More on Bush Rallies and Dissent
More news on how the Bush campaign treats those who disagree. There's a story in last week's Des Moines Register of an 18 year old being told he'd be shot if he protested at a Bush event. According to high school senior John Sachs, an event staffer told him "If you protest, it won't be me taking you out. It will be a sniper"Isn't that nice?
Then there's this week's story about Richland Center High School in Wisconsin where students were originally told they'd be expelled if they wore pro-Kerry clothing to a Bush event being held at their school. Later an offer of an "alternative" event, such as a movie, was made in place of kicking the kids out of school.
As it turns out, Rachel Schultz the school's superintendent is married to Dale Schultz, Republican candidate for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District of Wisconsin.
No child left behind indeed.
posted by Doran @ 7:34 AM
2 Comments:
Dustin Ragans
shs_bulldog@hotmail.com
My gf called the principle, and this is what she got:
I just spoke to the principal. btw, the area code for the principal is wrong, it's 608 like the rest, not 508.
Basically, the town is a small town (about 5,000 people), but it's in a fairly rural part of Wisconsin. The school audotorium was the only place big enough to hold the rally, so that's where it was held. It was a ticketed event, but students were allowed to go without a ticket, because the principal wanted to give everyone the opportunity to see the president of the U.S. He said that there was a rule that students who were wearing pro-Kerry stuff would not be allowed in the rally, but there was nothing that stated they would be expelled from the school. He said they didn't want protestors or picketing. He also said students were allowed to wear whatever they wanted before and after the event, but if they wanted to go into the audotorium during President Bushie's speech, they'd have to take off pro-Kerry stuff.
I asked, "So, there was nothing stating that they would be expelled if they wore pro-Kerry paraphenilia?", and he said "No, there was not. That would be illegal, and we wouldn't stand for that".
Good to hear the "no explusion" rule, though at this point there seems to be conflicting stories (students say they were threatened, administrators saying they weren't).
Of course the bottom line was that they'd only allow students to attend if they checked their right to political expression at the door. Providing students the "opportunity" to attend only if they toe the Republican line is a disgrace to our democracy.
Instead, the school should have refused. If the citizens of the area are important to the candidate, he should speak publicly, not in exclusive ticketed events. If he refuses, then it tells the citizens what he really thinks about them. To give in to this "agree or we won't show" blackmail only re-enforces the anti-American values of the Bush campaign.
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