October 19, 2004 6:26 AM

Remember when freedom of expression was a cherished part of the Constitution?

Teachers’ T-shirts bring Bush speech ouster

Three Oregon teachers were taught an abject lesson in the realities of George W. Bush’s Amerika- dissent, even when expressed quietly, is no longer considered a right in our day and age.

The teachers did not scream, or shout epithets at Bush. They wore t-shirts, and for those they were removed from a Bush speech that they had tickets for. Is this the America we want?

Three Medford school teachers were threatened with arrest and escorted from the event after they showed up wearing T-shirts with the slogan “Protect our civil liberties.” All three said they applied for and received valid tickets from Republican headquarters in Medford.

The women said they did not intend to protest. “I wanted to see if I would be able to make a statement that I feel is important, but not offensive, in a rally for my president,” said Janet Voorhies, 48, a teacher in training.

“We chose this phrase specifically because we didn’t think it would be offensive or degrading or obscene,” said Tania Tong, 34, a special education teacher.

Thursday’s event in Oregon sets a new bar for a Bush/Cheney campaign that has taken extraordinary measures to screen the opinions of those who attend Bush and Cheney speeches. For months, the Bush/Cheney campaign has limited event access to those willing to volunteer in Bush/Cheney campaign offices. In recent weeks, the Bush/Cheney campaign has gone so far as to have those who voice dissenting viewpoints at their events arrested and charged as criminals.

Thursday’s actions in Oregon set a new standard even for Bush/Cheney – removing and threatening with arrest citizens who in no way disrupt an event and wear clothing that expresses non-disruptive party-neutral viewpoints such as “Protect Our Civil Liberties.”

When Vice President Dick Cheney visited Eugene, Oregon on Sept. 17, a 54-Year old woman named Perry Patterson was charged with criminal trespass for blurting the word “No” when Cheney said that George W. Bush has made the world safer.

These women had no plans to be disruptive. As I understand it, they’re Bush supporters. Why, then, did the Bush campaign go out of it’s way to create a public relations disaster? Perhaps because this is a ticket that cares little for basic American rights, particularly freedom of speech and expression. It’s all about enforcing Groupthink, in which everyone engages in the uniform and enforced adulation of Our Fearless Leader.

I suppose that on some level, this could be passed off as merely an aberration, the result of an overzealous campaign worker trying to enforce uniformity in thought and action. The problem with that theory is that this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened at a Bush campaign rally. Why? Because this is a President that professes to love America while at the same time clearly hating Americans.

Remember…loose lips sink ships- and then the terrorists will win.

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CAT LITTER, AMERICA. THIS PRESIDENT CARES FOR LITTLE OUTSIDE OF MAINTAINING POWER. WE DESERVE BETTER.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on October 19, 2004 6:26 AM.

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