I was just looking into old snippets and links in my diary, and found this article from the sf chronicle dated early 2004.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/04/INGPQ40MB81.DTLQuarantining dissent How the Secret Service protects Bush from free speech
When President Bush travels around the United States, the Secret Service visits the location ahead of time and orders local police to set up "free speech zones" or "protest zones," where people opposed to Bush policies (and sometimes sign-carrying supporters) are quarantined. These zones routinely succeed in keeping protesters out of presidential sight and outside the view of media covering the event.
When Bush went to the Pittsburgh area on Labor Day 2002, 65-year-old retired steel worker Bill Neel was there to greet him with a sign proclaiming, "The Bush family must surely love the poor, they made so many of us."
The local police, at the Secret Service's behest, set up a "designated free-speech zone" on a baseball field surrounded by a chain-link fence a
third of a mile from the location of Bush's speech.
The police cleared the path of the motorcade of all critical signs, but folks with pro-Bush signs were permitted to line the president's path. Neel refused to go to the designated area and was arrested for disorderly conduct; the police also confiscated his sign.
Neel later commented, "As far as I'm concerned, the whole country is a free-speech zone. If the Bush administration has its way, anyone who criticizes them will be out of sight and out of mind."
More:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/04/INGPQ40MB81.DTL-------------------------------
Doesn't it tell a lot of how the SS has become *'s ideological 'protectors/promotors' as well as his security guard? (Re: his appearance in Georgia recently). Now, this stunt with moving protesters out of sight has several advantages--if you see it from the Rovian pow--not only is the chimp spared the stress of seeing opposition; you'd also get much better TV pictures. Cheering, happy, stoned Bushites, that's better than the general riff raff of democracy.
I risk one more quote:
"Denise Lieberman of the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri commented, "No one could see them from the street. In addition, the media were not allowed to talk to them. The police would not allow any media inside the protest area and wouldn't allow any of the protesters out of the protest zone to talk to the media."
What ho? No media in the lib camp?
It turns into a propaganda roadshow, where they not only are helped by a massive amount of money and influence, they also physically remove all dissent by sanitizing the space before the stage AND deny them access to media.
On the same page in my diary, I found this list of *'s travel requirements abroad (from Mother Jones, I think):
"Lima, Peru
March 2002, 17 hours
While Bush praised President Alejandro Toledo's "commitment to democracy," the Peruvian government shut down Lima's airspace and banned all demonstrations. Seven thousand security officers hit the streets, teargassing and arresting the (fool)hardy few who came out to protest.
Gorée Island, Senegal
July 2003, 6 hours
Residents were roused at daybreak so U.S. security teams could search their houses with dogs. They were then herded into a soccer stadium, where, as one local put it, "we were shut up like sheep," while Bush visited the island's infamous former slave depot.
Manila, Philippines
October 2003, 8 hours
The city spent $180,000 repainting streets, planting flowers—and bulldozing slums. Bullhorn-wielding authorities told the residents of one shantytown, "Either you tear down your houses yourself, or we'll tear them down for you. President Bush is coming!"
Bali, Indonesia
October 2003, 3 hours
At least 5,000 security and military personnel were deployed to protect Bush during his Indonesian layover. Tourists shared the beaches with tanks and complained of being locked in their hotels.
Bangkok, Thailand
October 2003, 3 days
Ten thousand homeless people were detained in army camps, 3,000 stray dogs were hauled off to the countryside, and sex workers were told to lie low. A quarter-mile-long, four-story-high banner depicting scenes from Thai history was raised to hide a sprawling slum.
London, England
November 2003, 4 days
British officials showed some backbone by refusing U.S. requests to shut down the London Underground, bomb-proof Buckingham Palace, arm the presidential motorcade with heavy machine guns, and extend diplomatic immunity to American snipers. However, the president was guarded like royalty, with a security detail that included 700 Secret Service agents and 5,000 bobbies."
All I'm saying is: weird.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
