William Fulbright said:
In a Democracy, dissent is an act of faith"
Myself, I would replace faith with patriotism, but I’m no Fulbright Scholar, just a veteran with a powerful hate for this administration. (Powerful meaning "I hate the SonofaBush with the white hot intensity of 4 thousand young Americans that should still be alive", but that’s another diary)
I was listening to Democracy Now on the way to work on my Ipod this morning, catching up on some old podcasts that were as yet unlistened to.
Ms. Goodman had a very short segment on an International Bridge Competition, (Really, it exists, and is known here in the states as The United States Bridge Federation (USBF)) and by "bridge" I mean the card game, not the roadway over water. The story was notable not for the fact that there actually is an international group of people playing bridge, which amazes me, but for the fact that something happened in Singapore during this competition. And it involves an ACT OF DISSENT people, and the reaction from the USBF which was not pleased.
Interested? Jump with me over this bridge:
OK, I admit to a certain amount of mental fun when I imagine what an International Bridge Competition looks like. A room full of elderly, blue haired women playing cards with each other in a church basement. Sorry, I’m sexist and age-ist and shouldn’t even admit to it, but there was the mental picture anyway. I get the same mental picture when someone mentions there will be BINGO at the church Sunday afternoon. So shoot me. Looking through the USBF website, particularly looking at references to Singapore, I see a diverse group of people of all ages, races, and hair color. I stand mentally corrected.
Ms. Goodman reported that the controlling body of the USBF have threatened to suspend the U.S. bridge team from further competition for one year because ONE of the players held up a sign, in Singapore, at the final award ceremony that read:
I DID NOT VOTE FOR BUSH
I found a letter of apology here: USBF apology and a very long explanation of just what the USBF intends to do about this serious "display of a political sign". You can find the entire mess here: We are just furious about this, aren't we?! I’ll provide some commentary, if you don’t mind:
...the Board, in Open Session, resolved to send a letter expressing the Federation’s regrets for the actions of the Venice Cup winners to the presidents of the World Bridge Federation and the Chinese Contract Bridge Association, the hosts for the World Bridge Championship. That letter stated:
The Board of Directors of the United States Bridge Federation sends to both of you as well as to the members of both of your organizations our regrets regarding the behavior of the members of the USA1 Venice Cup team at the prize-giving ceremony in Shanghai. Despite our pride in the bridge achievement of our team, we know that this was neither the time nor place for a political statement. Please accept our sincere apology and be assured that we are acting to prevent this or similar behavior in the future.
The Board deferred the question of what action to take with regard to the Venice Cup team members to a subsequent meeting....
We understand, in Shanghai where citizens are subject to corporal punishment for littering, that we can’t have Americans exercising their Constitutional Right of Free Speech, especially when that Free Speech is not in accordance with the White House’s desire to promote the view that all Americans are of one mind concerning world war three for no fucking good reason whatsoever.
The USBF Board again met by conference call on Thursday, Oct. 18th to discuss what action should be taken with regard to the Venice Cup team members. Once again, despite short notice, all seven Board members and the Board’s counsel participated. The Board heard from one of the Venice Cup team members, Jill Levin, who answered questions about the team’s decision to display the sign. After hearing from Ms. Levin, the Board went into Executive Session for a lengthy discussion, which included consulting with counsel about possible actions.
We wanted to have Jill publicly stoned, whipped with a "cat-o-9tails", then hanged in Gitmo, but counsel told us we couldn’t do any of that and get away with it. We didn’t know that our conference call was tapped without a warrant by officials at the Justice Department, who warned us that we can’t just "take her out and shoot her".
The Hearing Panel has scheduled hearings to start on Thursday, Nov. 29th at the Marriott Hotel in San Francisco, and to continue each of the next two mornings as necessary.
Meanwhile, the USBF Board, through Mr. Falk, offered three of the respondents—those who had submitted a prompt written apology before disciplinary proceedings were commenced—an opportunity to accept discipline and resolve the charge short of a hearing, subject to the approval of the Hearing Panel as to the sanction proposed. The Board later offered the remaining four respondents an opportunity to accept discipline and resolve this matter. No respondent has accepted the settlement offers.
Umm, we had to get all legal and stuff, because the pussy liberal activist judges would take their side, using some bullshit about a person’s right to free speech, to overturn our punishment.
The USBF Board of Directors has committed itself, before next year’s Open, Women’s and Seniors Team Trials, to take the following steps:
• Draft a Code of Conduct governing all persons representing the USBF in International Competition;
• Add corresponding sections to the USBF General Conditions of Contest regarding the proper behavior of USBF representatives;
• Add a provision to the entry form for United States Bridge Championships by which participants agree to abide by USBF behavioral standards if they qualify to represent the USBF.
In the future, if you want to play bridge in an international competition, you’re going to have to set aside your rights. In GWB’s America, there is no free speech, there is no Habeus Corpus, and there is no pesky right to privacy if we want to listen to you order food on the phone from the middle eastern grocer in your neighborhood without a warrant.
A picture of the anti-American team of traitorous political sign waving terrorists can be seen at the USBF website here – look for the "Venice" team, third picture down. The woman named in public is the second from left. She looks very dangerous to me.
Ever since Clear Channel got away with muzzling the Dixie Chicks for (gasp) insinuating that Texas is not proud of their contribution to the White House, we’ve seen the hammer come down on dissent of any kind. Add the friggin’ bridge players of America to the list of organizations that cannot say or do anything that might call international attention to the fact that George W. Bush is not someone for Americans to be proud of having elected.