In Which I Continue Replying To Comments In Regular Postings

This:

Yes, and that gosh-darned right-wing controlled media buried all the Republican-caused disturbances at the Democratic convention (of which there were none) while splashing the Democrat-caused disturbances at the Republican convention all over the headlines.

The "Democrat-caused disturbances" of John McCain's speech were, in fact, Republican-caused disturbances. Acolytes of Republican Congressman Ron Paul seem to have been at the heart of the trouble.

For the record, the Republicans had the Paul protester removed from the building and released. I, being the First Amendment absolutist that I am, would have pressed criminal trespass and disturbing the peace charges against him, and pursued the charges to a legal conclusion. Much as I appreciate the protester's right to freely express himself, those who had come to hear McCain have rights to freely congregate, and McCain has a free speech right as well. To coin a phrase: Two rights don't make a wrong.

Comments

[fish]

in fact, Republican-caused disturbances. Acolytes of Republican Congressman Ron Paul seem to have been at the heart of the trouble.

Yes they (we) can be a bit rambunctious....and I for one am digging the STASI secret service/FBI/Local black clad response. You would have thought that Amy Goodman was leading a whole army of Osama Bin Laden clones, knives clenched firmly between rows of bad middle eastern teeth through Minnesota to slaughter republicans in job lots to provoke whats going on outside the Xcel center!

Hey trooper that was some nice pepper sprayin of the chubby hippie girl pointing that assault flower at you. Still, todays law enforcement ninjas pale in comparison to the Kent State national guardsmen. Pussies! Use a fucking rifle...make some noise! Show those mere....citizens ...who is in charge!

Fuck...Bill Hicks and Gary Trudeau are both starting to make sense to me!

What once was political theater is now called terrorism. We are all the worse for it!

[Wally]

Speaking of political theater, if I wasn't so sure that the McPain™ ticket would never have anything to do with the likes of Karl Rove I would suspect that Rove had planted a wild, arm-waving Democrat to point up how dangerous we are.
Also, there have been attempts by some media figures to equate the anarchists who tried to disrupt the RNC with Democrats. This is akin to calling McVeigh a hard-core, right wing Republican. Most of us have never hurled bricks at policeman. Right now we are finding the most effective thing to throw is cash- at the Obama website.

[Pursuit]

Being a member of the Grassy Knoll Institute, I had the same thought Wally.

Of course, once I saw it was legit, I have to confess in my disappointment with the efficiency with which the miscreant was dispatched. Took far too long. A couple quick pops to the nose and a head lock dragging out would have done the job quite well.

Alas, it's so hard to get good help these days!

[Scott]

That's an interview with a man named Adam. I'm pretty sure I saw two women removed from the floor. Two very large women. I'd be very suprised if either was named Adam. I don't know which political party they are associated with. Maybe you can do some more of your research.

[Scott]

You might want to address this, seeing as how you're keen on getting to the bottom of convention disturbances and all:

http://codepink4peace.org/blog/2008/09/official-release-two-codepink-activists-disrupt-mccains-rnc-speech/

Or ignore it like you do everything else that doesn't fit the TPM template.

BTW, how many times did they have to take protesters out of Invesco? Wally? Anyone?

[Wally]

Scott,
Disrupting a speech is the antithesis of free speech. The codepink protesters use the fascist tactics of trying to shout down those they disagree with. You'll get no argument from me on that point.
The fact that McPain™ supporters respect the rule of law more than Alberto Gonzales also make me proud to live in this country where people can disagree and reasonably attempt to persuade each other without bombs and guns.

[Sparticus]

"Disrupting a speech is the antithesis of free speech."

That's the most sensible thing you've written in ages.

However, let's call a spade a spade: it is primarily the leftists, including liberals, who disrupt right-wing or conservative speech. They're also the ones who don't even allow those on the right to speak at all. After all, the speech codes in place in many US universities aren't there to silence Code Pink and their ilk; they're in place to silence those who oppose such groups.

[Squidley]

Um, that was me.

By the way, how does the lone Ron Paul protester you cite compare to the 10,000 anti-war protesters also at the RNC? Were they all Paul supporters, too?