Superbelt

From Skippy

readers of this space will remember the saga of aging hippie brett bursey, the man who was arrested in the columbia, south carolina airport for holding up a sign that said "no war for oil" to protest awol's appearance there.

when told he had to go to the "free speech zone" a mile and a half away, mr. bursey, under the misconception that all of america is a free speech zone, refused, and was thus arrested.

the u.s. district attorney, one strom thurmond junior, has decided to prosecute mr. bursey under the little-used law of entering a restricted area around the president.

that's the background. here's streaming audio of amy goodman's take on the whole thing, from democracy now back in july.

mr. bursey's trial has been delayed, but now there is a bit of movement.

according to wistv channel 10 in columbia, sc, a federal judge wants to review all "security memos, e-mails and other documents relating to president bush's visit to columbia last october."

bursey's lawyers claim the documents could help his defense. surprise, surprise, the prosecution says there's nothing there that could be of any help (perhaps what they mean is that they themselves don't intend to be of any help).

south carolina's the state.com reports:

u.s. magistrate bristow marchant will review the information in private to decide whether lawyers for political activist brett bursey have a right to any of them…

bursey and his backers say his is a free speech case. the documents can help show the secret service has a practice of keeping anti-bush forces away from the president to create "a false illusion of support," said bursey attorney lewis pitts.

marchant seemed skeptical that neither the secret service, the state law enforcement division nor local police had any maps, photographs or memos that spelled out its plans to protect the president during the campaign swing to columbia.

"don't pick and choose,'' marchant warned prosecutor john barton about the records. "bring it all."

stay tuned to this space for further updates...
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And noone better say it isn't Bush's fault, that it was all the S. Carolina police/prosecutor's fault that this guy wasn't permitted his free speech rights and peaceful demonstrations.

Bush knows about this. It is a criminal trial pertaining to someone invading Bush's personal no-dissent aura. He knows. He doesn't care and wants this guy in jail as an example. Otherwise he would speak out to the prosecutor and ask him to let the guy go because of the Coast to coast free speech rights we all share

Stare At The Sun

Man, thats about a bunch of crap. Though he will probably get out with little fanfare. I wish the media would start to make a mockery of bush, this would be a good place to start.

MSD

The thought police do not appreciate your dissenting views. You're next

This is reminiscent of the Ohio State Univ. appearence (1999?) for which students were informed that anyone who did not applaud after the president's speech would not walk at graduation, and anyone protesting would be expelled.

Ilaek

Is this a new occurrence or have previous administrations held similar policies?

Sun Tzu

Its a mad mad world.

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To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking

seretogis

I'm going to arbitrarily ignore this thread just to piss off the Democrats!











Just kidding! This article just highlights more "politics as usual" nonsense by both Republicans and Democrats. Bush's cronies don't want any angry protestors in view when he steps off of the plane, and those who want to discredit him (rightfully so?) will try to make comparisons to Hitler/Stalin.

As for "I wish the media would start to make a mockery of bush, this would be a good place to start.", I wish that the media would get out of bed with the two parties and start giving coverage to people who want to actually make a difference in the way that our country works, instead of lining their own pockets.

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seretogis - sieg heil
perfect little dream the kind that hurts the most, forgot how it feels well almost
no one to blame always the same, open my eyes wake up in flames

RaGe2012

Ah, its ironic how Bush in his speech this past evening constantly talks about "freedom" but the word sticks in his throat.

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"Yesterday we bowed our heads to kings and bent our necks to emperors. But today we kneel only to truth..."
- Kahlil Gibran

mml

Pretty much every President has had a similar issue, although I am not aware of any peaceful protestors who did any significant jail time. Frankly, Bush could really score some points by coming to this guys side and making sure any possible charges are dropped.

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Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."
-Douglas Adams

eple

So hey, anyone want to keep free speech and other constitutional rights, feel free to seek asylum in Norway any time. Start now - beat the crowd.

Charlatan

Can you provide a source for this... it seems unbelievable.

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"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke