidential rally but had to settle for a less formal event and a bullhorn. Speakers still addressed issues such as the environment, labor, peace, senior citizens and veterans.
Richard Wieland of Holmen, Wis., was able to make two statements on his 12-foot-tall, two-sided protest sign.
The one side said, "Regime change begins at home," with the flip side saying, "We're making more enemies than we can kill."
Wieland said he had been part of protests elsewhere in the state. When asked how this one was going, he said, "It's been very orderly."
Along with his hand-lettered sign � "American Democracy or American Empire n Which Will It Be?" � Dwayne Voegeli of Winona, Minn., wore a Roman emperor costume to try to get his point across.
"I'm hoping to remind people of their history lessons," Voegeli said. "You can't be a democracy and an empire at the same time."
Not only was Voegeli able to get his issue noticed, but he ended up giving a couple people a mini-refresher course on ancient history when they said they didn't understand the sign.
Although 17-year-old Ricardo Alcantar of Norwalk, Wis., had a ticket to see the president, he found himself outside with the protesters. "I didn't know you had to have an identification card to get in," he said with a shrug.
Asked whether he minded being among the Bush detractors, Alcantar smiled.
"I actually like to hear what they have to say, too," he said. "That way, I know both sides of many issues, so I can make a decision for myself."
Although too young to vote, Alcantar said, "I don't want to be oblivious of what's going on in the world around me just because I'm a teenager."
While her wheeled cart carried an American flag and a "Support the Troops" bumper sticker, Janice Krick of La Crosse didn't seem to mind sharing the sidewalk with the protesters, either.
Krick said she has had several sons serve in the military and became a Gold Star Mother when one was killed. She was unable to get a ticket to the Bush rally but said she still wanted to show her support for the president.
She looked over at the protesters with a grin. "I've gotten in a couple debates," Krick said. "But I don't back down on what I believe."
Linda McAlpine can be reached at lmcalpine@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8220
I noticed you didn't respond to tiamat's questions and points?
YOU remind me of John efFIn Kerry, lots of whining but no real substance. Just a lot of bitching. Whats the matter couldn't get an audience with Hillary?
The "source" indicates that the "facts" may be -- at best -- overblown.
I reserve the right to hold up rude signs about Hillary Clinton.
No, I am saying Presidential security is nothing new. The author potrays this like it is a new occurence. Once the precedent has been set, politicians seldom "give up" anything.
I respectfully disagree.
Free speech and the right to dissent is paramount at all times.
And the terror threat will never be over. So we should demand our free speech rights when? In 200 years?
There's two sides to that, from what I have read. The protestors wished to use profane signs and bullhorns. And, once again, the radical left in this country has a recent history of violent protest.
And "free speech zones" have no place in this country, period.
Once again, I've used them to my advantage. Although there is a certain degree of satisfaction in getting the prez to see your sign (happened once for me), it's far better to get your sign and your quotes into the media where hundreds of thousands see them.
Do we have a police report? What were the charges pressed against the person? Do we know the person didn't do anything else?
I reserve the right to hold up rude signs about Hillary Clinton.
So, where was the b*tchin' when x42 closed down whole cities when his entourage came through during peacetime?????? (I was late to work a couple of times when this happened!)
The articles content is bogus. There's an accompanying pic that says so. The road closings ect. are to maintain a secure perimeter around the president to prevent killers from having access to him. There was no violations of the 1st Amend. The zoo animals were prevented from staging a circus.
"try explaining exactly what threat the people with dissenting opinions hold that those allowed to stand along the president's route (as clearly shown in the picture) do not."
FUGW is not a dissenting opinion, it is name calling. FReepers refer to it as an ad hominum attack. Refusal to issue a permit for amplified protest next to the President's address is a matter of courtesy. Had the protesters had a permit first, they would have been able to blair their screetches w/o problem. Bush of course would have gone somewhere else.
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