Another Flashmob Getting Footloose at Jefferson Memorial

[harvey007]

Source: NBC

Last week, five men got cuffed at the Jefferson Memorial for doing a silent dance at the Jefferson Memorial.

The men said they were exercising their rights as citizens to free speech. The Park Police said they were breaking a law recently reaffirmed in court.

This weekend, the dancers are back. And they've brought a posse.

Read more: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/DC-Another-Flashmob-Getting-Footloose-at-Jefferson-Memorial-123158063.html

[SoapBox]

1. Hilarious...

Let's see if the Goons at the "memorial" call out some of the Black-Booted Storm Troopers, to tackle, cuff and arrest these outrageous "lawbreakers".

Ya know...there is something wrong in this country and me thinks it's the likes of the GOBPers, RushThugs, T.HATERbaggers, War Hawks and BushCo.

p.s....OH...this already happened!

[femrap]

2. I wonder if anything happened to

that one Park Policeman who was so aggressive last week. I thought his tactics were excessive.

The country was founded on DISSENT....so said TJ!

I'm simply blown away that AK-47s are showing up at Protests these days. It's 3rd World.

And one can't dance at a National Park anymore? There is a law against that????

[Scuba]

3. Tea Party dances are the only ones approved. n/t

[SoapBox]

5. Ditto to the gun!

...little over the top on that.

But I'm sure that Mr. Cop guy felt like he was a real "big" man!

[awoke_in_2003]

4. and what are the democrats doing about it?

not a damn thing.

[SoapBox]

6. and Ditto to this to...

...thought you were all about the freedoms Dems.

[RKP5637]

12. Many democrats are asleep at the wheel IMO. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

15. they aren't asleep...

they're complicit.

[RKP5637]

16. Very good point! Thanks! n/t

[DreamSmoker]

7. LEOs armed and ready

Get a load of the pic of the LEO with his semi Auto Rifle..
What a violent threat these folks are dancing around like that...
So the Police must feel threatened by that Old Couple...

[jimmil]

8. I'm a bit behind the ball here but...

Is it a crime to dance on federal property or is it specifically stated what properties disallow dancing? How did this whole thing start? What are the people being arrested for? I'm just behind the eight ball on this so help me out. I mean seriously, are people being arrested for dancing at the Jefferson Monument, really? If so, then the government really needs to take a step back and see just how stupid it looks not only to its citizens but to the world.

[RKP5637]

17. Yes, it's illegal and it's stupid. It's considered a demonstration. This is

how far we are going in losing freedom of expression in fascist America.

[jefferson_dem]

37. Like ya! FASCIST AMERICA....

won't let me dance when, where, and how I want to dance. :cry:

FACT: Time, place, and manner restrictions on the right to demonstrate are routine. These fools can dance all day at Lafayette Park.

[NYC_SKP]

40. +1

In fact they can dance on the steps just outside the rotunda and are asked (and required by code) to kindly be respectful of other visitors while inside the rotunda.

This whole thing is beyond stupid and, frankly, embarrassing.

Other countries look at this and you just know eyes are rolling...

Stupidity on parade.

x(

[tblue37]

9. This is appalling:

"Park Police also arrived in force on Saturday morning, in anticipation of the dance-off. Tom Sherwood said most of the law enforcement was keeping a low profile, except for one officer, who stood watch carrying an assault rifle <emphasis added>.

[Duppers]

18. Thats' what I picked up on too. Stood watch with an ASSAULT RIFLE !!!

WTF?!

[madamesilverspurs]

10. Guess they didn't get the memo:

Corporate money influencing elections IS free speech. Dance, a time honored expression, isn't.

If I used emoticons, this is where I'd put the sarcasm thingie.


-

[Ian David]

11. The more you tighten your grasp, Park Police, the more dances will slip through your fingers. n/t

[woo me with science]

13. People should do this at TSA checkpoints. nt

[Duppers]

19. w00t !

yes.

[xpertanalyst]

44. People should resist TSA - en masse

at the checkpoints.

Thousands should be insisting on pat downs and then loudly protesting every time their private parts are touched. They have a right to search us - they don't have a right to molest us.

[RKP5637]

14. Liberties and freedom are taken away one incremental step at a time until

one day people wake up and realize a whole lot of liberties and freedom have been take away, and then they realize it's too late to get them back. That's how the plan works.

[struggle4progress]

20. It seems pointless. If one actually has something to say, one presumably can say it just a few feet

away, outside the memorial itself.

[Lordquinton]

21. Absolutely correct

They should have gone to the free speech zone 100 yards away behind the solid fence if they were going to do such a thing, and they best do it silently.

[struggle4progress]

24. Not what I said. I think nobody would much object if a small group of people danced

in the National Mall or immediately outside the Jefferson Memorial

But if you organize group dancing inside the National Air and Space Museum, or directly at the Vietnam Wall, or inside the Jefferson Memorial, you're potentially disrupting the experience of other visitors

[JDPriestly]

22. I can't think of a better way to honor Jefferson than joyous dance.

Jefferson was a rebel, through and through. He hated the authoritarian British.

Americans do not need excessive limitations on their right to dance.

In fact, dancing was such an integral part of the social life at the time of Jefferson that the Founding Fathers no doubt would never have dreamed that we might need a special mention in the Bill of Rights of our inalienable Right to Dance.

[struggle4progress]

25. "... For three-and-ahalf decades, the Park Service Regulations have sought to 'protect legitimate

security and park value interests, including the maintenance of an atmosphere of calm, tranquility, and reverence in the vicinity of major memorials.' 41 Fed. Reg. 12,879, 12,880 (Mar. 29, 1976). The Regulations specifically identify the interior of the Jefferson Memorial as a place where visitors may not engage in expressive activity that 'has the effect, intent or propensity to draw a crowd or onlookers.' 36 C.F.R. § 7.96(g)(1)(i). Visitors to the Memorial interior must ascend a stairway, traverse a portico, and pass a sign that says 'Quiet / Respect
Please' before entering. The Park Police patrol the area, and Oberwetter has pled no facts suggesting that they allow visitors to engage in disruptive demonstrations. Having thus created and maintained the Memorial as a commemorative site, the government is under no obligation to open it up as a stage for the roving dance troupes of the world — even those celebrating Mr. Jefferson ..."

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Argued February 14, 2011
Decided May 17, 2011
No. 10-5078
MARY BROOKE OBERWETTER, APPELLANT
v.
KENNETH HILLIARD, U.S. PARK POLICE, AND KENNETH LEE SALAZAR, SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, APPELLEES
http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/748BE2DE8AF2A2A485257893004E07FC/$file/10-5078-1308285.pdf

[saras]

30. Since when are my emotions their business?

If people CHOOSE to feel calm, tranquil, and reverent in the Jefferson Memorial, fine.

If they feel different, equally fine. This law is ludicrously out of place - a nanny law if there ever was one.

And as the singers demonstrated, the people present may WANT their attention turned to something else. There are much better ways to determine what is 'disruptive' and what isn't.

I have to admit it hadn't occurred to me that they may be under such a bizarrely archaic law.

[JDPriestly]

33. Jefferson would hate that.

While in France, he had a wild time. He was musician.

[jefferson_dem]

39. Thank you for introducing reason into this discussion.

:hi:

[AndyTiedye]

27. K/R. This reply especially

[fedupinBushcountry]

23. In 2000

My daughter's Madrigal High School group were singing at the WH for the Xmas events and on their trip they went to the Jefferson Memorial and sang a couple of Xmas Carols, then were told that it was against the memorial rules and were told to stop. The funny thing was the other people there wanted them to keep on singing, great sound in that memorial.

[msanthrope]

28. Why would religious songs be appropriate at the Jefferson Memorial?

I find it insulting...

[fedupinBushcountry]

31. Sheesh!!!!!!!

Give it a break, Dreaming of a White Xmas, Jingle Bells, religous????? Just rant when you have no idea what you are talking about. You sound like a rightie attacking every time Obama does something. For a minute I thought I was on Huffpost, what the hell is happening to DU.

[msanthrope]

32. Generally, songs that invoke a religious holiday are religious.

I've never heard of a 'madrigal' group that sang anything from the past century.

Far from a rant, I'm questioning why anyone would think that the Jefferson Memorial was an appropriate place for songs about a religious holiday.

[xpertanalyst]

45. Jingle bells is not religious - give it up

Christmas has morphed from a religious to a holiday/retail holiday. It's become more of a hallmark holiday.

It's over sensitive to claim that these songs are religious - and saying they are "generally religious" is just off base.

We Three Kings, Little Town of Bethlehem - yes, they are religious. But these songs are not.

[jefferson_dem]

38. Oh please...

Far less insulting that what these dancing tool, in my opinion. That being said, I'm pleased niether is allowed.

[The Second Stone]

26. How about we all descend on the mall on July 4th

and dance en masse at all the major memorial sites? And blast Footloose!

[plumbob]

29. Gawwwd-damn the dancer man!!!!

Well, now if I were the president of this land
You know, I'd declare total war on The Dancer man
I'd cut him if he stands, and I'd shoot him if he'd run
Yes I'd kill him with my Bible and my razor and my gun

God damn The Dancer
Gad damn The Dancer
I said God damn, God damn The Dancer man




Before you know it, people would rather dance than go overseas and shoot kids

[Skip Intro]

34. attention-hungry idiots

[No Elephants]

35. If this is about civil disobedience or demonstrating for a purpose, arrest is part of the deal.

If this is a mindless flash mob, who cares?

[jefferson_dem]

36. Worthless tools.

Not impressed with shallow idiocy. :thumbsdown:

[underpants]

41. Good for them

:patriot: s

[Rex]

42. Like I said last week...flash mobs are a collection of losers

that need attention badly.

[xpertanalyst]

43. This is dumb. I wish people would...

put this much effort into protesting TSA gestapo felonies, the Un-Patriot Act, and huge spending on anti-abortion, anti-american, and oil-company subsidies. But no - dancing, saving cats, and saving whales is more important than making our lives better.

[Posteritatis]

46. I always get a kick out of how angry things like these make people. (nt)