Reply #68: We have learned all about suppression here, and this country has not been [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

under physical attack, horrendous oppression, and the target of crushing economic warfare for 45+ years. You undoubtedly are keenly aware of _Bush's filthy pressure on our own daily lives:

A married couple was removed from a Bush presidential campaign event in West Virginia in the summer of 2004 after revealing anti-Bush T-shirts. A Utah man was visited later in the year by the Secret Service for an anti-Bush bumper sticker on his car. Last spring, the Secret Service sent agents to investigate a college art gallery exhibit of mock postage stamps, one depicting Bush with a gun pointed at his head. The military is shutting down some soldiers' blogs it says reveal sensitive information about the Iraq War; others claim the military's real goal is censorship.

In the face of such perceived inconsistency, it seems fair to ask whether the Bush Administration puts party before country when considering first amendment rights.
(snip)

Yet, if you are right-wing, you are more than welcome to terrorize people endlessly:

Can you yell "fire" in a crowded theater and get away with it?

If the Bush Administration was deciding, it would likely depend on whether you were a liberal or a conservative.

Universal Press Syndicate columnist Ann Coulter "joked" during a Thursday speech that liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned.

"We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee," Coulter said at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. "That's just a joke, for you in the media."

And by all accounts, no action was taken against Coulter, save for a smattering of boos from the audience.

Christian conservative leader and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson declared a fatwa on Aug. 22, calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
(snip/...)

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/29/004316.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Publishing Co. Attempt to Tie Up, then Destroy Anti-Bush Magazine Thwarted by Librarians
15-Oct-04
first amendment issues

PR WEB: "In an episode reminiscent of the attempted destruction of Michael Moore"s "Stupid White Men" by publisher HarperCollins, the VP of a midwest printing company recently notified the publisher of RAVEN Magazine, a controversial humor magazine for men, that he refused to print it due to content he alleged was "slanderous" and contained "reverse-racism"." But the publisher clearly tried to pull a scam that liberal writers are targeted with in the election run up: Tie up their work for weeks, even months, with the promise of publication and distribution, then pull out the rug so they can't get the material out in time to have an impact. But thanks to the nation's activist libratrians and an aggressive first amendment campaign, RAVEN was saved!




FBI Seizes Indymedia Servers
08-Oct-04
first amendment issues
"The FBI has issued an order to hosting provider Rackspace in the US, ordering it to turn over two of the servers hosting the Independent Media Centre's websites in the UK, a statement from the group says. Rackspace has offices in the US and the UK. Independent Media Center, which is better known as Indymedia, was set up in 1999 to provide grassroots coverage of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) protests in Seattle. Rackspace complied with the FBI order, without first notifying Indymedia, and turned over Indymedia's server in the UK. This affects over 20 Indymedia sites worldwide, the group said. Indymedia said it did not know why the order had been issued as it was issued to Rackspace. Rackspace told some of the group's volunteers 'they cannot provide Indymedia with any information regarding the order.' ISPs have received gag orders in similar situations which prevent them from updating the parties involved on what is happening." Stay tuned for more details...




Warner Bros Censors David Russell's Anti-War Films
05-Sep-04
first amendment issues
"A clash between David O. Russell and Warner Bros. over the DVD re-release of his Gulf War film 'Three Kings' intensified Thursday as studio executives informed the filmmaker the video could not be released before the November election. The news came days after the movie studio's decision to drop his 35-minute antiwar documentary, 'Soldiers Pay,' as a DVD bonus feature because of its POLITICAL CONTENT. In the documentary, the director revisits some of the Iraqi extras and advisors from the 1999 film 'Three Kings' and the result is not favorable to the current administration. 'I am contemplating having a press conference with a 1st Amendment lawyer -- to say that this is censorship and an infringement of the 1st Amendment based on political opinions.' Russell has been outspoken about having his film and the documentary influence the political debate in the manner of Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' He is looking for alternative distribution for 'Soldiers Pay,' which cost $180,000."




Lani Frank Slapped with $230 Fine for Handing Out Voter Registration Forms Outside F-911 Theater
05-Sep-04
first amendment issues
"Some of the audience in District Justice Rita Arnold's courtroom on Wednesday looked like they had gotten lost on their way to protest the Republican National Convention. But they were in the right place. The had come to support Easttown resident Lani Frank, the woman arrested on June 28 for disorderly conduct outside an East Caln movie theater after watching the film 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' To their dismay and Frank's, the judge found the defendant guilty of the charge. Frank, who did not testify on her own behalf, vowed to file an appeal. 'I'm in shock,' Frank said. 'It seems like (Arnold) totally disregarded all the information she received.' Nor was she apparently swayed by a middle-aged man in the audience who had a pink strip of paper with 'America?' written on it taped over his mouth and about eight other Frank supporters. Arnold declared Frank guilty, levied a $230 fine against her, and immediately left the bench without further comment." Add YOUR comments about this outrage!!!
(snip/...)

http://archive.democrats.com/preview.cfm?term=first%20amendment%20issues

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2001, August 07: White House censures magazine for lack of censorship

GeeDubya's administration has served notice that they will not cooperate with any journalist writing for Talk magazine.
Dan Bartlett, the White House communications director, said the use of models to satirise the Bush teenagers was disrespectful. He was quoted as saying: Talk "has openly opposed and even mocked the first family's desire to keep the lives of their daughters private and have decided not only to report on it but go to great lengths to distort it."



Return to Chronology 07 Aug 2001
2001, November 04: Report of suppression of dissenting opinion

By citizens of Sacramento. During a recent visit to Sacramento by Geedubya, some thirty anti-war protesters were kept away from the street the presidential motorcade was using, while non-protesters were allowed unrestricted access. The protesters were stopped by local mounted and foot patrol officers; ostentibly due to a request made by Secret Service agents during planning meetings for the event. Both agencies are ducking responsibility for the suppression and blaming the other.
Return to Chronology 04 Nov 2001
2002, September 28: Observing a protest

By Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union. She was arrested while taking photographs of protesters at the Phoenix Civic Plaza during a presidential visit. Despite having taken part in numerous demonstrations, starting back during the Viet Nam war, this is her first arrest. Ms. Eisenberg is rather angered by this incident, contending that she did nothing to provoke an arrest. The police, however, state that she had been asked several time to clear an area the Secret Service had asked be closed for security, and that she had resisted arrest.
Return to Chronology 28 Sep 2002
2002, October 31: Free speech

By Bill Neel. This Butler, Pennsylvania resident was arrested in Neville Island on Labour Day during a visit there by President Bush. Mr. Neel had refused to obey police directives to step into a free speech zone which had been allocated for dissenters. District Justice Shirley Rowe Trkula dismissed the disorderly conduct charge and returned Mr. Neel's protest sign; which read, "The Bush family must surely love the poor - they've made so many of them." Judge Trkula also chastised the Allegheny County police for having gone too far in curbing protests.

(snip/...)

http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/dreamweaver/bannedbks/censorbushbashers.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then there's the censorship which is built into _Bush vs. journalists relations, in which it was spelled out for them long ago that if they write articles which displease the White House they will not be invited to White House briefings, and their newspapers lose a vital resource. Intimidation of the press has been a constant undercurrent from the very first, and later we all learned they were creating the news they wanted to sell the public and hiring "journalists" to write articles for them.

What a filthy bunch of violent hypocrites.