skippy the bush kangaroo

Friday, July 09, 2004

they hate us for our freedoms...now shut up

when mr. & mrs. skippy came home from their neice's wedding this past independence day, skippy heard a brief story on the news about two people being arrested at a 4th of july rally that awol spoke at.

the next day, he had his entire staff at skippy international searching the internet for some mention of this occurence. alas, we could find nothing to substantiate skippy's insane ramblings.

however, thanks to patience, the daily kos diaries, and a refined google search, the truth is coming to light.

the charleston gazette first gives us the facts:

nicole and jeff rank (who live in texas, but were in virginia for nicole's job with fema), bought tickets for the independence day rally at the capitol in charleston, west virginia.

(let's point out here that the rally was paid for by state and federal funds. just keep that bit of info in mind).

they went in wearing jackets over their anti-awol t-shirts. once inside, they removed their jackets, showing their slogan "love america, hate bush."

they were asked by police to go to the "protest area." the ranks refused. the police then led the ranks out of the rally in handcuffs, charging them with "tresspassing."

it was pointed out that numerous other people wearing pro-awol t-shirts were not asked to leave.

it was also pointed out that, though a two-page document given to ticket holders prohibited the use of such things as video recorders, umbrellas, signs and banngers, there was no specific ban on t-shirts, political buttons or lapel pins.

the ranks were given a ticket for trespassing.

but that's not the worst of it.

nicole, who was in west virginia for her job with fema to help clean up after recent flooding, was sent home.

fema will not comment on if she is fired or not.

slowly but surely, editorials are taking the side of the ranks. the charleston gazette op-ed page says this:

capitol police director jay smithers told wheeling newspapers the couple had tickets for the assembly, and wore jackets to hide their protest shirts as they passed through a security checkpoint, then exposed their shirts. “we asked them to go out to the designated protest area but they refused,” he said. “they told our people they would not leave and sat down on their hands. we didn’t have any choice.”

yes, police had a choice. they could have let the couple express their anti-bush feelings, just as others in the crowd were expressing pro-bush feelings. the bush supporters weren’t dragged away in handcuffs...

the right to criticize the government is the most precious freedom spelled out in the first amendment of america’s bill of rights. when police manhandle a couple for rebuking the president, but do nothing to others praising the president, a basic element of u.s. democracy has been injured.
in washington state, the tri-city herald says let freedom ring - somewhere else:

those in charge of security at president bush's fourth of july speech in west virginia on sunday need some schooling in the definition of irony.

on a day the nation celebrates its freedom, bush handlers and charleston police apparently decided to make an exception for bush's event on the state capitol grounds…

in his speech to 3,000 supporters, bush said, "on this fourth of july, we confirm our love of freedom, the freedom for people to speak their minds, the freedom for people to worship as they so choose. free thought, free expression, that's what we believe."

except in charleston. except on the fourth of july. and except for bush critics.
we'll stay on top of this story as it develops.

addendum: we wonder what south carolina activist brett bursey thinks of all this.
posted by skippy at 5:09 PM |

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