SF Gate - How the Secret Service protects Bush from free speech

[Room101]

This has been brought up before at DU but the SF GATE finally did a story on our coming police state. On Edit Where are the Presidential candidates on this violation of our 1st amendment, huh CHRIS H.?

<snips>

When President Bush travels around the United States, the Secret Service visits the location ahead of time and orders local police to set up "free speech zones" or "protest zones," where people opposed to Bush policies (and sometimes sign-carrying supporters) are quarantined. These zones routinely succeed in keeping protesters out of presidential sight and outside the view of media covering the event.

<snips>

The police cleared the path of the motorcade of all critical signs, but folks with pro-Bush signs were permitted to line the president's path. Neel refused to go to the designated area and was arrested for disorderly conduct; the police also confiscated his sign.

Neel later commented, "As far as I'm concerned, the whole country is a free-speech zone. If the Bush administration has its way, anyone who criticizes them will be out of sight and out of mind."


There are more freighting examples of our creeping police state on the horizon. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/04/INGPQ40MB81.DTL

[giantrobot_2000]

1. ...

Let them eat cake!