Posted on 04/15/2005 12:00:27 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Emotions Flare At War Protests On Campus
MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin campus police spent the day Thursday dealing with some students who walked out of classes to protest the Iraq war, military recruiters on campus and the ROTC program.
Jane Jensen of Military Families for Peace began her speech at the rally by saying she supports the troops, but that no more should be sent to war.
"We support the troops by doing all we can do for the soldiers who are there now and their families," Jensen said.
Then in the middle of her speech there was a loud "booooo!"
Police said the protestors were using amplified sound without a permit. But they told demonstrators, as long as no complaints surfaced, they could continue to speak.
"We got several complaints, asked them to shut down, and they didn't want to," said Capt. Brian Bridges of UW Police.
Protesters said, "This is not a police state. We have the right to demonstrate."
But despite their voice being taken away, they had a backup plan and continued to protest.
"We're gonna oppose this war because it's been forced down our throats," another speaker told the crowd.
Jensen said she felt humiliated.
"I came to speak representing military families, to talk about supporting the troops," she said.
Protestors continued to march for the rest of the afternoon, saying military recruiters should be taken off campus because students are sacrificing their lives for an education.
UW Chancellor John Wiley said it's a matter of rights.
"Even if it weren't for the fact that it's illegal for us to kick (the recruiters) off, we wouldn't do it anyway," Wiley said. "That would infringe on the right of students who want to speak with recruiters."
The analogy I prefer is to tell your own kid that you support him, but you're rooting for the other team because you don't like football, and besides, you don't like the coach's politics, either.
Well, alright, I never even thought about the war stuff. But the rest of it was true.
That's even closer.
Yeah, I see your point. I guess after 20 years of letting this cr@p roll off my back, it doesn't bug me as much as it used to.
Like it or not, socialists fall under the banner of "Americans" so I had twenty years of protecting and defending them, too. Clinton was my CIC for a good part of my military career. Blech. But, you soldier on. I also had Reagan and Bush Sr., so all was not lost, LOL!
This article doesn't paint Jane in the best light. It makes her look like one of "them" but if you read through it again you'll see that the Socialists were booing HER, while she was trying to make her point for the importance of supporting military families. They invited her to speak on that point specifically, as that's her job, and then the class-skippers boo-ed her and the whole thing just went downhill from there...
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