Bush Administration Suppresses Free Speech Rights
Americans should be outraged at this blatant, political assault against Free Speech.
Here is the clip:
Here are the details:
Yesterday, September 6, 2007, in Washington, D.C., the National Parks Police rode a horse directly into the crowd of reporters and onlookers, in an attempt to intimidate peaceful anti-war protesters during a scheduled meeting. The National Park Police, furthermore, arrested Adam Kokesh, an Iraq war veteran with Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW), Tina Richards a Marine mom with Grassroots America, and Ian Thompson, an attorney who is with the ANSWER coalition's LA division. They were were arrested for "defying a federal government ban" on posting promotional material for the "September 15th Anti-War Rally" which is sponsored by the ANSWER coalition, to be held in Washington, D.C. next week. (In case you missed it in the video, Tina Richards is the mother of a Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, and is now 80% disabled.)
These arrests took place during a legal and scheduled press conference (regarding the September 15th Rally) at a street corner near Lafayette Park, just north of the White House.
Note: The National Parks Police is "an agency in the Interior Department whose Secretary is a member of George W. Bush's cabinet."
These peace-activists placed promotional posters for next week's September 15 Anti-War Rally on a traffic box, which apparently "falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Interior and the National Parks Service."
The District of Columbia government recently imposed outrageous fines of over $30,000 on the ANSWER coalition, for their placing political literature around town (despite the existence of many other posters, and other such literature, posted all around D.C.) In response, the ANSWER coalition has filed a lawsuit in Federal Court challenging the Constitutionality of the local government's action.
FYI: The September 15th Rally was scheduled to occur on the day when Congress was scheduled to hear the so-called "Petraeus' report" on the so-called "progress" being made in Iraq, to support White House requests for more war-funding. However, the White House had the Petraeus report presentation moved up to Monday, September 10th, so that it would not be overshadowed by these peace-promoters of the "September 15th Antiwar Rally.
Note: One of the "September 15th Anti-War Rally" events is the official unveiling, and submitting, of a petition—with one million signatures—calling for the impeachment of G.W. Bush.
Now, here's the kicker:
On July 17, 2007, Bush enacted an "Executive Order" into U.S. law. It is titled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq," and it basically states that anyone who speaks out against the war can be considered a terrorist, and as such, have all of his, or her assets frozen, so as not to "fund other terrorists."
Read it to believe it: whitehouse.gov
So does this mean that any person in the U.S. who "poses a significant risk of" holding an anti-war poster, can now be "legally" labeled a terrorist because the act was "for the purpose or effect of threatening the peace or stability of Iraq" and "undermining efforts to promote political reform in Iraq?"
