When President Bush's big noise machine rolled into Fargo, ND last week, someone, somewhere, tried to make sure there wouldn't be any questions for him that would be too difficult to answer. A list was produced, and an advance team tried to keep 42 people from attending his non-event event, a town hall meeting that was completely stage managed. The great W. himself answered questions about his non-plan plan for privatizing Social Security. In this post, I have contacted two of the blacklisted people, and they tell the story of What happened in Fargo.
Beyond the spectacle of a President who is too afraid of dissent to answer questions, larger questions pop up when we contemplate a team of flying Republicans sweeping through town before hand and trying to keep others from W. How in the world did 42 people get singled out for being blacklisted? What had they done to deserve that kind of treatment? Who was keeping an eye on these people locally? Is there a big centralized list somewhere of every dissenter who has so much as written a letter to the editor?
While such things do have historical precedence...Nixon kept an enemies list, and Clinton's administration went through the FBI files of over 600 Republicans....it really is frightening to think about who is keeping the lists. We don't know.
Linda Coates, a city commissioner in Fargo, was among the 42 who were placed on the list. We exchanged e-mails, and she was gracious enough to answer some questions about what happened.
I first learned of the list when I received a phone call from a WDAY reporter around 5:00 on Wednesday afternoon. Apparently WDAY got hold of the list, saw that there was an elected official's name on it and gave me a call. I was interviewed on WDAY radio, WDAY TV (taped interview for the 10:00 news) and by the Forum.
I originally was not planning to go - the commissioners were offered tickets by the mayor's office and I declined and asked that my tickets be given to someone who would like to go. However, Mayor Furness heard my interview on the radio Wednesday evening and telephoned me to express incredulity about the situation. When I jokingly told him I regretted not taking him up on his offer of a ticket, he told me the secretary had some tickets left, and said, "Got for it!"
I picked up my ticket from City Hall Thursday morning and went to the event. I arrived shortly after 9:00, but stood at the corner of University and 16th Avenue until around 11:15, watching the line go by (I was waiting to catch the end of the line).
I was admitted in with no complication. An official spoke (I don't know exactly who it was) to me at the entrance and said, "You are of course welcome to go in. We're sorry about this - we heard from the White House that it was the work of an overzealous staffer." So it was unclear WHOSE staffer it was (federal, state or local) but he did definitely say staffer, not volunteer.
Why do you think the Federal authorities are afraid of President Bush answering questions about Social Security?
I think it's simply a trend by this administration. We have seen it for four years now - the rare and tightly scripted press conferences (with, as we have now seen, planted non-reporters to lob softball questions), loyalty oaths for admittance into rallies, an attitude of no-mistakes, my-way-or-the-highway approach to the office. Clearly, he was not on this trip to answer questions but to use taxpayer-funded public events like this (complete with Orwellian backdrops) to push his particular agenda, particularly in "red" states with "blue" congressional delegates (putting the pressure on). He will not even accept questions (much less dissent) from members of his own party.
Do you have any idea how your name came to be on a list like this? Do you think the group is being monitored locally or nationally or even at all?
Frankly, I think it was a case of some incredibly clueless Googling, possibly by someone at the state level. However, the tone which made this sort of thing seem like a good idea has been set in the Republican party at the top.
Can you tell me a little about your teaching career? Do you still follow education issues?
When I got my masters degree in vocal music, I taught for a few years as a graduate assistant, then as a sabbatical replacement teacher, followed by one year as a high school choral director (also a sabbatical replacement position). I then was a non-profit arts administrator for six years before starting our recording business in 1995.
How have the people in North Dakota reacted to what happened? Have they been supportive?
I have had supportive e-mails from across the state and all over the country. I haven't really heard directly from people who are not crazy about what happened, but there are many postings on our local newspaper's online message board:
http://www.in-forum.com/talk/index.cfm?id=1588
I hope that's helpful -
Linda Coates
and Berret Gall, a sophomore at North Dakota State, also struck fear into the hearts of the machine. here's his e-mail
How I found out that I was barred from the event, was the night before the event, when a friend of mine (who was also on the list) called me and informed me that there has been a list made, and the media has the list. I think the authorities were afraid of any questions getting asked, because I don't think he knew any of the answers, and any anti- Social Security remarks would have made his propsal look "bad" to the public.
One of the reasons my name was on the list is because my association with the Democracy for America local meet-up group, and because I have been involved in politics state-wide my whole life. I was on Congressman Earl Pomeroy's re-election team in 2002, and was Deputy Campaign Manager for the Joe Satrom for Governor campaign in 2004, and was Howard Dean's statewide Generation Dean coordinator for the caucus. I think the group was being monitered locally, by some state-wide and local Republican volunteers.
In the Dean campaign, I was mainly the Generation Dean state-wide Coordinator for North Dakota, for the Feb 3rd caucus. Also was in charge of the office that we had open in ND.
Other students have been very supportive of my being on the list, in fact, they are jealous! Most comment on how it is a badge of honor, and ask how they can be on the list for next time.
The state GOP response? "I don't know if we'd ever be able to find out what overzealous volunteer it is or anything like that, We'll talk to people and stuff, but it will be impossible." said Jason Stverak, executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party.
So, the rest of the story is that Linda made it in, and Bush survived the withering presence of a singing Mom to go on with his ridiculous show. Berret gave me the quote of the hour. Bush's people didn't want the 42 in because Bush "wouldn't have known the answers."
Larger questions remain. We can only wonder...
from: http://distanceblog.blogspot.com