Dear Mssrs. Bundy and Nolte: It was BUSH who started "Free Speech Zones"

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Wednesday April 16, 2014 · 12:27 PM PDT

2014/04/16 · 12:27

Well we certainly have heard a lot of caterwauling about alleged "free speech zones" created during the Bundy Ranch uprising against the United States.

And when right-wing whiners like Breitbart's John Nolte have the gall to lash out at the anti-Americanness of "Orwellian First Amendment Zones," I HAVE TO LAUGH OUT LOUD.

SERIOUSLY these people had patriotic amnesia during the Bush years:

Secret Service Ordered Local Police to Restrict Anti-Bush Protesters at Rallies, ACLU Charges in Unprecedented Nationwide Lawsuit
September 23, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON - At events attended by President Bush and other senior federal officials around the country, the Secret Service has been discriminating against protesters in violation of their free speech rights, the American Civil Liberties Union charged today in the first nationwide lawsuit of its kind.

…

When President Bush came to Neville Island, PA last year, protesters were herded behind a chain-link fence in a remote area while supporters were allowed to line the motorcade route. One man who refused to be corralled was arrested.

During President Bush's visit to Neville Island, PA last year, supporters were allowed to line the motorcade route, while protesters were herded to a remote area out of sight of the press corps and the President.

…

According to ACLU legal papers, local police, acting at the direction of the Secret Service, violated the rights of protesters in two ways: people expressing views critical of the government were moved further away from public officials while those with pro-government views were allowed to remain closer; or everyone expressing a view was herded into what is commonly known as a ""protest zone,"" leaving those who merely observe, but express no view, to remain closer.

AWilson

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Saturday April 12, 2014 · 1:41 PM PDT

2014/04/12 · 13:41

Not on purpose, of course!

Angry Rancher Cliven Bundy is demanding to graze his cattle on public land, land he does not own and has never owned, at zero cost. The land owned and managed by the government, in trust for you and me and all Americans, is apparently Bundy's to use and abuse at will…because freedumb.

And he has used right-wing media to whip up all of the armed nut jobs in shouting range.

AWilson

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Thursday April 10, 2014 · 12:44 PM PDT

2014/04/10 · 12:44

We have learned from John Roberts and the conservative members of the Supreme Court that money and speech are interchangeable. They are the same thing.

And further, any amount of money, even unlimited amounts of money, do not corrupt.

Therefore, it's only logical that jurors will now be able to "voice" their votes with money.

How would this work? Well, it's very straightforward. Lawyers conducting voir dire will ask each prospective juror how much cash they've got on them. How much cash are you willing to pay to the court to get your way on the jury?

AWilson

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Sunday March 30, 2014 · 2:56 PM PDT

2014/03/30 · 14:56

I equate the American Taliban's attempts to force their extremist views down everyone's throats as the rape of the mind. As taking perverse pleasure in forcing another against their will to be subservient to your malicious exercise of power.

Here is another sickening example of the American Taliban in action - a couple of creationist SC senators have decided to force their religion into the law by blocking eight-year-old Olivia McConnell's idea to have the wooly mammoth named the state fossil:

Creationists Stall Eight-Year-Old Girl’s Idea for State Fossil for South Carolina
The third grader at Carolina Academy wrote a letter to her state lawmakers, Rep. Robert Ridgeway and Sen. Kevin Johnson, in a bid to give the woolly mammoth that honor [being named the South Carolina state fossil - diarist]. Olivia has sound reasons behind her nomination: One of the first discoveries of a fossil in North America was that of a woolly mammoth’s teeth, dug up by slaves on a South Carolina plantation in 1725; all but seven states have an official state fossil; and, most adorably, “Fossils tell us about our past.”

AWilson

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Friday February 28, 2014 · 10:10 AM PST

2014/02/28 · 10:10

Not long ago we were all treated to this shameless display of distortion and demagoguery after the Republicans shut down the U.S. government:

Shutdown theater: Sen. Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin rally at World War II Memorial
WASHINGTON – Sen. Ted Cruz joined Sarah Palin to rally tea partiers and military veterans Sunday in Washington, hoping to pressure President Obama and Democrats.

The crowd dismantled barricades at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, defying a government shutdown — and park rangers who have not been paid since the budget stalemate began. As we reported more than a week ago, the Park Service has been allowing free access to tourists, veterans and politicians alike since just after the shutdown began, though officially, the memorial remains closed.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah joined Cruz and Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee, at the rally.

…

“Our vets have proven that they have not been timid, so we will not be timid in calling out any who would use our military, our vets, as pawns in a political game,” Palin told the crowd.

AWilson

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Thursday February 27, 2014 · 10:32 AM PST

2014/02/27 · 10:32

Not really. Only incidentally.

It's about using gays as leverage to hurt the President.

They believe that by hurting gay people, the President will be hurt. Not politically hurt. Personally hurt. That he will feel attacked. That he will feel their vicious hatred for him. They want that. The collateral damage of hurting LGBT people is just a happy byproduct for the Arizona bigots and others like them.

These "Religious Freedom" bills are about conveying one message and one message only: The President is NOT A CHRISTIAN. The President is a BLACK KENYAN MUSLIM AND WE HATE HIM.

RSS

Dear Mssrs. Bundy and Nolte: It was BUSH who started "Free Speech Zones"

Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy makes a strong case for the Native Americans

John Roberts: Jurors should be able to vote and deliberate with money?!

SC American Taliban blocks little girl's fossil bill

Shutdowns, Barricades, Monuments and Killing the Veterans' Bill

It's not about gays