two entries from the "this is so wrong" file

[cellio]

Item 1: A man mimicking the Abu Ghraib prisoner on the box outside an army recruitment office (silent, peaceful protest) was arrested and charged with two felonies -- because those wires and the milk crate he was standing on were obviously a bomb threat, don't'cha know. Sheesh. (Link from roozle.)

Item 2: Bush campaign tries to enlist religious congregations for help (link from caryabend). I hope they tell the campaign to stuff it and stop meddling in non-partisan religious organizations. Or better yet, I hope they just tell their congregants it happened, with no further comment.

(Item 3 (meta): this build is sure taking a long time.)

Comments

re: item 1

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

Why was he stupid enough to launch this sort of protest now, in Boston, right before the DNC, when half the city is or will be cordoned off? How dumb do you have to be, to be surprised when you get arrested and charged with a felony when the tenor of the city is what it is?

Re: item 1

[cellio]

He did it a week ago Wednesday. When does the DNC start? I thought it wasn't for another couple weeks.

Re: item 1

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

The security measures are at least partially in effect already. Awareness is heightened. That's why he got arrested and charged with a felony, when six months ago or six months from now it might have been "move along, nothing to see here." Of course, six months ago the image didn't exist, and six months from now, it wouldn't be topical.

Re: item 1

[jducoeur]

While I agree that this is the *reason* he was arrested, I don't think it justifies the arrest, especially a full six weeks before the convention. Again, this crosses the line between justifiable caution and unconstitutional paranoia.

Almost *any* sort of public speech can be viewed as somehow infringing on "security" if you slant it right. That doesn't justify doing so. The entire point of how the US is constructed is to say that free speech, and *especially* criticism of the government, are more important than most other concerns. That's why the first amendment comes first...

Re: item 1

[jducoeur]

It's not for ages yet -- six weeks off.

I'm appalled: the DNC is no sort of excuse for this sort of infringement of civil liberties, especially in Boston. It's pretty clear that they were looking for an excuse to shut him up, and seized on the "bomb threat" as the way to do it.

Damn -- I'm tempted to go picket that office for an hour or two, just on principle...