McCain Campaign (NOT Secret Service) Had "Bush=McCain" Protestor Removed
As Steve reported Tuesday, a 61-year old librarian named Carol Kreck was removed from a McCain campaign event for holding a sign that read Bush=McCain. At the time, the local officer who asked Kreck to leave said he was doing so because the Secret Service had asked him to. Well, it turns out that it was the McCain campaign who personally wanted her booted.
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.
But Thursday, after two days of being vilified by bloggers, letter writers and others, the Secret Service emphatically denied involvement.
"Contrary to some recent reporting, the Secret Service had no involvement in Ms. Kreck being removed from the area," said Malcolm D. Wiley Sr., spokesman for the Secret Service. "It was not done at our request or suggestion. Any assertion to the contrary is inaccurate and inconsistent with our established policies and procedures."
So not only was a 61-year old woman who posed no threat whatsoever kicked out a public event in a manner that clearly violates the First Amendment, it turns out it was the McCain campaign who made it all happen. It seems her sign hit very close to home.
Kreck blogs about the ongoing incident at HuffPo. You can order her Bush = McCain sign in various formats (T-shirt, bumpersticker, etc) and part of the proceeds will go to Kreck's defense fund.
She should charge them with assault.
This kind of stuff happens frequently -- by both parties' candidates.
i sure hope this doesn't come as a surprise to anyone.
despite the fact that ms. kreck was told that she was being booted at the request of the secret service (as seen in the video) we've all lived through two bush campaigns where precisely this type of deception was used ("blaming" the secret service) in an attempt to make bush, and now mccain, appear blameless and not the gross disrespecter of citizens and of citizens' right both to speak and to hear things which show mccain and bush for the frauds they are.
So, It was McCains own people who had her removed?
Hmmmmm, How telling. McCain = Bush. That poor woman is right.
John McCain =
BushRobert Mugabethe cop is also in violation of her civil rights.
the mcfuckhead campaign should have charges
filed against them and this should be brought
up at every speech that mcfuckhead makes
right up to the election.
he has every intention of being bush if elected.
Proof that her message is true.
questioncw @ 2:
Have you any evidence of Republicans being removed from a Democratic event?
No.
Move along troll.
Yes, the McSame crew are very very sensitive to the McGramps/Bush comparison. I saw this about 3 weeks ago on one of the Sunday shows. The McSame mouth told the Obama mouth to stop calling it McCain/Bush campaign. He was really hot under the collar. This just reconfirms that it gets to them.
McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush McSame=Bush
To questioncw,
Please show one instance of Obama's campaign doing this. This is a Bush GOP tactic.
And I hope someone serves that cop his cahones sunny-side up for writing a citation on this 61yr old woman because a campaign worker told him to make her leave a public spot.
oh, and "questioncw," can you cite a single instance of either kerry or obama doing this type of thing? especially if it has that special republican flavor-additive of hanging the blame for the ejection on the secret service.
there was that one infamous incident where the student was tasered at a kerry speech but (a) that was an act committed by police officers, (b) it happened in september 2007, not as part of any campaign for any office and (c) the worst that could be said about kerry in regard to the incident is that he didn't stop the police from removing the student.
i pay pretty close attention but if i missed kerry using the mccain/bush technique for image enhancement during the 2004 election campaign or if i missed gore using that technique during the 2000 election campaign, have at it, i always appreciate being educated.
questioncw @ 2:
This absolutely does NOT happen at Obama events. When this was first reported they compared it to Obama events and the verdict was that Obama does not censor his audiences. He welcomes McSame people to his events. So that they can see for themselves what Obama is like. Sorry questioncw. You are a liar.
questioncw @ 2:
Now go and try to collect your McShame points now.
Why didn't those uniformed police officers have any better judgement? The officer sez 'I'm not asking you to leave... HE IS!'
Being on camera, I would have asked for credentials and identification! Then I would have screamed "FALSE ARREST, FALSE ARREST!" Of course, I'm not a mild-mannered librarian either.
I wonder if she could sue the McCain campaign official for mis-representing himself as the Secret Service.
At least they haven't started organizing bands of toughs to break up Obama rallies the way Mussolini and Hitler did to their oppositions. Then we'd really be fucked.
CowBoy Bob in Austin @ 14:
Apparently the ACLU has picked up her case.
I have a feelin that they'll look at all the angles to this case.
But in this current political climate, nothing will surprise me anymore.:(
General_Rennenkampf @ 15:
Just wait, they'll be out there. I predict we'll be seeing some staged media events like this:
http://rightwingnuthouse.com/archives/2007/12/17/conservative-student-fa...
If you are just holding a protest sign, and clearly pose no threat to peace or security:
1. If some guy in a dark suit asks you to leave PUBLIC PROPERTY or a public space, refuse.
2. If a police officer asks you to leave PUBLIC PROPERTY or a public space, refuse.
3. If the police officer then arrests you for refusing to leave public property, sue the police department AND the arresting officer for violation of your civil rights.
Don't bother to charge with assault, you'll never win. Don't bother to file a complaint with any bogus departmental complaints commission. At most, somebody will just get put on suspension without pay for a couple of days, and there will be no reluctance to do the same thing again next time.
The only way the police departments of this country will learn to stop violating people's civil rights if if they are hit where it hurts when they do so. MONEY! If the politicians who fund these police departments have to suddenly find another 5 million to pay for a civil rights lawsuit because some boneheaded patrolman violated a citizen's right to peaceful protest just because somebody's campaign manager TOLD him to, then and ONLY then will these things stop happening.
Because this is on video, and what happened can't be denied in court, this is an ideal case to push for. I think the ACLU should get involved here.
General_Rennenkampf
At least they haven’t started organizing bands of toughs to break up Obama rallies the way Mussolini and Hitler did to their oppositions. Then we’d really be fucked.
They're probably too afraid of having to confront people of color if they tried. Its not like their Brownshits stopping a bunch of old white poll workers from counting ballots. Republiscums are too afraid to fight a fair fight.
I tell you friends, I am absolutely fed up with living in a corporation, republican police state. If this continues much longer, this Country is going to become a powder keg. They can only push the American people so far. I cannot tell you, how many people I know, who perceive our government as their chief enemy. And, the people behind the scene, pulling the strings, are the corporations.
I think they are counting us to revolt so Bush can declare Martial law on us.
Saint Augustine @ 19:
Probably too old and out-of-shape to do it, too.
Not that Liberals are in much better shape, though, to judge by this obesity epidemic hitting people of all political persuasions.
Just one more item for the media to ignore. The stupid Americans will still vote for McCain. Did you really expect them to get any smarter after eight years of Bush?
I only hope we see many more "McCain = Bush" signs spring up at future McCain events & rallies.
Saint Augustine @ 19:
Uh...what do you mean 'THEN we'd be fucked?' We're ALREADY fucked. The fucking has just been on hiatus for a few years. You think the government hasn't called in the army to SHOOT protesters already? What would you call the Kent State shootings of 1970? There is already a precedent for it. Be afraid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Broken ... The lady has a case and should sue and #18 is right, the ACLU should be involved. (I'm sure they are already)
Saint Augustine @ 19:
What do you mean 'THEN we'd really be fucked?' There is already a precedent for it. The 1970 Kent State shootings of protesters by the National Guard. Don't push your luck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
☻..Bangkok Bob..☻ @ 25:
Meh, when's breaking the Constitution ever stopped the government? I'll give you a hint, it hasn't once since 1789.
General_Rennenkampf @ 15:
No they did that a long time ago, its how they got in office, see the "Brooks Brother Riot"
I still, to this day, do not understand why those fuckers weren't arrested for interfering with a federal election. That has been a fucking felony forever.
We are a fucking banana republic. Have been ever since that night.
Bush is known for "idiologically cleansing" his events, so by kicking this woman out of one of his own, McCain has now proven her point.
CommieBoy @ 27:
They've already done this. They set up protest areas far from where the POL's are, kind of "Free Speech Zones" and for bands of toughs they just use the police.
The sign says McCain=Bush not Bush=McCain.
She posted at the HP and told her to trademark to get paid for the shirts and bumper stickers.
Saint Augustine @ 19:
the police class is more than up to the job. they have a pretty good record in the killing unarmed minorities of bot genders and getting away with it in court. 'FEAR' is the primary excuse and it apparently an acceptable excuse in court.
getalife @ 30:
there was a point in there somewhere. I can't find it.
☻..Bangkok Bob..☻ @ 29:
CommieBoy @ 27:
@ Bangkok Bob and Commie Boy:
The Brooks Brother Riot was pathetic. Hitler's SA would have eaten those pussies for lunch. If the Florida people were intimidated, they were wrong to be so, people in the GOP tend to shy away from any sort of serious confrontation like 1920s Italy or 1920s-30s Germany. As for the Free Speech Zones, in a real sense they violate the spirit of the First Amendment, if not the letter.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 31:
@CoIntelPro: They tried shooting white people yet? The police in this nation would get eaten for dinner by an equivalent of the SA, as the SA were hardcore brutes. The police? Feh, not so much.
I remember a blog posters somewhere commenting something to the effect of:
I thought Republicans liked Bush? Shouldn't her sign be a GOOD thing?
Hell, if I were here, I would have tried to pass myself off as a McCain supporter and say "Well I am Republican and we elected Bush twice, so McCain being like bush is a good thing!"
Our local radio station here in Denver was calling this selective enforcement, because the pro-McCain demonstrators weren't made to leave the event, from what I heard. Frankly, I'd be surprised there were any pro-McCain demonstrators given the fact that showing support for any Republican who supports the policies of Bush is akin to being a NAMBLA supporter... Something you generally don't want people to know about.
General_Rennenkampf @ 22:
Steroids are all the rage in the police forces. They might want to arrest Barry Bonds, but they sure imitate him.
Will McCain explain himself, or apologize? Of course not he is a damn coward, unAmerican bastard deep down.
Move Over;Let The Big Boys Play
I have scene enough, and I am convinced. John McSame is out of his league. After seeing him on film saying he's not sure what he has voted for and having his supporters mouth off very offensive comments, somebody should step in and educate this team to the level of competition he's in.
Joseph
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 39:
Any serious force of streetfighters like the Brownshirts'd make our police say "Uncle." They may be used to bashing citizens. The citizens bashing back, OTOH....
A new meaning of the word Bush-league.
General_Rennenkampf @ 37:
they don't generally shoot whites in NY, but the bill for the other physical abuses, again, both genders, is $100Million/year as of the guiliani administration.
during the juliani years, they formed a circular firing squad on a retarded jewish man holding a hammer. the resulting carnage left two cops shot as sell as the man. that incident forced a revision in police procedures. now they only form semi-circles.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 44:
Bloomberg's the Mayor now. How's he different, if at all?
get this on the idea box let people see how he treats
freedom of the speech
By throwing her out, she got a bigger platform that if they'd just allowed her to express her opinion. Isn't that what our soldiers are fighting for? Our freedom? Freedom of speech? Obviously McCain's staff hate our freedom.
What is OFFENSIVE is the "SIGN" being used as an excuse for trespassing.
OF COURSE she will win her day in court.
But now we have to ask... will she sue the city of Denver for interfering with her First Amendment Rights?
General_Rennenkampf @ 45:
he's been very successful at keeping the police stories out of the media. very successful.
the attempted gentrification of Northern Manhattan is strongly underway, but for the minorities who just keep living there while not being wealthy or white. the police have attacked numbers of blacks in morningside park, ostensibly for being loud and disorderly( several were playing African drums.) there was literally no law to violate and it was in the middle of the day. the police 'confiscated the drums on at least two occasions. it seems that the complaints were from a recently arived white person who bought a 'coop/condo' apartment across from the park(obviously for the view - looks like a wooded mountainside).
eventually civil rights groups got involved and broke through the police wall with the court system. so far, no one has resisted. the police routinely bring five or more vehicles to the scene and several of the contigent arrive wearing riot gear. as much as the police try to force the situation, the people they are dealing with are educated and too intelligent for those morons and they also know the law. not what they expected.
Yellowbird @ 48:
She should sue the McCain Campaign
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 49:
WTF? Did New York somehow become a minor version of Airstrip One when I wasn't looking? I'd think my uncle who lives there would have said something, he's not exactly on the GOP's Approved American list.
Snowball @ 8:
Actually there was that Meyers guy. Remember "Don't taze me Bro!". However, Kerry actually asked for the cops to let the kid go. But Meyers was a dick and took a swing at a cop and thus got tazed.
This librarian was a threat to nobody, wasn't misbehaving and was on a public sidewalk.
Here is her post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-kreck/mccainbush_b_112285.html
CowBoy Bob in Austin @ 14:
Well it is a federal crime to impersonate an agent of the FBI or Secret Service.
Why are you surprised by this? Liberal opposition has been so ineffectual for 8 years that the only thing the GOP would possibly do is keep screwing you over and plowing you under. Did you really imagine future politicians would snap back to previous moral boundaries with your continued and utter inaction?
Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out she was some wingnut who thought her sign was a compliment to Bush?
Would the McCain campaign kick Boosh himself out if he showed up at a campaign event as a surprise appearance?
McChickenshit!
McCoward!
McJOKE!
General_Rennenkampf @ 51:
E in MD @ 52:
you are a liar! I saw the video. meyers did not attempt to assault anyone. he was loud, but that was it. he was tazed multiple times as well. get a fact or a clue before you spout crap! some of us here know the truth.
your mama @ 55:
maybe you should get your news and views from places other than fux.
I want to order the T, but add, under the McCain = Bush-- "good or bad?"
I think this will twist a lot of the kool aid drinkers around...
Sure...after all, it's not the Secret Service's job to accost, threaten, beat, or abuse the citizens of this country...yet.
Charles @ 62:
no, they instruct the police to do it for them.
So, I guess McCain does equal Bush... because neither one believes in or protects our Constitution...in this case the First Amendment...
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. See U.S. Const. amend. I. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief.
McCain the Liar @ 23:
Bingo!
Didn't she know there was a GOP "free speach zone" a mile away from the convention center far from cameras and the media where she could have carried her sign? Someone should have told her in advance and all of this could have been avoided.
Just like her sign read: Bush=McCain. How this clown is polling even close to Obama illustrates that most people are uninformed and make decisions based on soundbites.
perfect! these scumbag republicans are goin' DOWN.
(insert raspberry sound here!)
they asked her to remove the sign, and she refused, now she asks why? she knew why... she way playing mind games and they weren't playing back.
Too bad BOTH sides are in on this corruption. Like the guy that got tasered for asking a question.
Ronald Raygun must be proud (somewhere) to see how Republicans are sticking together, protecting their own. McSame = standing Republican president = riot-police-bad?
He said never trash another Republican ...or something.
karen marie @ 11:
Actually, Kerry was trying:
But of course it became nothing but a big internet joke, because apparently nobody minds the coming police state as much as they mind rude questioners of politicians.
It's so very sad and ironic, that the people who claim to be the most patriotic and uber supporters of the constitution are petrified to talk to anyone with a 'protest' sign or a differing opinion. To quote G.W. Bush..... "they hate us for our freedoms".
Carol Kreck = American Hero
Has planet Earth ever seen a greater threat to democracy than the GOP ???
They spend 104% of their time attacking critics instead of serving the American people.
It's over GOP, get used to it.
"...Jenny Schiavone, a spokeswoman for the performing arts center, said the venue is city-owned rental property but is not legally defined as public property. ..."
This is just another example of how the fascist government manipulates the rules/laws to their advantage. The outsourcing by the government of public venues to private corporations allows them say, "legally not public" and anyone, for any reason, can be asked to leave.
At Denver airport in 2002, going through security, I was pulled aside for a full-body search. Obviously I was obliged to respect the law, though I do not agree with it (the x-ray machines are sufficient and the over-security is dog&poney bs, etc.). But I don't have to like it, right? Wrong. All I said, calmly, when the TSA (actually pre-TSA) guy was patting my privates was, "I don't like this." Full hell came down on me. The police were called. There was a national guardswoman with a rifle starring me down lipping, "make a move MF, make a MF." I remained quite. The police came. They tried to jack me up. I remained calm at all times and smiled. They hated that. They said because security called them, that I must have done something. I told them to look at the video, as I was being filmed. Anyway, to keep it short, I'll just say they tried their best to intimidate me because they wanted an excuse to take me down but I knew by rights, stayed calm, and eventually left to catch my plane. They hated me.
If the airpots was private property (and I understand that many smaller airports are and their are efforts to privatize airports, them its game over. They can ask you to leave, for any reason, and their argument is - private property.
The point is that we have no more free speech in America. You ARE expected to like your government, its policies, and not speak out against them. I you do, you will meet with unethical, often illegal tactics to stifle you. You may get hurt - witness Andrew Meyers.
So if we really belive in free speech, if we really believe in the "rule of law," then we will have to fight for them. You will be hated. Fascist do not understand why you do not respect the "good work" they are doing for you. They do not understand why you are so ungrateful and disrespectful of their policies. They believe that YOU are the problem and that you must be dealt with for the greater good.
Be scared. Be very scared America.
Nope...from a little further down in the Post article...
dadams @ 6:
A million times worse even, imo
He'll be a Bush without all of the strings and carefully-appointed puppet masters.
Please donate to the ACLU, they represent our best shot at pushing back against creeping fascism.
Great question for the ole straight talker at the next town meeting: "Why did your people have the 61 year old librarian removed from a public place for saying what YOU always say in public places: Bush=McCain"?
questioncw @ 2:
Nice try, but you haven't been removed from this event. That proves you are wrong, McTroll.
p.s. McCain=Bush
Liars! And bullies to boot for messing with a 61-year-old librarian fer chrissakes.
I have to say when you see them pushing a 61 year old woman around for just carrying a sign that is non-threatening is very creepy! I worry about the new recruits in my area, and wonder if they know the rights of the people versus just doing what some fascist pinhead tell them to do.
Fuck the first amendment! Madison and Jefferson are now spinning in their graves faster than a 15,000 rpm high performance hard drive.
How come this ALWAYS happens in Colorado?
Same thing happened when Bush was there in 2004.
There is already a precedent for this.
These people did basically the same thing, were charged with the same crime, and sued and won.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gb9VxvOI74
Sue. This is clearly a 1st amendment violation.
lyn @ 69:
No, she was asking what right do they have to ask her to remove a sign?
And the truth is, they have no right. If she's trespassing, everybody else there is too. This is a very clear 1st amendment right being curtailed. It's been illegal to do this since this country was created.
Identical policy of Bush . . . only people that will applaud for me are allowed in this audiance . . . any wonder he has gained the nickname:
********************* Mc Same*********************************
Just one question. If the government is surpressing our freedoms, how can terrorists hate us for our freedoms? It's all so very confusing!
General_Rennenkampf @22 says:
He's just continuing Bush's "freedom agenda".
?begets ?
Suppose McCain doesn't =Bush. Suppose that is the lie, the festering prong, the nuisance. You remove it, you don't keep it in your eye for all to see you wear what doesn't belong to you.
So many comments lamenting a need for rebellion in the land of liberty; so much intelligence laid waste in the whirling stool pit.
Then was a Jew named Steven stoned for repairing an ambitious clergy of their history of control and stirring anger to the point of his own death for only recounting the truth. That is scary. This shall wash the pipes clean and here in America, the pipes always need to be cleaned for delivering, what effluent to our sparkling appetites? No we really have access to the elixir of existence in this country and a librarian is willing to be a filter, an abrasion inside the channel. Thing is perfection doesn't by intrinsic design beget perfection do you think?
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