FREEDOM LOST

Well guys, it looks like we are about to lose another freedom – the freedom to protest, the right to free speech: “The government has the same rights as a private corporation when its officials speak,” Said the lawyers for Michael Casper and Jay Klinkerman, the two who were involved in the removal of Leslie Weise and Alex Young from a taxpayer-funded Bush speech two years ago.

Weise and Young sued, arguing that the ouster violated their First Amendment rights of free speech. They had been singled out at the address on Social Security by a staffer for Senator Wayne Allard, Republican from Colorado who pointed them out as being suspicious because they had an anti-war bumper sticker on their car.

Attorneys for Casper and Klinkerman filed an appeals brief saying the ouster was legal. They argued that President Bush had the right to remove people from an audience who disagreed with him.

The brief stated in part that “The president's right to control his own message includes the right to exclude people expressing discordant viewpoints from the audience," The brief also states “whose speech is at issue -- the president's or the plaintiffs'?"

To which Weise responded, "My read of the Constitution does not give the president free speech rights greater than the citizens he serves."

Weise and Young said they were ejected for their political views. They had a bumper sticker on their car saying "No blood for oil". They were also wearing "Stop the lies" T-shirts under their clothes but did not show them. They have said they had no plans to disrupt the event, but Young hoped to ask Bush a question if given the opportunity.

Martha Tierney, an attorney for the Colorado plaintiffs, said Monday "A private organization is entitled to limit the kinds of speech that the public can have if it comes to attend its event," Tierney said. "But the government is under a different standard and can't limit speech just based on viewpoint at a public, taxpayer-funded event."

This case could also be seen as "Taxation without representation"

Let’s all cross our fingers and hope that Bush doesn’t get away with this one.