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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (149192)	10/27/2004 11:00:11 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I have read it, E. I also read the discredited piece in The New Republic that claimed there was a "Poppy cult" among Republicans. I am not suggesting a similar level of invention, but I will not respond on the basis of one article when I do not know what the Administration will say. I merely offered a possible rationale, considering that I observed security becoming much tighter in the last dozen years. It may not be applicable in all cases. Considering the fact that the television cameras rarely show much more than the crowd immediately surrounding the president, I find the idea of mandated uniformity inadequate as an explanation, as well. In any event, all one has is anecdotal charges by highly partisan persons. Even if true, it is a mere handful of possibly anomalous cases, and they may very well have embellished or omitted some key detail.

To: E who wrote (149192)	10/27/2004 11:10:15 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

Catholics Not Welcome by Kerry/Edwards Campaign John Kerry likes to use the fact that he was raised Catholic as a prop for political purposes when the reality is he is about as Catholic as I am a Martian. But you don't have to be any specific faith to get a sense of the hostility of the Kerry/Edwards campaign towards religous people. Check out what happens when a group of seminarians try to attend a Kerry/Edwards debate watch event in St. Louis: After a longer wait a young lady claiming to be a staff member of the Kerry/Edwards campaign approached. She asked to see the signs, so we showed them to her. As soon as she realized that the signs said things such as "You CANT be Catholic and pro-choice. She said that we would be unable to enter with the signs. I produced a document from the ACLU that said otherwise. At this point we began to be accosted by various Kerry supporters. They were right up in my face, screaming and yelling. With their arms flailing they informed me that I was not welcome there. Others screamed "Who are you to tell me that my daughter who was raped cannot have an abortion." We remained calm and prayerful. But it didn't end there. Even after the seminarians agreed not to bring any signs into event (despite their legal right to do so), they were denied entrance to the event for no explainable reason: They sent the same woman who I had discussed the sign issue with. She informed me that since the Kerry/Edwards campaign had rented the America's Center they had every right to deny anyone that they deemed likely to cause a disruption of to be a threat to the safety of the Senator. I told her that we would leave our signs outside. She said no. I told her that we would say nothing, and that we were not there to cause a disruption or harm to the Senator, and that if we did cause a disruption they could remove us. She said no. I asked her what evidence they had that we were going to cause a disruption, at which time she fell silent because there was no evidence. Up until this time the only disruptions were those cause by the Kerry supporters themselves, all we did was stand silently in prayer. I pressed her on this issue, but she could not give an adequate answer. They had no grounds for expelling us other than the fact that we were wearing roman collars. They knew our very presence would challenge Senator Kerry’s position on Life issues and the wanted to avoid that, even if it meant squelching our freedom of speech and freedom of expression. So much for the Democratic Party being a party of understanding and diversity. At this point the Kerry people left and I was whisked away for a meeting with the police. They informed me that I had two options. To be escorted out peacefully or forcefully. I told them that we would leave peacefully since we did not come to cause problems only to provide a silent and prayerful witness to the sanctity of human life. I told the officers that I had only one request before we left; I wanted to know the reason we were being denied entrance. Clearly, as the police conceded, we were not a security threat, and there was no evidence that we were going to be disruptive. They asked the Kerry/Edwards people who said they would no longer speak to us about anything. Thus we were escorted out amid jeer and cheering from those still standing in line. But this is not the end of the story... Good to see the Democrats so open and welcoming to all walks of life, huh? blogsforbush.com

To: E who wrote (149192)	10/27/2004 11:12:21 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

Saturday, October 09, 2004 Pro-Life Witness: How It Happened - Part II When we got outside, the Sergeant informed us that we were free to do and say whatever we wanted outside, as long as we did not enter the building. We decided that we would do exactly what we were going to do inside, namely, provide a silent and prayerful witness to the sanctity of all human life and to challenge Senator Kerry to live his Catholic faith. We split up to cover both entrances to the building, and we commenced our pro-life witness. As people entered the building they hurled insults at us, and one person tore up one of our signs and proclaimed that we were nothing but a bunch of “pedophile hookers.” She was a great representative for the Kerry/Edwards supporters; she showed us what “tolerance” – a supposed virtue of Kerry supporters – is all about. As the time for Senator Kerry’s arrival drew near we moved to the rear of the building where the motorcade would approach and where he would enter. The secret service did not let us get to close, yet we were close enough for him to read our signs. After he arrived and entered the building we returned to the entrances so we would be there as the people left the building. When the event was over Kerry supporters poured out of the building just as fast as the obscenities and ridicule poured out of their drunken mouths (yes, many of them were rather intoxicated). We were hailed as pedophile hypocrites who needed to clean our own house before we tell them what to do. We were accused of being the scum of the Catholic Church and homosexuals. We were accused of harboring criminals and being oppressive of women and African Americans. We had some “homosexuals for Kerry” stand in front of us and make out…that was a great photo-op for many of the Kerry supporters. Needless to say it was a very ugly scene, but during it all we remained calm and prayerful – which infuriated them all the more. A few good things happened too. We were thanked by the police and security for not causing a scene inside. They were very impressed with our silent witness. Clearly they would not have needed to deny us entrance. The only people who caused any disruption the whole evening came from the Kerry supporters themselves. We finally wrapped things up about 11:30pm. We were all worn out from the experience, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Long live Christ the King. A special thank you to all the seminarians and laity who came out to support life. I also want to thank Jeff Geerling for taking the pictures. You can see all of them here. priesthood.motime.com

To: E who wrote (149192)	10/27/2004 11:30:27 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

Protestors Invade West Allis (Milwaukee) Bush HQ RP of Wisconsin \| 10/6/2004 \| fanningp Posted on 10/06/2004 4:51:26 AM PDT by fanningp The Republican Party of Wisconsin HQ in West Allis was invaded by supporters of John Kerry yesterday. This release was issued by the WI-GOP: (MILWAUKEE) – More than 50 demonstrators supporting Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry stormed a Republican campaign office in West Allis at mid-day today, trespassing, creating a disturbance through the use of a bullhorn in the office and then refusing to leave when asked. The Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) condemned the action by Kerry supporters, and asked the Kerry campaign and the Democrat Party of Wisconsin to do the same. “Do John Kerry and Wisconsin Democrats really believe this is conduct becoming of a presidential candidate and his campaign?” RPW Chairman Rick Graber asked. “It is unfortunate that Team Kerry feels the need to engage in such childish and obnoxious behavior. “The President and his campaign will continue to talk about the issues in Wisconsin,” Graber added. “Let’s hope that someday soon, the Kerry campaign and Wisconsin Democrats will join us and put an end to this foolishness.” Graber called the latest incident part of a disturbing trend of criminal conduct by anti-Bush forces in Wisconsin, pointing to an incident in Madison last week in which Bush-Cheney yard signs were stolen from the yards of three homes. The vandals then used chemicals to burn swastikas into the lawns of the homes, which were within a two-block radius of one another. In addition, reports of stolen, defaced and damaged Bush-Cheney campaign signs are surfacing throughout Wisconsin. “Our volunteers, from children to the elderly, have every right to feel safe when they are working on behalf of a cause and candidates they believe in,” Graber commented. “This type of thuggish, intimidating conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is time for John Kerry, the Wisconsin Democrat party, and Kerry’s campaign leaders, including Gov. James E. Doyle, to put a stop to this shameful behavior.” freerepublic.com

To: E who wrote (149192)	10/27/2004 11:44:37 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

I was at the John Edwards rally in Tallahasse yesterday with several fellow College Republicans. No one was permitted to enter the event with “opposing” signs (Supporters of Kerry-Edwards Et Al were of course allowed in with theirs). At one point we were “standing in line” holding Bush-Cheney signs when a campaign volunteer came down the line handing out tickets to the event. She gave tickets tto two of our people before noticing whose signs they were holding at which point she snatched back one ticket and tried everything she could think of to get the other one back. Their campaign people tried to force us to go to the “free speech zone” that was completely removed from where the event was taking place. The police at the event allowed us to remain near the entrance where we had a lot of interesting interaction with the Kerry-Edwards supporters waiting to enter. And yes, we did get a fair bit of press attention while hanging out. Posted by: Charles Fenwick at October 18, 2004 09:46 Permalink -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I got kicked out of a Gore rally 4 years ago so I know his campaign was booting people. Further, a bunch of union thugs came over and started pushing and shoving a bunch of college Republicans and the local media yawned. Posted by: Paul at October 18, 2004 11:48 Permalink -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I still don’t see what the big deal is. It’s not like Kerry/Edwards (or Nader/Cameho(sp?)) supporters can’t get into these rallys. They just can’t do it while blatantly advertising for the other side. If they really want to attend one of these rallys, put on a plain t-shirt, some jeans and a plain jacket and they’ll have no problems. What’s really ridiculous about the “reporting” on this “news piece” is that the story is always presented in a way that makes it seem like Kerry/Edwards doesn’t do the exact same thing. Posted by: MichaelW at October 18, 2004 11:59 Permalink -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- outsidethebeltway.com

To: E who wrote (149192)	10/27/2004 11:54:11 AM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 281500

The Democrats are a little better. Debra DeShong, a spokeswoman for the campaign of Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry, said their rallies are open to the public but that "town hall" gatherings are limited to ticketed guests. She acknowledged that protesters "who are disruptive" are ejected from town hall meetings but not persons who merely wear pro-Bush T-shirts. She also said the Kerry campaign does not ask prospective attendees to state their political preference before allowing them in. News stories often attribute the strong-arming of the protesters to the Secret Service. But an agency spokeswoman insists that dealing with demonstrators is left to the campaign organizers and local law enforcement authorities. She conceded that the Secret Service might interview a protester after local police have made the arrest. When I asked Stanzel to cite the laws and regulations that bar freedom of speech or shouting at political rallies, he couldn't name any. Of course, a protester threatening physical harm is another story. Both the Democratic National Convention in Boston and the Republican National Convention in New York forced protesters into blocked off areas at a distance from the halls where delegates gathered. channeloklahoma.com

To: E who wrote (149192)	10/27/2004 11:57:11 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The Sun-Sentinel reports on the efforts of Democrat Party thugs to intimidate Republicans voting in Florida: One woman who voted early in Boca Raton, at the Southwest County Regional Library, complained that as she stood in line, two men behind her were "trashing our president," Fletcher said, declining to identify the woman. She tried to ignore them. Then the man touched her arm and said, "Who are you voting for?" "I said, 'I don't think that's an appropriate question,'" the woman said she responded. "Uh oh! We have a Bush supporter here," screamed the man behind her. For the 2 1/2 hours she had to wait in line, she was heckled by the man. As they neared the voting room, someone in the rear of the line yelled, "I sure hope everyone here is voting for Kerry!" she reported. That's when the man behind her held his hand over her head and screamed, "We have a Republican right here!" There were "boos and jeers" from the crowd. Elaine Fandino complained to the Republican Party that she took her mother to vote on South Military Trail in Palm Beach County and was confronted by 25 people supporting John Kerry for president. The crowd was "very angry and used foul language," she reported. She said the man next to her said, "Where's my shotgun?" In Broward County, at the regional library in Pembroke Pines, a voter complained that Kerry supporters used abusive language about President Bush and had signs and banners within 50 feet of the entrance. Kerry supporters were "shoving anti-Bush propaganda at us," complained the voter, who said he shouted back "Vote President Bush!" A woman who voted in Plantation at the West Regional Courthouse said she was offended to see five or six people with "huge stick on badges" for Kerry/Edwards, standing near the voting machines. "Never in all the years of voting do we remember being allowed to show a badge or poster or literature while inside the area where the voters are standing ready to cast their vote," she wrote. Juan D'Arce of Miami complained to the Republicans that he tried early voting in downtown Miami. He was wearing a Bush pin, but he couldn't stand the taunting, so he turned away and did not vote. Howard Sherman complained about his voting experience at North Shore Branch Library in Miami-Dade County. He found a crowd of Kerry supporters blocking the door. "They were positioned directly in front of the entrance to the library in such a manner that it would be impossible to avoid them while entering the polling place," he reported. Sherman said he tried to slip through the thinnest part of the crowd, but a woman in a Kerry T-shirt grabbed his arm and asked if he was voting for Kerry. "I seem to recall from civics class that this sort of electioneering is illegal," Sherman complained to the Republicans. I don't think it is alarmist to say that the future of our democracy is threatened by the Democrats' thuggish tactics. powerlineblog.com