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Originally posted by Ustwo
This is the US, and GWB is not a king to hear the pleas of the peasants once a fortnight. The president is questioned constantly at press conferences, and you hear what he has to say in dozens and dozens of speeches. If enough people don't like him for whatever reason, he can be voted out. Just because you can shout a slogan and hold a Bush=Hitler sign doesn't mean he has to give you his time, and quite frankly he isn't going to change your mind and you aren’t going to change his. If you really want to talk to someone you are suppose to go to your house representative and state senators. This is how a republic works.
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Hmm, Bill of Rights, Article 1
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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
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I see no limits enumerated there. Bush is no king, he is an employee. He is our employee and we have the right to see him wherever he goes and to make our grievances known at all times. Where we have a right to petition him as much as possible, he has none to protect himself from such petitions.
See also that our government has NO CONSTITUTIONAL ABILITY to abridge the right of the people to peaceably assemble.
Also the President is not questioned constantly, his staffers are. Our presidents have a poor track record of putting themselves in the line of fire for press questioning. At least compared to most other developed nations.
Most protesters are not there to change the presidents mind directly. They are there to be seen and be heard by him and the press. The Vietnam war protests brought that war to an end much faster than it would have without them, and if Kennedy hadn't been shot, even quicker. The protests were instrumental in Kennedys decision to bring the war to an end, they were turning public opinion against him. Lyndon, of course reversed that.