Free Speech Denied for Bush Town Hall Mtg Attendee

[katty]

more at: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/16/145854/992

Free Speech Denied for Bush Town Hall Meeting Attendee (w/poll)
by Ellicatt

Thu Mar 16, 2006 at 12:58:54 PM PDT
This past Tuesday, March 14, President Bush held a "town hall" meeting in Canandaigua, NY. Today, I present a new "twist" to this type of event, one that I have never heard of before. According to one attendee's accounting, she was NOT ALLOWED to speak to the media after the event.

Ellicatt's diary :: ::
Brenda Snyder attended the town hall meeting as part of a group representing the Cattaraugus County, NY, Department of Aging. She had wanted to speak at that meeting regarding her concern for the number of Americans who cannot afford health care. However, at this particular town hall meeting, no one was given the opportunity to present questions, and Mrs. Snyder was not very happy about it.

At the conclusion of the meeting, after the president had exited the room, the press started questioning the attendees. When Mrs. Snyder started answering, she was ordered out of the room, and she was not the only one:

"We were answering questions and this big guy in a suit came along and said, `move along,'" she said. "I said, `Why can't we answer questions?' And he said,`I have been given my orders.'" Mrs. Snyder said she felt threatened by the security officer. "He kept saying `move along' and kept blocking my way and I kept saying, `I'm a U.S. citizen I have a right to answer some questions,'" she said. "It felt like if you were out of order at all, someone was going to take you away. It was very threatening." (emphasis mine)

Wow; it seems now that you cannot even talk to the press after such an event. I wonder, though, if she were "happy and excited" about attending the speech if this would have happened to her.

It looks like Mrs. Snyder's experience has led her to a new "life mission":


She said her experience in Canandaigua has changed her life. "I think America is going in a very scary direction. I felt like I was in a police state and that as a citizen I don't have many rights," she said. (emphasis mine)

[ixion]

1. a 'town hall meeting'

where no one asks questions, and where no one is allowed to interact.

Sounds more like dispensation from the chimperor.

[katty]

4. what's the point, his #'s are s***...dog&pony show

[babylonsister]

2. Wow, who will be muzzled next? How low will they go? nt

[depakid]

3. ....as a citizen I don't have many rights

.........

Been that way for awhile now, sorry to say, and it's not looking like it's going to get any better.

Hopefully, once enough people like Ms. Snyder get treated like that, word might actually get around.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

5. This IS A Police State....

And as a citizen you DON'T have many rights. With all due respect lady, where do you think you are?

[havocmom]

8. She was probably born in the USA and since she didn't move,

she may be confused as to how she ended up in the ole USSR

[bemildred]

6. Town Hall meeting my ass.

Staged Photo Op is more like it.

[mark11727]

7. I HOPE the press decided to report on the attendee's being muscled out...

...for attempting to answer the press's questions.

"We were about to hear from Mrs. Snyder, one of the meeting's attendees, but SHE WAS THROWN OUT BY A SECURITY GOON BEFORE SHE COULD SAY ANYTHING!!!"

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

10. Yeah....Sure.....The Press....Yeah....Sure....

I'm certain the Corporate Media rushed right out to report this. Care to buy the bridge I have for sale?

[mark11727]

13. I get your point, OrangeCountyDemocrat, BUT...

...I don't need a bridge, I need a press with a PAIR OF BALLS.

And when a reporter sees his interview (or the interview of the reporter right next to him/her) suddenly cut short by a security thug, I'm just saying that it SHOULD be noted in whatever story gets filed --- whether it ever actually happens or not is another matter altogether.

[Drum]

9. see also:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[dogday]

11. Boy it is not pretty when they eat their own is it? nt

[Clara T]

12. This small tale says alot

America has descended into the abyss of plutocratic authoritarianism.



K&R