Three Were Told to Leave Bush Town Meeting...for A Bumpersticker
Washington Post | March 30, 2005
By Jim VandeHei

Three Denver residents yesterday charged that they were forcibly removed from one of President Bush's town meetings on Social Security because they displayed a bumper sticker on their car condemning the administration's Middle East policies.

The three, all self-described progressives who oppose Bush's Social Security plan, said an unidentified official at an event in Denver last week forced them to leave before the president started to speak, even though they had done nothing disruptive, said their attorney, Dan Recht.

Initially, the three believed Secret Service agents had grabbed them and ushered them out of the auditorium, Recht said. But he said that Lon Garner, the Secret Service agent in charge of the Denver office, told them the service investigated the matter and found it was a "Republican staffer" who removed them because they had a "No More Blood for Oil" bumper sticker on their car.

Garner said yesterday that he was told by headquarters not to comment on the matter, and referred calls to Washington.

Jim Mackin, a spokesman for the Secret Service here, said he could not discuss the allegations that a Republican staff member was involved. "We will continue to look into it," he said. Mackin said a preliminary inquiry found that the Secret Service was not involved in the incident, which was first reported by the Associated Press.

Scott McClellan, Bush's press secretary, said it was a volunteer who asked them to leave "out of concern they might try to disrupt the event." He said the White House welcomes a variety of voices into events but discourages people from coming to heckle the president or disrupt town hall forums. "If someone is coming to try to disrupt it, then obviously that person would be asked to leave," he said. "There is plenty of opportunity outside of the event to express their views."

This is not the first time people have complained about heavy-handed monitoring of who can attend -- and speak at -- Bush's events promoting his Social Security plan. A newspaper in Fargo, N.D., reported that when Bush came to the city on Feb. 3, more than 40 residents were barred from attending the event.

The president has held Social Security rallies in more than a dozen states this year. The crowds are closely monitored for possible disruptions, and protesters are quickly escorted away.

Protesters often stand out because the crowds are packed with Bush supporters, who have been invited by a local GOP House member or organization. Those onstage at most of the town hall meetings are carefully screened people from the area who agree with the president's Social Security proposal. The participants typically rehearse what they will say with members of the president's advance team and rarely, if ever, say anything critical about his plan for private accounts.

In this case, Alex Young, 25; Karen Bauer, 38; and Leslie Weise, 39, said they were forced out even though they said nothing and did not sport T-shirts or signs criticizing the president or his policies. Young told the Associated Press that the three wore T-shirts under their business attire that read "Stop the Lies" and had discussed exposing them during Bush's visit, but decided not to. Recht, who is representing the three pro bono, said his clients consider themselves progressives.

The three were invited to the event by Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.). Jordan Stoick, spokesman for Beauprez, said the congressman's office distributed the tickets at the behest of the White House to constituents, including many Democrats. He said Beauprez is "definitely" concerned about the charges but is declining to comment on whether he believes them to be true. "He strongly supports free speech," Stoick said.

As described by Recht, a man in a blue suit told the three they had to leave and "in a physical, forcible way" escorted them out, refusing to explain why. Mackin said local law enforcement is in charge of policing civil disobedience at such events, although the Bush advance team is often seen asking disruptive people to leave.

"They believe their constitutional rights were violated, as do I, and that's the stuff lawsuits are made of," Recht said. "When you are punished by not being allowed to listen to your president speak because of speech you have on your bumper sticker, that is a classic First Amendment issue." Recht said he has not decided whether to file a lawsuit.
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I see no problem in the dispatching of trouble-makers.

You keep forgetting that we have a president with zero intellectual curiousity. He only wants to know what Karl tells him. He is not interested in alternative points of view. That's why he never speaks unless the audience has been cleansed.

Of course!!!

Good, then I hope you do have a problem with what that staffer did, since those people didnt seem to be causing any trouble whatsoever.

These "rallies" and "town hall meetings" that this admistration puts on are a complete joke anyway. But I'm not surprised in the least by this. It's par for the course for the Bush II administration. They get away with it by demonizing the people who were censored, so it seems completely understandable to the casual news reader.

What was even more of a joke was the email I got from Moveon.org which told people to show up and protest the social security issue. Moveon's claims about social security were the biggest joke.

Thumbs down for both sides.

but at the same time, if they didnt hold these meetings, people would bitch that hes not listening to the "common folk"

this administration is fucked no matter what, cause no matter what they do, the people who don't support it, will bitch and complain regardless

But they could have. Pre-emptive strikes = rad!

What do you mean, he's "fucked no matter what"? He could have an actual town hall, let people come, and answer questions. He has more choices than (1) have the meeting with only fervent supporters or (2) don't have the meetings.

I remember when Madeleine Albright came to Ohio State for a town hall. That fucking room was packed with people yelling all sorts of shit. It didn't matter what your opinion was, you came in and you asked questions.

Yeah, but she was working under Clinton. Bush is damned if he does and he's damned if he doesn't. It's just how it is.

Why is that how it is though? What created that atmosphere for the Bush Administration and not Clinton's?

But I'm talking about protesters inside the town hall. Welcome to come in. They were only removed when they were so loud that the town hall had to stop. Even then, they were standing just outside. People hated Clinton with as much ferver as we hate Bush, and Clinton never made an attempt to silence them.

Then why didnt they remove all the republicans from the audience as a pre-emptive move, since we know they could destroy the world any time now

Bullshit. Bush had plenty of opportunities to embrace both sides, and he hasn't. Republicans act like, "Poor George, nobody understands him." Just look at his record on any number of issues and it's appalling that a majority elected him to a second term.

If they didn't bring the sticker into the meeting, if it was on a car out in the parking lot, how on earth does removing them make any sense other than to bring attention to the fact that if you express a differing view from the current administration you will be subjected to abuse? Because, that's the message this article is sending to me.

c-

The "Town Hall" format has become a joke. Nobody with any brains in their head believe that these are anything more than glorified rah-rah rallies anymore. Even those without brains in their heads are beginning to figure it out. Eventually, they'll go the way of the "fireside chat" and the "news conference".

To make it the town hall rallies even more of joke, they send the "news" features to pimp SS also. this admin is unbelievable.