On Saturday morning, I went to Cambridge with a friend. Wanting to see the President, but not wanting to be seen as supporting his policies, I wore a Kerry/Edwards T-shirt. […] As I approached the security area, one low-level security person asked me to turn my shirt inside out. As I said, I was only there to hear the President, and so I complied. When I got to the main security area, however, the same man came up to me again, told me he had checked with his superiors, and that I would not be allowed into the event with the Kerry/Edwards T-shirt.
…Bush campaign staffers tore up the 55-year-old social studies teacher’s ticket and refused her admission because she sported a small sticker on her blouse that touted the Democratic ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards.
Last week, some Democrats who signed up to hear Vice President Dick Cheney speak Saturday in this town near Albuquerque were refused tickets unless they signed a pledge to endorse President Bush.
The reports and interviews by the St. Petersburg Times suggest it was the volunteers who first demanded the three protesters surrender their small signs, which derided George W. Bush and brought attention to Gay Pride Month. Summoned to the scene, police charged the protesters with trespassing when they refused to give up the signs or to leave. Volunteers at the Legends Field event say they were just following orders given by event organizers that prohibited signs on the field. But video footage obtained by the Times appears to show the rule was selectively enforced. Even as the disturbance unfolded, numerous crowd members were allowed to wave pro-Bush signs, some handmade, some professionally printed.
More of Bush and company applying his ridiculously nearsighted “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” policy to his own constituents. It’s very clear now: if you’re not a raving fan, you have no business being anywhere near the President of the United States.
(via BOP)
iTunes: “Never Enough (Big)” by Cure, The from the album Mixed Up (1990, 6:07).