Civil Liberties = Obcene?

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/ind...?lcvg#continue


Civil liberties T-shirts trigger 'alarm'
A Bush rally volunteer reacts to three women's attire and tosses them out
Saturday, October 16, 2004
JEFF MAPES
Janet Voorhies said she was curious to see how Republicans would react when she and two other women showed up at President Bush's Central Point rally wearing T-shirts stating "Protect Our Civil Liberties."
She got her answer before the president even spoke. The three women were ejected from the rally and escorted from the Jackson County Fairgrounds by state police officers who warned them they would be arrested if they tried to return.

Republican officials said they weren't exactly sure why a volunteer at the event demanded that the three women leave the rally. But a Bush campaign spokesman, Tracey Schmitt, said: "It is not the position of the campaign that wearing a T-shirt that says protect civil liberties is enough to conclude someone is disruptive."

Thursday night's action was the latest in a series of incidents in which people have been removed from Bush campaign events for expressing opposition to the president. Officials say the events are open to supporters and people who are considering voting for Bush, but they are quick to act when they think there is a possibility of disruption.

Voorhies, 48, a student teacher who lives in Ashland, said she and two other teachers obtained tickets to the event after saying they were undecided voters. She said she does not expect to vote for Bush, however.

She said the three decided to wear T-shirts that weren't critical of the president but expressed an issue "important to us. . . . We were testing the limits of the Republican Party, of who is allowed to be at a rally for the president."

Voorhies said the three made it through all three checkpoints and assured volunteers who questioned them that they would not disrupt the event. But when Voorhies was on her way to the bathroom, she was stopped by a volunteer who told her she wasn't welcome.

She said this volunteer pointed to her shirt and said it was "obscene."

Jackson County Republican Chairman Bryan Platt said he didn't see the incident but said the volunteer was trying to make a judgment about whether the women would be disruptive.

"It basically just triggered his alarm," Platt said of the volunteer, whom he did not name, "and we'll stand behind that. I wish (the women) would have just dressed in a way that was without that kind of intent to incite any kind of incident."

Lisa Sohn, a spokeswoman for Democrat John Kerry, said their rallies have been open to anyone and charged that the Bush administration has the attitude "that if you don't agree with them, it is not okay."


Am I crazy for thinking this is a bunch of BS?

Are you crazy? Not at all. That's just too sad/worrisome/horrible.

Whats really sad is that the two women weren't even there to cause a disruption...they were trying to better inform themselves. With the whole thing in Las Vegas about that voting registration place blatantly throwing away democratic registrations and stuff like this going on, Im kind of scared to tell you the truth.

I've heard of crookedness in past elections but this is blatant and no one seems to care :confused:

That reminds me of the old joke..

Four elephants are walking down the street in matching angora
sweaters...

What does that tell you???



They all belong to the same sorority.

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The sad part is that people who make a concerted effort to make a statement have the protestors/demostrators that went before them to blame.

When you see 4 guys with the anarchy 'A' on a t-shirt you can bet they are up to no good....It's a knee jerk reaction for sure, but since people can't behave in a rational manner at a public gathering, everyone suffers for their inconsiderate behavior.

Good ol' Oregon - here we go again.

The three women were on a local radio talk show last night for a little bit. Then the station had people call into express their opinions.

Its my guess that about 75% of the callers thought that the women were out of line and that the women knew what they were doing while acting all "innocent". They purposely wanted to see if they could get a reaction and they got one.

I think that the one person's use of the word "obscene" was a poor choice, but was said out ignorance of the English language and not out of hate or small-mindedness.

One of the women even mentioned that they were going for a saying that wouldn't be pro-Kerrry or anti-Bush but had a chance of provoking a reaction.

They knew exactly what they were doing.;)

Sounds like they knew exactly what buttons to press eh? Hehe, well I think it was kind of funny that people reacted the way they did. They did make a scene though, albeit a tactful scene ;)

Quote:

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Originally posted by RICHARD

The sad part is that people who make a concerted effort to make a statement have the protestors/demostrators that went before them to blame.

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That's right, make excuses for this adminstration's refusal to
hear any mention of civil liberties. :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally posted by lizbud
That's right, make excuses for this adminstration's refusal to
hear any mention of civil liberties. :rolleyes:

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Have you noticed that every time you post you are mean to me???

Just kidding.......

It's the only way I get you to pay attention to me....

Ignore button, my eye....:D

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You know.....I have often wondered what that lusty Mary Matlin/James Carville relationship is like.........

HOT HOT HOT!!!! ;)

I think the women had the right of it, considering those are the WRONG buttons to push with Bush. After all, he IS the one who is trying to amend the Constitution to TAKE AWAY rights. If he weren't trying to do that, no one would have given a d*mn about the shirts. I just don;t think Bush and his cronies enjoy being faced with the cold hard truth of what they stand for.