McCain=Bush
Greetings from the little old librarian.
It's been quite a week for me, McCain, the police and the Secret Service. While I may write more later, there are a couple issues I would like to address now -- but first, an excerpt from today's Denver Post story by Felisa Cardona:
It was Sen. John McCain's staff who asked security at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts to remove people holding protest signs at the venue -- not U.S. Secret Service agents, who were not involved in Carol Kreck's ouster from the galleria.
A video of the incident circulating widely on the Internet shows a DCPA security guard saying that he was told by the Secret Service to remove Kreck, who was holding a paper sign that said "McCain = Bush."But Thursday, after two days of being vilified by bloggers, letter writers and others, the Secret Service emphatically denied involvement. [...]
"A representative of Senator John McCain's staff respectfully asked that the venue for its July 7 Town Hall Meeting, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, not allow persons to display signage within the Arts Complex," DCPA officials said in a statement.
DCPA spokeswoman Suzanne Blandon said the guard who told Kreck to leave was "simply mistaken" in identifying the Secret Service as the agency that wanted her to leave. Blandon said the guard did not intend to use the Secret Service as leverage and did not mean to mislead anyone.
"He is not a trained speaker in any way," she said. "It was the height of the moment, a situation not typical of that complex. He was simply trying to uphold the policy as he understood it to be."
Because it is without attribution, the lede in Cardona's story reads like she took the word of the DCPA and the Secret Service for gospel, which might not have been such a good idea.
Where is the statement from McCain's staff in this story? And why did it take the Secret Service two days to claim they had nothing to do with my ouster?
Also, the part about the security guard had me smiling. The DCPA's Suzanne Blandon seems to be saying that because he is not "a trained speaker," and because it was "the height of the moment," the words "Secret Service" just popped out of his mouth. Huh.
The Secret Service claims what happened in the courtyard would be "inconsistent with our established policies and procedures." But the Secret Service has been hit several times with lawsuits alleging violations of First Amendment rights when citizens expressed opposition to administration policies. Locally, Denver attorney David Lane is suing them for a violation of Steven Howards' First and Fourth Amendment rights. Howards approached Dick Cheney in a Beaver Creek mall and told the vice president his policies in the Middle East were reprehensible. He was arrested; charges were dropped.
(As the New York Times reported, that issue devolved into "Secret Service agents -- under oath in court depositions -- accusing one another of unethical and perhaps even illegal conduct in the handling of Mr. Howards's arrest and the official accounting of it.")
Many of you have been inquiring about the status of legal proceedings. Colorado ACLU has deputized two attorneys to handle my case: criminal defense lawyer Pete Hedeen will take care of the trespassing charge. I will not pay a fine, I will not accept diversion. That leaves two options: dropped charges, or going to trial. After that is resolved, David Lane will proceed civilly.
Carol Kreck is a librarian and former Denver Post reporter who lives in Colorado.
Related:
- Help Carol's legal defense -- buy a 'McCain=Bush' t-shirt
- Conservative Rocky Mountain News editorial board: Kreck's rights violated
- Release: First Amendment Rights Violated by McCain Campaign
- Video: MSNBC's Countdown reports on Carol Kreck:
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Obama's own followers are not reading his words about how lousy politics is - how we must cooperate rather than fight each other. The sort of partisanship shown in this instance shows how far we are from really doing what we should be doing: picking the best man to be able to attain the best government possible for the United States.
I think the two candidates are both advocating less of the infighting and more attention to working together. McCain has demonstrated that he can work with Democrats on campaign finance reform and immigration. What has Obama ever done? Social work on the South Side of Chicago. He has luck with him all the way. Let us hope that it does not desert him if he becomes President.
Your post is so far off the topic it's not funny.
Shuppy,
Your post was so funny I spit milk out my NOSE!!!!
You wrote, "Mccain had demonstrated he can work with Democrats on campaign finance reform and immigration." ... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Haven't YOU heard:
1. McCain says he would vote AGAINST the McCain/Feingold campaign finance Bill ...FLIP/FLOP
2. McCain says he would vote AGAINST the McCain/Kennedy immigration Bill ... FLIP/FLOP
These militant librarians must be stopped :)
Carol;
1. How come pro-McCain people with SIGNS were not asked to leave or get rid of their signs.
** play the video (above) at time 1:02, on the left is a table with McCain for President signs all over it. ... hmmm... double standard on free speech with SIGNS?
2. First Amendment Free Speech and Assembly: The Public Forum Doctrine lassification of Public Property
A. Open Public Forum: State property that has traditionally been open to the public for speech, assembly and debate. Public forum property has traditionally included public streets, sidewalks, parks and city squares.
3. In the past, protestors HAVE assembled at the Denver Center for Performing Arts and police BACKED OFF!
4/29/02: WELCOMING STREET PARTY FOR FORMER ISRAELI P.M. EHUD BARAK
Wearing look-a-like masks of Ehud Barak, serving appetizers of swiss cheese (the Israeli labor and likud parties plans for Palestine - get it?) and offering a color brochure illuminating Ehud Barak's infamous "generous offer," over 75 local activists met with hundreds of admirers of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak who was speaking at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (as part of its "distinguished" lectures series).
As the anti-occupation activist community welcomed Barak, the Denver police attempted to force protestors off the public sidewalk. When confronted with the actual first amendment law (freedom of speech and assembly), police officers relented.
Channel 4 & 9 both covered the demonstration. Rocky Mountain News did a story that appeared the next day.
I tried to order some of the "McCain = Bush" merchandise by CafePress that's supposed to help with Carol Kreck's defense fund. Because I only pay cash (or check/money order) for anything I purchase, they wouldn't sell to me -- they only deal with credit or debit cards. What the heck is going on when you're not allowed to make a purchase with CASH! I wonder how much business companies like this lose by discriminating against would-be buyers who don't use credit or debit cards (not to mention, they're denying Carol financial aid toward her legal expenses!!)? Sorry, Carol -- I really, REALLY tried!
A Vice Presidential Nominee math problem:
McCain + X = Bush +Cheney
X = Cheney? He picked himself once.
Note there is NO prohibition re Veeps in the XXII Amendment.
So, was it a police officer or a security guard who "removed" her and gave her a ticket? If he was a police officer, he should have known better than to deny this lady her constitutional rights. If it was a security guard, he should be arrested for kidnapping. The legal definition of kidnapping is forcefully moving someone against their will: "Kidnapping, in criminal law, offense involving taking and conveying away a person against his or her will, either by force, fraud, or intimidation." (definition by MSN Encarta encyclopedia).
If we ever get our country back, there should be a statue of Carol Kreck in front of that very stadium.
I second that!
And keep your chin up Carol Kreck! We are proud of you and your courage! Your simple innocent, true little sign and your sweet non-violent message speaks VOLUMES.
There's that great saying that McCain (as well as BUSH) should understand: "For every ONE complaint heard, there are at LEAST TEN complaints that go unheard."
Carol, thank you for taking the time to get your complaint heard.
For those of you wanting bumper stickers to carry on with Ms. Kreck's mission... They have some on Zazzle.com
http://www.zazzle.com/mccain_bush_bumper_sticker_bumpersticker-128477959178842720
http://www.zazzle.com/mccain_bush_bumper_sticker_bumpersticker-128396836354037705
http://www.zazzle.com/mccain_bush_who_needs_any_more_years_of_that_bumpersticker-128215506607021292
With McCain love-hugging Bush in so many pictures - I would have thought that they would have put
Carol and her sign right up front, so everybody could proudly see it. duhhhhh . . . what happened?
Has all the love-hugging left the room?
You don't always find strong hearts in bodies like Arnold Schwarzenegger. You don't always find integrity in politicians that espouse virtue like Larry Craig. Some times heart comes in an unassuming librarian and virtue in a diminutive stature like Dennis Kucinich.
As any librarian will tell you, you can't judge a book by it's cover.
Carol Kreck = American Patriot
This story in today's Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_9865466
quotes the McCain campaign as denying they had anything to do with the arrest threats made last Monday at the DPAC plaza by DCPA security and the Denver Police.
So now the Secret Service, who we were originally told made the request to have us arrested if we did not comply with the demand to give up our signs, have denied being involved, and the McCain campaign, who were identified on Friday by the DCPA as having instigated it, have denied that they did so. Somebody's lying here, folks...
The fact that nobody seems to want to own this only proves what a huge, nasty can of worms it is that they've opened.
To you and all the protesters who are invisible to the media, thank you for standing up for our universal rights. We owe you our future.
I don't understand why McCain=Bush would upset a republican. Bush is their guy, right? I don't get it. If I were running for president as a democrat, and someone had a sign that said my name equals Clinton, I wouldn't get upset. Why is that? Just asking.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/12/kopel-mccain-protester-coverage-limited/
"MSNBC, like the ProgressNow Web page touting the Kreck case, created the false impression that the elderly librarian was acting on her own. They neglected to mention that Kreck was participating in a group demonstration organized by ProgressNow, and was carrying a sign which she had been given by the organization. (This latter fact was brought out in a sympathetically pro-Kreck column by Bill Johnson of the Rocky.)
...A more complete picture was provided by the Colorado Independent Web site, which on Monday reported that Kreck was one of several ProgressNow protesters who were told to desist. Among them was a man dressed as a peapod, who was making the point that McCain and Bush are two peas in a pod....
Post columnist Susan Greene made a start at examining the Obama side of Colorado speech control. On Thursday, she wrote that "Kreck's citation came the same day Englewood's police chief convinced the City Council to pass an anti-picketing ordinance meant to control protesters in August. A note written by the city's attorney's office inexplicably says the language of the measure was 'recommended by the DNC' " (Democratic National Committee.)"
Old news. We had held a press conference, organized by ProgressNowAction, on the sidewalk at 14th and Curtis around 9:30am, promoting the theme "McCain and Bush are two peas in a pod." After the press conference - it was probably about 9:45 - we walked up onto the plaza to join the queue to get into the "town hall meeting." As we got in line, some McCain staffers told us no signs would be allowed in the ballroom where the meeting was to be held. With no place handy to put them, we held onto the signs while standing in line for the next 30 minutes, expecting to drop them off as we entered the ballroom.
There was no demonstration or protest, no sign waving or chanting, on the plaza. We stood in line quietly, like the other 100 or so people who had come for the meeting, and were doing just that when the DCPA security guy and the police approached us and threatened us with arrest if we didn't give up the signs.
Back on page 3 of this thread, you stated that Ms Kreck was completely on her own, so I thought you'd appreciate the information.
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