This Will Apparently Never Go Away

More press today for the Denver Three – though this time from the blog of John Temple, Editor of the Rocky Mountain News (yes, I said the editor of the RMN now has a blog – hat tip to Clay Calhoun.)

Really - this has got to come to a close soon.

We all get by now that these three have great media skills, great timing, and a great soapbox.

And I would venture that nearly everyone on this site has either served as or with Campaign Advance Staff at some point. I’d also wager that, in some far corner of our minds, we all know how easily volunteers can get out of line.

But when the henchmen/perpetrator/zealous wannabe is out’ed? What then?? I bet we’ll be bored once the mystery is solved.

Comments

[politicalpredictor]

As I suggested before, when this guy is outed Ken Salazar will need to keep a low profile because of his close association with a big time advance guy who has had his own dust-ups in the past for posing as a secret service agent. The White House and GOP operatives are too clueless to turn this thing to their advantage. One of the smartest and best advance men in national politics is Mike Stratton. Ask him how he feels about guys who pose as Secret Service agents?

[RedHawk]

Kudos, Political Predictor, for remembering about Stratton. My answer to your question: he loves ‘em and considers them indispensable for being just that – over zealous volunteers.

[Ter Ducken]

Don't forget the HUGE difference here: campaign events versus public events. It's common practice to screen for a campaign event, but people should never be pre-screened for a public event just because they may not agree with the President.

These three may not have been Republicans, but as the GOP has always tried to say after the elections, he's still THEIR President too. Nobody should be barred from coming to an event to see the President unless they are there to attempt to physically harm him. If the Three had tried to disrupt the event and were removed in the process, I would have no problems with this. But pre-screening people just because they may be in opposition is borderline autocratic. If you can't see that that's not right, I don't know what else to say to convince you.

This is happening all over the country. It IS a big deal, and it should be. It's not right.

[Thinkin]

Anyone remember on April 1st? How The "Billionaires for Bush" awarded the Golden Goose to Bob Beauprez, but went to the wrong office and ended up setting up a staff member in the process? That was wrong, too.

When things like this are orchestrated, it shows not only forethought but maliciousness. That, in Judicial parlance, is Intent and Probable Cause.

[kids]

Here's my litmus test: would I send my kids to this thing, knowing we disagree with the President? No. Because I know my kids well enough to know they would be wanting to go to disrupt. And I would especially not allow them to go with a group of like-minded friends.

My favorite quote (from Men In Black): a person is the smartest thing in the Universe, but people are the dumbest animals around. (Or something like that.)

Now, on the other hand, if my callege student kid wanted to go to something like this to do some sort of thesis or report, I'd say "have at it" and "God Speed". But go alone (or with a prof) and don't try to stand out or entice trouble.

But I guess I'm over-protective.

[Kenevan McConnon]

Are Republican positions so weak that they have to be discussed in private? Is President Bush a delicate flower that will wilt at the first hint of popular opposition?

Why do the Republicans hate the United States? Why are they afraid of freedom?

Stop spending my tax dollars on propaganda. It's immoral.

[Rock 5]

Oh come on guys, the horse died a couple weeks ago. Kenevan and Ter (?) are still yelling "Fire!" in the theater after someone lit up a cigarette.

Bad form to kick out the aging hippies, but worthy of a federal investigation it is not.

[lumberjack]

Temple's blog is mighty fine.

[Kenevan McConnon]

Rock5 is right. There are bigger fish to fry, but $20 million for the Social Security Road Show, $25 million for fake news reports, and God knows how much for Armstrong Williams and friends is real money. Propaganda is unamerican and flys in the face of free and open government. You might be interested in living in an Orwellian version of the United States. I am not.

[Nathan Hale]

Mr. Temple,

Your
BLOG opener states the version of events you offer are the truth. Does that
mean other viewpoints are lies?

I
would like to comment and match you at length on reporter Ann Imse activities
last Tuesday in becoming the story with her part-time marketing
coordinator, and liberal activist from Denver MoveOn.org.

I
am the man in the dark suit she wrote about last week who un-invited Ms. Bauer
from our political event. No, I am not
that guy; I am the other one - not
wearing mirrored glasses, a dark suit, and a lapel pin nor wearing a high tech
ear piece. I am the angry guy who stepped in front of Ms. Bauer and your rabid
news team and asked them to stop hounding my friend Jay Bob and leave the
Denver Metro Young Republican meeting immediately.

To
be fair, afterwards, the camera man went to the trouble to retrieve and
present his press I.D. from his vehicle and Ms. Imse was kind enough to offer a
business card in lieu of her misplaced Rocky Mountain News Press ID.

Amusing
enough, after the challenge Ms. Bauer admitted she wasn't with the Rocky
Mountain News and upon further inquiry, not a reporter at all, but a party to
media event in question. She looked like a junior high school starlet caught
cheating in French Class when crib notes were discovered in her shiny new
Scooby-Do lunch box. That was a Kodak moment!

When
she asked Jay Bob for the name of his lawyer, 4 out of 7 people standing at the
scene were attorneys, and the cards went flying. It was comical.

I
am surprised to see such a long and defensive response to our clubs minor press
release. It says a lot about how much care for your staff and the level to
which you will travel to defend their complicity.

Yes,
it is true; they escorted a third party embroiled in a legal dispute to harass
my friend and one of our members to document the reaction. After all, we all
like reality T.V., why not Rocky Mountain News style. “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry” – yea haw.

So
what if you run into a brick wall of no comments from the people in charge.
Create the story, harass an innocent volunteer, they’ll break and tell us
something -- right? It is the slow news cycle anyway and something will stick.
That’s how it works, right? Even now, we are playing into your evil plans
in every response and letter. This thing will get some traction eventually,
right? I smell something rotten in Denver
and it’s not the new jail.

I
don't think we are shooting the messenger here as you put it; we are not even
interested in the fairy tale. Our meeting was not about the White House,
Congressman Beauprez nor the Colorado State Party in how they operate their
events. It wasn’t even about Social Security. That was last month’s news and – “we don’t comment on White House events”.

Anyway,
real anti-Bush activist would have
been arrested and tossed out for wearing their “Stop the Lies” T-Shirts outside
of their clothes. We were meeting to have an intelligent conversation about
something a little deeper than the second rate staged media events your staff
writes about.

We
were discussing an infamous Colorado
icon’s First Amendment Rights and his behavior while on the public payroll.
Ward Churchill, the mind, the man, the myth and the legend was the subject of
our meeting – and I learned a lot. I never knew that Professor Churchill was
quoted as saying, “they (the FBI) finally got what they had coming” in response
to the Oklahoma City
bombing. That is news to me – disturbing news.

How
did your news hounds go from covering the President of the United States
to a guy named “Jay Bob” anyway? Was it a leap of faith or is it Rocky Mountain
News policy to stalk somebody 25 miles from their home to a Mexican restaurant
as routine investigative reporting?

I
am glad Jay Bob wasn’t going to Catholic Mass that night. Would Ms. Imse and
Ms. Bauer pretend to be Nun’s and your camera man the alter boy? Granted, our
club is Colorado’s
largest Young Republican Club and we have been around since “FDR and the New
Deal”, but where is the wild goose in this chase?

Just
because the (as the Denver Post puts it) “Denver Digits” say they were told by
some guy in a smiley tie the Secret Service is going to bust a move on you, it
is assumed to be the absolute truth?

Visitors
are always welcomed to our Young Republican meetings and socials, but your
staff and liberal collaborators should review the definition of visitor and
guest for future reference.

Your
people crashed the Denver Metro Young Republicans meeting and apparently,
certain members of your “news team” have a history of coordinating media
episodes. They are not welcomed to stage their
drama and market their biased liberal hype at our expense.

Unlike
recent White House events, we have the right and ask our guest to announce
themselves and will ask visitors to leave if they can’t conduct themselves
honorably.

Mirrored glasses, dark suits, lapel pins
and high tech ear pieces not required.

Patron Member

[Rebel Dem]

Here are the facts:

* Bush's Social Security road show was billed as a "Town Hall Meeting" so he could hold an "open conversation" with the American people. Nowhere did he state that Americans with opposing views could not attend. This was a taxpayer funded event open to the PUBLIC, not just rePUBLICans.
* The Denver 3 (all adults) LEGALLY obtained tickets for the event from Rep. Beauprez's office. Supporting Bush's views was NOT a stated requirement for acquiring tickets.
* The Denver 3 were physically and forcibly removed (repeatedly pushed) because they had a bumper sticker on their car which read, "No more blood for oil." Physically pushing and manhandling someone, unprovoked, when you are NOT an officer of the law IS ASSAULT. The Denver 3 were singled out because of their views and NOT because of anything they did or threats they made (they did no such thing) -- that is a clear violation of their free speech rights.

The constitution clearly states that the government (that includes Bush and his government-run Social Security events, in case anyone forgot) cannot violate your right to free speech. Either you agree with the constitution or you don't. It is the law of the land, even when Republicans -- with their thought-police goons cleansing public events -- are president.

Until someone can prove to me that Bush is a special case that should be shielded from speech he does not approve of (or understand, for that matter), then the law was violated. I recognize that respect for the law is not a strong characteristic of this White House. But we are a country of laws that differentiates itself from regimes like, oh, let's say Saddam Hussein's, because we have the rule of law, not the whims of a dictator and the thugs who shield him from the opinions he dislikes.

If you beilieve Republicans should have special rights over everyone else, then that's an entirely different conversation.

In short, the law was broken, The Denver 3 were assaulted and their free speech rights were violated. Does anyone care to differ?

[seriously]

I suppose if Hillary managed to win in 2008 that people with "abortion is murder" t-shirts would be welcomed at her town hall meetings.

[Phoenix Rising]

"I suppose if Hillary managed to win in 2008 that people with "abortion is murder" t-shirts would be welcomed at her town hall meetings."

Yes, they should be. Aside from that, though, you made an invalid comparison; if they had "abortion is murder" bumper-stickers, that would be the same. The "Stop the lies!" T-shirts the Denver 3 wore were not visible...

[Joey]

Sure, I differ Rebel Dem. I'm not convinced that all the "facts" you cite are true, and they certainly haven't been proven in a court of law. I'm not saying that there weren't first amendment violations - perhaps there were. But there may be other facts we don't know. Why prejudge the case?

Concerning the Temple RMN blog, I have no idea how he wrote that with a straight face. I'm not a journalist, but the idea of a journalist covertly taking an interested party along to stage an event for a photo opportunity and in doing so help their cause violates the idea of independent journalism. Maybe it's just me. It seems like it should be the reporter's job to clarify their identity and purpose, not the interviewee.

[Keith]

Hillary in 2008? 172 electorial votes in the old confederacy and two neighboring states. Just which one is she gonna pick up.

Abortion is murder won't even be on radar. The NRA will pre-empt that.

[Phoenix Rising]

Thank you, Keith, for bringing up the unspoken truth: the Confederacy never really gave up - they're the Republican Party...

[Keith]

We were pissed at Lincoln. But not anymore.

[Kenevan McConnon]

Nate,

I think you're pissed because you and your cohorts got caught in an embarrassing situation. Stop whining. Being the subject of a news story always make the guilty feel violated. I am sorry your long-lived organization's reputation has been tarnished by Smiley Tie and Black Suit; the seeds of fascism must be shown in the light. The Denver 3 have done an excellent job bringing you and your kind into the light.

Keep on making Republicans proud. I'll keep on defending the United States from the likes of you, carrying the torch of liberty and freedom and supporting others that do the same.

By the by, why do you keep the name of black suit secret? If you all didn't do anything wrong, why the denial?

Keith,
You should really watch you language. Someone might mistakingly believe that you are threatening the Senator from New York's life.

Pheonix Rising,
You are right; the South or something else just as scary rises again in the form of the Republican Party.

[Keith]

I am not threatening the Senator from New York's life.

I am stating what everybody already knows. One needs the endorsement of the NRA to carry southern states. Al Gore couldn't carry Tenn. because of his gun control position.

Good grief.

[Kenevan McConnon]

Keith,
Cool. I misunderstood. As a gun toting meat eating progressive, I believe in training (I'm an NRA Instructor) and never taking guns lightly. :)

[Jack]

"I'll keep on defending the United States from the likes of you, carrying the torch of liberty and freedom and supporting others that do the same."

Do you talk like that when you're in the car by yourself? Could you tell the folks in Iraq who got to vote last January that you've been there for them the whole time, carrying that torch? Hmm?

"..the South or something else just as scary..."

I'm curious about what you meant here... care to back up that rhetoric with a little context? What, have some bad jambalaya at Gumbo's one night?

[Keith]

The south rose a long time ago. We've been running the country. Jim Wright, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, Al Gore, 41, 43.

I was looking at the required reading for CU PSCI student the other week at the bookstore. Even CU gets that the south rose again.

[Keith]

oh yeah and lets not forget the hammer.

[Kenevan McConnon]

Jack,

Nice snark. I don't drive that much and when I do I'm trying to learn Brazilian Portuguese right now.

As far as what I mean by the "something worse," I'll leave you with my Great, Great Grandfather's words from his book, "Might is Right." He's a lot better writer than I'll ever hope to be. He wrote it after being interrogated for six months by the Gestapo in 1935:

"These methods of the National Socialists, including assassination, have often been defended even outside Germany with the argument that they were protective measures and therefore justifiable for political reasons. To my dismay people other than National Socialists occasionally hold the opinion that such conduct was reprehensible only when it did not apply to the Communists. My situation was appalling but the accused Communists should be harshly treated. My idea that everyone was entitled to the full protection of the laws was not admitted, nor was the resultant conclusion, that he who is put without the law has a right to use every means to defend himself. It was presumably not realized that such an attitude supported the National Socialist idea which subordinates law to politics. He who for the sake of justice defends innocent person, even though he does not shares that person's political views, is considered an enemy of the National Socialists.

The idea of justice has its ultimate foundation in the need to curb man's will to power. To this end certain common rules have been built up in all human societies in which the same ideas about mutual relationships of life obtain. They strive to bring about a condition in which the members of society place their observance higher than the exercise of irresponsible self-will, to the end of guaranteeing mutual trust and equality of treatment under the law. Yet when certain members of the society attain a position of dominance they lightly yield to the temptation to substitute their own power for law and justice. We can measure the evil comparing this weak substitute for justice with a mature system of laws."

We can check back on what freedoms the Iraqis have in a few years. Right now they seem to have the freedom to get blown up or shot. Remember, Chalibi is the Minister of Oil. I know, I know...we've opened a bunch of schools.

[Donald E. L. Johnson]

As a journalist and someone who attended the 1962(3?) national convention of the Young Republicans as an Iowa delegate, as well as a political junky, I have a few observations.

1. It appears the RMN reporter was trying to identify the bouncer and found a way to do it. Legitimate, imho.
2. The RMN reporter had no control over Bauer, who freelanced her own activities after she got to the meeting. OK.
3. Any political organization that holds a public meeting should assume reporters are present and that whatever happens at the meeting will be reported on by someone, if anything interesting happens. Usually doesn't.
4. I think the RMN reporter was a little too coy and should have been more open about who she is. But everyone has their own approach and there are no uniform rules of conduct.
5. The subject of the investigative reporting knew the hunt was on, and he made a mistake, to put it politely, to attend a GOP event.
6. This is all about the incivility of politics, which began during the Vietnam War when protestors made it impossible for presidents to appear in public without being heckled. Clinton suffered the same kind of heckling, and his presidence was damaged big time by his inability to appear in open public forums.
7.So, today we have a White House that protects itself against hecklers by trying to ban them from political and public meetings. A natural, but unfortunate response.

What's needed? Respect for the political process. This isn't the UK where heckling is a sport and art. This is America where we have the freedom of speech, and presidents should share that freedom.

If we want presidential events to be open to all, we have to act like adults, otherwise we'll be treated like brats.

The Denver three acted like brats (and were prepared to act out) and got what they deserved, imho.

The political process can't work if politicians can't appear in public and talk with voters. We're not talking about politically correct college campus politics here. We're talking serious business, and it makes me sad when I have to go through a scanner and to be checked out by a bouncer before I can hear and see my president.