22,600,330 members doing good!
share your passions, stories, inspirations, and more
Jul 16, 2008

Holy founding fathers! What is it about the First Amendment that confuses today’s political elite and their police agents?

Amendment Number One is a pretty straightforward declaration of the people’s fundamental political rights: freedom to speak out publicly, to assemble, to confront officials with our grievances. It does not say that these freedoms can be eliminated anytime they might pose an inconvenience or embarrassment to those in charge. Yet it’s become commonplace for the secret service and police to exclude even the mildest protest from presidential campaign events.

This year, only three days after July 4th – when America loudly celebrated its freedom from autocracy – a 60-year-old librarian named Carol Kreck attended a John McCain “town hall meeting” in Denver. Held at a city-owned hall, the event was billed as open to the public. But it was not open to Ms. Kreck. She stood quietly in the public plaza outside the hall holding a handmade sign that simply said: "McCain = Bush.”

Her silent (and polite) exercise of First Amendment rights, however, so offended Republican officials that McCain’s secret service detail had her arrested for “trespassing” and escorted off the public premises. Democracy was morphed into autocracy.

Democrats are doing it too. Just before July 4th, it was learned that those arranging the party’s summer convention in Denver would restrict citizen demonstrations to a fenced-off enclosure. These “freedom cages,” as they’ve been dubbed, will be out of sight and out of earshot of the Democratic delegates and dignitaries – so as not to muss up their reverie with any, you know, democracy.

When the parties and police can limit our “freedoms” to protest that can’t be seen or heard we no longer have those freedoms – and it’s time for a little rebellion, just as Thomas Jefferson said would be necessary every now and then.

“Help defend Carol Kreck,” www.secure.progressnowaction.org, July 8, 2008.

“The Democratic Convention; Degrees of Comfort,” www.nytimes.com, July 2, 2008.

Source: JimHightower.com

Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Wednesday July 16, 2008, 5:50 am
Tags: freedom first rights democracy political amendment autocracy [add/edit tags]

Group Discussions start a discussion
Comments
Or, log in with your
Facebook account:
Compose your comment and submit:




David Cutter (14)
Wednesday July 16, 2008, 6:16 am
When political parties and the police can limit our “freedoms” to protest that can’t be seen or heard, we no longer have those freedoms – Is it time for a little rebellion, just as Thomas Jefferson said would be necessary every now and then?

Author

David Cutter
Author Tools:
Compose New Share
male, age 64, single, 7 children
Carlsbad, CA, USA
DAVID'S SHARES
Apr
10
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Subject: Tell Obama: Stop blocking court review of illegal wiretapping. Dear Friend, We have an opportunity to bring the Bush administration to justice for illegal wiretapping. But President Obama is blocking the way. On April 2, President's Obama...
Sep
16
(0 comments  |  discussions )
A ten-year plan to convert to new technologies? Let’s declare energy independence — now! In the last elections, oil corporations pumped $17.5 million into congressional campaigns – 83 percent of it going to Bush's Republicans....
Jul
21
(0 comments  |  discussions )
  America might be mired in a Gulf War, but it’s golf that seems to be on the minds of the Bushites. Here's the three-part story. First comes George W himself. A reporter, noting that Bush hasn’t been golfing recently, asked if t...
Jul
16
(0 comments  |  discussions )
George W is good at preaching democracy around the world – its the practice of democracy here in the homeland that gives him trouble. At a White House ceremony with China's president, Hu Jintao, Bush piously said he was hoping to get the ...


SHARES FROM DAVID'S NETWORK
May
9
(0 comments  |  discussions )
The largest genocide in human history happened where? Most people would answer Germany, and the Jewish Holocaust. Actually though, the largest genocide happened in the USA, with the native American Indians, with estimates of 19 million to 100 millio...
May
8
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Official Nuclear Radiation Study; Tokyo University Hayno, R.S., et al (2013) Internal Radiocesium Contamination of Adults and Children 7 to 20 Months After the Fukushima NPP Accident as Measured by Extensive Whole-Body-Counter Surveys, Proc. Jpn....
May
6
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Toxic radiation accumulates in water supplies after nuclear accidents. Radiation bioconcentrates in fish that live in fresh water and salt water. Runoff of fresh water from land which has been contaminated ends up contaminating oceans, and salt wate...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
66 Atomic Bombs were exploded on the Bikini Island Atolls. Hundreds of islanders were removed from the islands, but not from harms way. One hydrogen bomb exploded near the islands, and the children played with the dust from the bomb, as it fel...
May
5
(0 comments  |  discussions )
"Under our current law, a suspected terrorist on the FBI's No-Fly List can't board an airplane -- but they can still legally purchase guns and explosives. This loophole, known as the “Terror Gap,” is ...


MORE MEMBER BLOGS
Jun 17
Blog: Norman Vincent Peale by Natasha R.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — "It's always too early to quit." more
Blog: Norsemytho Southwood group: FlieÃźwiderständen der Lüge by Maria C.
(1 comments  |  discussions ) — Im Jahr 2008, Robert Bryce schrieb ein Buch mit dem Titel, "Fließwiderstä nden von Lügen: Die gefährlichen Illusionen von Unabhängigkeit in der Energieversorgung." Das Buch greift den Begriff der amerikanische ... more
Blog: Welcome Abundance by Jonathan H.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.- Wayne W. DyerNot what we have,but what we enjoy,constitutes our abundance.- Epicurus Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head,and knows not that it brings abundanceto d... more
Blog: hendren global group analysis: The DIY market – How retailers are fighting tough conditions by Johan M.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — hendren global group Source A depressed housing market, unseasonal weather and a shift in consumer spend mean the DIY market has shrunk. How can retailers fix the problems?   The Brits have long been considered a nation of DIY-lovers. In the... more
Blog: Springhill group Home Loans and Deposits - Home detention for student loan fraud by Andra P.
(0 comments  |  0 discussions ) — Home detention for student loan fraud http://newscenter.springh illgrouphome.com/ A student who assumed the identities of friends and family members to illegally pocket $43,000 in student loans and allowances has been sentenced to four-and-a-hal... more
 
Content and comments expressed here are the opinions of Care2 users and not necessarily that of Care2.com or its affiliates.
Copyright © 2013 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved