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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Elections & Legislation : Government Secrecy : Regime |
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Denied Entrance to Bush Event in Dubuque |
Current rating: 0 |
by Matthew Rothschild
(No verified email address) |
20 May 2004
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Only self-proclaimed Bush supporters could get in. Republican organizers excluded even a World War II vet and the former commander of the local American Legion chapter... Bill Ward, a member of the 45th Infantry Division during World War II, went to get tickets a few days ahead of time.
Here is his account: "When I got up there, they asked to see my license and so forth, and I showed it to them. And then this young guy asked, 'Are you a Bush backer?'
"And I said, 'No, I didn't vote for him the first time, and I'm not going to vote for him this time.'
"And he said, 'Get out.' " |
On May 7, George W. Bush came to Dubuque to speak at the convention center.
It was billed as a public event, but it was anything but.
Only self-proclaimed Bush supporters could get in. Republican organizers excluded even a World War II vet and the former commander of the local American Legion chapter.
This story of exclusion, broken by the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, is in keeping with other acts of suppression along the Bush campaign trail.
Bill Ward, a member of the 45th Infantry Division during World War II, went to get tickets a few days ahead of time.
Here is his account: "When I got up there, they asked to see my license and so forth, and I showed it to them. And then this young guy asked, 'Are you a Bush backer?'
"And I said, 'No, I didn't vote for him the first time, and I'm not going to vote for him this time.'
"And he said, 'Get out.'
"I said, 'I don't have to take this crap. I'm a World War II vet.' "He said, 'Escort him out.'
"I said, 'I don't need an escort. I can find my way out.'
Ward proceeded right down to the offices of the Telegraph Herald. "I was teed off," he says.
Nick Lucy is a Vietnam veteran and the past commander of the American Legion in Dubuque. "I blow taps two or three times a week for veterans," he says.
But his service and his patriotism were not enough to get him into the Bush event, either.
"One of my Republican friends, a prominent businessman, gave me two tickets," he recalls. "I promised to go because I've seen almost every President since Johnson."
But once he got to the checkpoint, the security staff said, "You're name is not on the list," he says.
Lucy explained who had given him the tickets, and he suggested that the security staff call up his Republican friend then and there.
"I don't care who you want me to call," one of the security people said, according to Lucy.
When Lucy tried to take the man's picture, "he put his notebook in front of his face," Lucy says. And then the man told the police to get him out of there, Lucy recalls.
"If we can't listen to one another, that's not going to make America better," he says.
Four members of Women in Black were also denied entrance, even though they had proper tickets. Jan Oswald was one of them.
"I went the morning they were giving out tickets," she says. "It was a two-and-a-half-hour wait in the Dubuque Building, which is downtown."
The screening process was obvious, she recalls.
"Everyone was being asked whether they supported the President, or were they registered Republicans, or would they put up a sign in their yard or a sticker in their car," she says. But for some reason, when she got to the front of the line, the woman handing out tickets let her buy four of them without any questions asked, except for the names and phone numbers of all four women, Oswald says.
On May 7, since she had a ticket, she expected to get into the event. "We walked up to the check people, and we had our drivers' licenses out and the tickets, so they looked up our names and they said we were on the list to get in. But then a gentleman said, 'You do not look like the kind of people who are here for the right reasons,' " she recalls.
"I responded, 'You know, I'm an American. I've got a ticket that matches. I have identification, and I want to see the President.'
"The man said, 'This is a private affair. You are not welcome.' At that point, he ripped up our tickets."
Her response to that?
"We told him it didn't seem like the kind of America we wanted to live in, and we walked away," she says.
Matt Trewartha is a student of political science at Northeast Iowa Community College. He stood in line for an hour and a half on May 3 to get a ticket for himself and three friends.
While there, he acknowledged to another person in line that he was not a Republican or a Bush supporter but nor was he a Kerry supporter. When he got to the front, he was told he would not be able to get a ticket because of the comment he made about not supporting Bush, he says.
"I'm a nineteen-year-old political science major, and I thought it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the President in my hometown," he says he told the ticket people.
But to no avail.
Trewartha then asked what he was supposed to do about the three tickets he was trying to buy for his friends.
"Well, as long as they're Bush supporters they can come on down and get their own tickets," the man told him, according to Trewartha.
Trewartha's professor of American history, Ralph Scharnau, upon hearing of his troubles, decided to give him one of his own tickets.
"The day before the event, I went back to the same office and explained the situation and asked whether I could transfer the names on the tickets," Trewartha says. "And they said it was absolutely no problem. But then someone came out and said, 'Sir, you look familiar. You were here Monday. And you couldn't get a ticket then, and you can't get one now.' I said, 'Can I at least have my ticket back so I can give it back to my professor?' And she said no."
Trewartha seethed afterwards. "I was extremely angry and quite frustrated by the whole thing," he says.
Arthur Roche is the coordinator of Dubuque Peace and Justice. He also waited in line for two hours to get his ticket. Unlike Trewartha, he got a ticket.
But he did not gain entry into the event.
"As I was approaching the gate, a guy said, 'You need to have your ID and your ticket out,' so I did that, and the woman asked to see them, so I gave them both to her," Roche explains. "She raised her eyebrows when she saw my name, and she said, 'Just a moment please,' and walked about twenty feet away to confer with three men. She and one or two of those guys came back over to me and said, 'Sir, you're not invited. You'll have to leave.' She handed me my driver's license and my ticket back, and then one of the guys grabbed the ticket out of my hand, tore it in half, and threw it in the garbage."
Roche says he tried to retrieve it, but the man said, "You can't have that. That's our property. You'll need to leave now."
Roche recalls saying, "This stinks," and he walked away.
Steve Bateman, chair of the Dubuque County Republican Party, says this screening policy was not his idea. "I wasn't in charge of President Bush coming to Dubuque," he says. "The Bush campaign ran the event."
The Bush campaign did not return phone calls for comment.
Copyright 2004 the Progressive
http://www.progressive.org |
Copyright by the author. All rights reserved. |
Comments
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More Republican Censorship of Opposing Views |
by Joe Bradley
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 May 2004
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JOE BRADLEY, METRO WEST DAILY NEWS, MA - Monday night I arrived at the Fuller Middle School in Framingham looking forward to an evening of informative discussion with Gov. Romney about education policy. . . I ran the gauntlet of unions, candidates, sign holders and the like gathered outside the public entrance, collecting all of their handouts as I walked into the school. I planned on reading them when I got home.
Hurrying to get into the auditorium I didn't notice the security signs posted on the outside doors. Walking down the long corridor I saw a line of people ahead waiting to pass through security. . . Three well-dressed young men were pointing to the security signs and asking everyone to turn in their literature. I noticed that after walking through the detector no one got their literature back.
It was then I read the sign:
SECURITY NOTICE
The following items will not be admitted:
COATS
BAGS
WEAPONS
SIGNAGE
LITERATURE
All attendees are subject to a security screening.
Government issue photo ID may be required.
A young man asked me to turn in my literature. I refused, believing I had a right to keep the literature. The young man pointed to the sign and stated that literature wasn't allowed due to security reasons. . .
What are they afraid of: exploding paper? Particularly when the literature in question challenged the governor on his education policy. When I protested that no one would get a chance to read the opposite side of the issues, the young man stated that it was the official policy of the governor's office for security reasons. . . A little hot under the collar and starting to make a public nuisance of myself about my right to possess issue-oriented literature I was beginning to raise my voice.
A Framingham police officer on duty was called over. Having been acquainted with this officer since moving to Framingham 15 years ago and considering him a friend as well as a great public servant, I didn't want to ruin his evening like I had ruined the evening of the governor's Advance and Specials Events Coordinator. That's the title the young man from the governor's staff had on his business card which he kindly gave me. I agreed to leave the premises rather than turn in my literature. As I was exiting the building I let slip that I might write a column about this policy.
I let the people outside know that all their literature was being confiscated inside, Suddenly the governor's deputy press secretary, Nicole St. Peter, appeared in the parking lot inviting me inside, with the literature. Now that they thought I was some hot-shot columnist I was going to be allowed to bring in the literature. I asked her to explain the policy and how confiscating all opposition literature enhanced the governor's safety. She had no explanation other than it was official policy at all these events. . . Nicole St. Peter begged me to calm down and come inside, but I refused. |
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Re: Denied Entrance to Bush Event in Dubuque |
by Ed
frozenthought (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
22 May 2004
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I have also read of political intolerance practiced at Democratic rallys so it is not an exclusive Republican issue. Personally, I have selflessly helped Carl Estabrook & Paul Meuth with their radio show for several years. It is disturbing to read about isolated protest zones at rallies too. The only reason to be denied entry to a public forum is if you demonstrate that you are a genuine security risk. If these reports are in fact true, then free speech & the expression of an honest opinion has been delivered a severe blow. I would like to believe I can still enter any public forum in America as long as I demonstrate a willingness to offfer responsible intellectual scrutiny of any idea expressed at that forum, regardless of whether I agree with the speaker or not.--ED |
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