Violating citizens' constitutionally-protected rights to free speech
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: can't see the Prez if
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 18:16:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: beverly propst
bevjpropst@yahoo.com
To: apfn@apfn.org
Secret Service Agent Lon Garner, who is posted in the Denver field office, stated that the three were screened and removed by a Republican staffer because the car in which they arrived had a "No More Blood for Oil" bumper sticker on it. He also stated that staffing and control of public access to the presidential event was the responsibility of the local Republican Party.
Similar incidents have occurred in other states. On March 21, 2005 University of Arizona student Steven Gerner was denied access to a Presidential event in Tucson, Arizona, also on the future of Social Security. Gerner, who was wearing a UA Young Democrats t-shirt, was waiting in line to enter the venue when someone identified as event staff took and destroyed his properly-obtained ticket. Forty-two people were denied access to a Presidential event on the future of Social Security in Fargo, North Dakota on February 3, 2005, because their names had been placed on a blacklist created by local Republicans. Those excluded from this taxpayer-funded event included a Fargo city commissioner, a progressive radio producer, a deputy Democratic campaign manager, and a number of university professors.
It is disconcerting and irresponsible for Administration staff, or the Administration’s local event staff, to deny certain Americans the opportunity to see the President of the United States at a public event based on their political affiliation or viewpoints if there is no security threat and the attendees have made no effort to disrupt the event. At best, this is an example of overzealous event staff politicizing what should non-partisan public events. At worse, public officials may be violating citizens' constitutionally-protected rights to free speech and assembly while misusing taxpayer funds.
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About Tony Auth
Jules Feiffer has described Tony Auth best, "His perspective is that of a bemused and often angry comic historian. Irony, never a favorite form with Americans, is his meat and potatoes. He is not smug, and though he can be mean, he is never mean-spirited. Auth is a moralist and an optimist. He insists, even in this day and age, that hope is more than the name of a right-wing comedian or the shtick of a reactionary president."
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