Via Atrios, the answer to the question, are they screening those crowds of "ordinary citizens" for loyalty to Bush the Mighty, Defender of the Homeland and Scourge of the Heathen?
Bush begins bus tour Telegraph-Herald 05/04/04 (Dubuque IA)
People stood three- and four-deep to get tickets Monday in a line winding around the seventh floor of the Dubuque Building, leading to Suite 705. ...
Bill Ward, of Dubuque, said he arrived at about 7:30 a.m., and waited an hour. When it came time to show his identification, Ward said he was asked if he supported Bush in 2000.
"I said I didn't vote for him then and I won't vote for him now," Ward said.
Saying he is a World War II veteran who served in Germany and France, Ward is strongly critical of the war in Iraq.
'The only thing I wanted to do was get down to the riverfront and ask Bush some questions," he said.
Ward's lack of support for the president apparently was his undoing.
"They asked some girl to escort me out and I told them I don't need to be escorted out," Wards said. "I'm a veteran of World War II."
Atrios entitled his post on the subject, "Bush Hates Veterans."
2 comments:
I have three problems with what is reported here.
The first is that the veteran shouldn't have been asked whether he supported Bush in 2000. Much has changed since then, anyway, so whether he was a Bush supporter four years ago is immaterial to the here and now.
The second is that this Veteran expected some kind of one-on-one question and answer session with the President. While all citizens should be able to question their government, it's not exactly reasonable to think that you'd be able to interrupt a campaign appearance for a public interrogation or even for a political discussion as Bush was working the crowd.
The third thing I find disturbing is the completely inappropriate headline, "Bush Hates Veterans." What in this piece supports the conclusion that Bush HATES ANYONE? Where is the support that Bush targets Veterans IN GENERAL? And where is the proof that Bush himself ordered that the people in attendance be screened? If "Atrios" has such evidence, it doesn't seem to be present, which means that his headline is unfair. A FACTUAL headline would have been "Veteran Told He Can't See President" or even "WWII Vet Ousted from Bush Appearance." But to say, based on what is reported, that Bush hates any veterans is patently ridiculous.
It is this type of unfair, exaggerated tactics both sides are using that does a great disservice to the American voter. We need to focus ourselves on the truth, not petty, name-calling foolishness.
Patrick
Patrick, thanks for keeping me focused with your comments. To respond to your points in reverse order.
On Atrios' headlines, I take it to be partly tongue-in-cheek. One of his favorite themes is how the self-styled superpatriots will seize on any careless phrase from a war critic to accuse them of being anti-American or unpatriotic or such.
On question-and-answer, the Bush campaign is trying to present this as a "Bush meets with the regular folks" bus tour. In fact, it's heavily stage-managed to protect Bush from embarassing or hostile questions. From a partisan Democratic perspective, I would say that is more good than bad for the Democrats. Because the more he hides from people's concerns, the more out of touch he looks. And the less prepared he is to field more challenging questions as he will eventually have to do in the campaign. See his last press conference.
And its because of that screening that potential audience members are being quizzed on their political allegiances. It's not that there's anything wrong with staging events for a partisan audience. But it's also important for reporters to point out, as this one did, when a series of appearances is being billed as a "meet the folks" event but really is being manipulated to be highly partisan.
A final thought. Having organized and attended a variety of events, I know there are ways to take precautions against real troublemakers, or attempts by hostile partisans to pack an event, without doing this. It's also pretty hamhanded. Anyone who intended to protest or disrupt would simply say, "Oh, I voted for Bush." - Bruce
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