2004 Elections

[CaryP]

2004 Elections

Seems the chimpadent don't like dissenting voices or faces near his sorry ass. The people in Jacksonville Oregon found out the hard way. Check it out. If this one don't turn your stomach, I've got a pig being slaughtered video for you to watch.

Cary

Oregon Police Fire On Bystanders Watching Presidential Motorcade

Silenced by the President
Oregon Police Fire On Bystanders
Watching Presidential Motorcade


JACKSONVILLE, Ore. ? Crawford, Texas is no stranger to protests and public gatherings, having provided a backdrop for such events for nearly four years now. Local and area law enforcement agencies have gained experience in protecting the Western White House and its famous inhabitants, and have devised a methodology for arranging for peaceful protests out of the sight and hearing of the president.
But things got out of hand last week in Jacksonville, Ore., leaving some local residents there expressing fear of freely voicing their opinions.
Some residents of Jacksonville feel that their First Amendment rights were taken away as they witnessed an encounter that resulted in pepper balls fired into crowds of men, women, and children as an abrupt ?sweep? of a sidewalk erupted into chaos as the presidential motorcade drove by last Thursday.
According to a news story in the Medford Mail Tribune, one man said he was shot in the back seven times with pepper balls (plastic paint balls filled with capsaicin). He said he saw a man get hit with a baton and fall to the ground. ?With my back to the police ? as I was picking him up ? that?s when I was shot.?
Trish Bowcock, a resident of Jacksonville and a retired attorney who is formerly of Austin, Texas, was an eyewitness to the disturbance and penned her impressions of the scene from a personal standpoint. She has agreed to allow The Iconoclast to reprint her thoughts.
Mail Tribune staff members confirmed her contention that law enforcement concentrated on anti-Bush protestors, rather than pro-Bush demonstrators, and that the order to stop the protests came from the U.S. Secret Service. Mail Tribune coverage of the protest is available at http://www.mailtribune.com/.


Silenced by the President
By Trish Bowcock
Oct. 16, 2004


A few weeks before my father died, he woke me in the wee hours of the morning. He needed to talk. He was worried about Attorney General John Ashcroft and the destruction of American civil liberties. I comforted my father, believing he was delusional from medications. I was wrong.
I write this from my home in Jacksonville Oregon (population 2,226). President George W. Bush came here this week. The purpose of his visit was political. Southern Oregon has been deemed a ?battle ground? area in the presidential race. John Kerry has made incredible inroads in this traditionally Republican stronghold. President Bush?s campaign stop was an attempt to staunch the slide.
Jacksonville is an old gold mining town. Our main street is only five blocks long, lined with restored storefronts. The sidewalks are narrow. We are a peaceful community. The prospect of an overnight presidential visit was exciting, even to me, a lifelong Democrat. My excitement turned to horror as I watched events unfold during President Bush?s visit.
In the mid 1800s, when Indians invaded Jacksonville, citizens clambered upon the roof of the old library. It was the one building that would not catch fire when flaming arrows were shot. This week it was a different scene. Police armed with high powered rifles perched upon our rooftops as the presidential motorcade approached. Helicopters flew low, overhead. A cadre of motorcycle police zoomed into town. Black SUVs followed, sandwiching several black limousines carrying the president, his wife and their entourage as they sped to the local inn where they would eat and sleep.
The main street was lined with people gathered to witness the event. Many supported the president. Many did not. Some came because they were simply curious. There were men, women, young and old. The mood was somewhat festive. Supporters of John Kerry sported signs, as did supporters of George Bush. Individuals, exercising their rights of free speech began chanting. On one side of the street, shouts of ?four more years? echoed in the night air. On the other side of the street, chants of ?three more weeks? responded. The chants were loud and apparently could be heard by President Bush. An order was issued that the anti-Bush rhetoric be quieted. The local SWAT team leapt to action.
It happened fast. Clad in full riot gear, at least 50 officers moved in. Shouting indecipherable commands from a bullhorn, they formed a chain and bore down upon the people, only working to clear the side of the street appearing to be occupied by Kerry supporters. People tried to get out of their way. It was very crowded. There was nowhere to move. People were being crushed. They started flowing into the streets. Pleas to the officers, asking, ?where to go? fell upon deaf ears. Instead, riot police fired pellets of cayenne pepper spray into the crowd. An old man fell and couldn?t get up. When a young man stopped to help, he was shot in the back with hard pepper spray balls. Children were hit with pepper spray. Deemed ?Protesters? people were shoved and herded down the street by the menacing line of armed riot police, until out of the President?s ear-shot.
There the ?Protesters? were held at bay. Anyone vocalizing anti-Bush or pro-Kerry sentiments were prohibited from venturing forward. Loud anti-Bush chants were responded to by the commanding officer stating: ?FORWARD,? to which the entire line of armed police would move, lock-step, toward the ?Protesters,? forcing backward movement. Police officers circulated filming the crowd of ?Protesters.? Some were people like me, quiet middle-aged women. Some sported anti-Bush signs, peace signs, or Kerry signs. A small group of youth, clad in black with kerchiefs wrapping their heads chanted slogans. A young woman in her underwear, sporting a peace sign sang a lyrical Kumbaya. Mixed among the ?Protesters? were supporters of the President. One 19 year- old man shouted obscenities at anyone expressing dissatisfaction with the president, encouraging the police to ?tazar? the ?Stinking Protesters.? Neither the ?Protestors,? nor the police harassed this vocal young man. Across the street, individuals shouting support for the president were allowed to continue. Officers monitored this group but allowed them to shout words of support or hurl derisions toward Kerry supporters, undisturbed. Honking cars filled with Bush supporters were left alone. A honking car full of Kerry supporters was stopped by police on its way out of town.
The standoff with ?Protesters? continued until the President finished his dinner and was secured in his hotel cottage for the night. Only then were the riot police ordered to ?mount-up,? leaping upon the sideboard of a huge SUV, pulling out of town, and allowing ?free speech? to resume.
In small town American I witnessed true repression and intimidation by law enforcement. I saw small children suffering from the effects of being fired upon by pepper bullets. I felt legitimate fear of expressing my political opinions: a brand new feeling. Newspaper accounts state the chaos started when a violent ?Protester? shoved a police officer. No one I talked to witnessed this account.
It is reputed that President Bush and his staff will not allow any opposition activity to occur within his ear or eye sight. I can confirm, that in tiny Jacksonville, Oregon, this was true. Physically violent means were taken to protect the president from verbal insults. Freedom of speech was stolen.
My father was not paranoid as he lay dying. He was expressing great insight into the dangers of our current presidential administration and its willingness to repress personal freedoms. If I could talk to my father today, I would say, ?I am sorry Daddy for doubting you.? And, no matter what, I will continue to exercise my individual right to freely express my opinions. Americans cannot take four more years.

 

[CaryP]

2004 Elections

Sorry for the double post, but the Bushco really has a problem with seeing or hearing anything that might be taken as a negative. Now you can't even wear a shirt with "Protect Our Civil Liberties" without getting thrown out of Bushco's presence. Just makes me want to puke. You'll have to access the link to see the two pictures.

Cary

The Last Straw

The Last Straw - Carl Worden Makes
His Vote Official
Carl F. Worden

That's it, I've had it.

I've been a registered Republican since I pulled my first lever in a voting booth, and I've voted as a loyal Republican for Republican candidates consistently every year. I am 55 years of age. I am considered a right-wing Christian conservative and strict constitutionist who knows the Framers of the Constitution expected strict adherence to that original document unless and until it is amended.

You don't get much more conservative and constitutionally-minded than I am, and that is why I just cast my Oregon vote-by-mail ballot for Democrat John Kerry as the next president of the United States. So did my wife -- and she's a very independent thinker. I know there are thousands of lifelong Republican/Independent conservatives who are going to do the same thing on November 2nd, because they've written and told me so.

The absolute last straw for me took place at the Bush rally, held in Central Point, Oregon on October 14th. President Bush stayed in Jacksonville, Oregon overnight after the rally, and protesters and police clashed on the streets. I sent out a photo of a Jackson County Sheriff's Deputy, all Nazi'd up in black leather riot control gear and grinning evilly as he shoved a woman holding her 5 year-old daughter. It wasn't the finest hour for local law enforcement, but even that wasn't the last straw for me. No, the last straw for me happened just before the Bush rally itself.

Three local teachers got tickets to the Bush rally, passed all the security checkpoints and scrutiny and got in. They never created or caused a disturbance, and they were perfectly peaceful members of the audience waiting to hear Bush speak. But before they got to hear Bush, they were expelled from the rally by Bush rally staff who objected to the words printed on the T-shirts they were wearing.

No, the words on the T-shirts the ladies were wearing did not disparage Bush, nor did they suggest support for Kerry or any other candidate. The words did not condemn or support the war in Iraq, nor did they slam any Administration policy. No, the T-shirts the three women wore showed an American flag, and under it the words, \"Protect Our Civil Liberties\". That was all -- I kid you not.

That was it. That was the last straw for me. That was the defining moment I'll never forget. That was my epiphany.

Bryan Platt, Chairman of the Jackson County Republican Central Committee, said he stood 100 percent behind the person who made the decision to exclude the women, removing any doubt that one or two individuals exceeded their authority and blew it. No, it was solid, Republican neo-conservative fascist policy on open display, and the Brown Shirts weren't about to apologize for it. No way.

I am now a man without a political party. I will never again register as a Republican unless the party returns to what it was before the fascists took it over. I'm certainly not a Democrat or a liberal, but I might just register as a Democrat to help them avoid mistakes in the next primary, like running another John Kerry for president. Any moderate, pro-gun southern Democrat would have easily swept Bush aside this election. As it is, the race is so close it could go either way at this point.

My decision to vote for Kerry was a vote to get Bush and his administration out. I could have voted for a third party candidate who couldn't possibly win, but that would have translated into a vote for Bush, and I just couldn't do that. Too many kids in uniform have already been killed and maimed for nothing, and I see it as my primary duty to save as many of them as I can. If my vote for a third party candidate means Bush wins and more kids come home dead and mutilated, then I have abrogated my duty as an American, as a Christian and as a decent human being. I didn't know better during the Vietnam War, when I voted for Nixon twice, but I would be without excuse if I did it again now.

This election is different: In this election, we all have to answer the call to vote wisely. Lives depend on it, and God is watching how we vote as well. When an individual sins, God deals with him individually. When a whole nation sins, God deals with the nation nationally. It's right there in the Bible.

The way I see it, the threat Bush presents is just too great. I know what Bush did with his first four years on good behavior, and so do you. What scares the bejeebers out of me is what Bush would do with four more years with nothing to lose -- and an assumed mandate from the people for what he did the first four. At least a Kerry Administration would be strapped down by a Republican Congress, so I'm not too worried about major gun control bills being passed, and as far as abortion is concerned, it really doesn't matter what a president believes, because that issue is decided only by the Judiciary Branch now.

Regardless of the proclaimed Bush position on abortion, he never issued an executive order banning any form of abortion because he knew such an order would be overturned by the courts. Oh, and that phony Late-Term Abortion Ban Bush signed? It's as good as dead -- and I have a niggling feeling it was intended to be killed even as they wrote it. The lower Federal Courts are already finding it unconstitutional, and why?, because the people who authored it left no possibility for a woman to use late term abortion to save her life, let alone to preserve her health. In lieu of that provision, any first year law student knew the federal courts would overturn it, so why did seasoned lawyers/legislators write it that way? Don't even try to convince me they overlooked something as obvious as that.

I still believe this election is going to Kerry, no matter what the polls predict. Last time, it was so close the Supreme Court had to decide the outcome. This time, a huge number of former Bush Republicans like me have bolted to Kerry. Unless a large number of former Gore supporters are going to vote for Bush this time, I don't see how Bush can get re-elected. Add to that the massive numbers of young voters who are registered to vote for the first time under threat of a draft, and I see Bush being shown the door by more than a close vote. But we'll see...

What I do know is that any party that would find the words, \"Protect Our Civil Liberties\" offensive or even threatening, is a party I won't belong to anymore.

That was the last straw.


Carl F. Worden

 

[Judge Bean]

2004 Elections

Originally posted by CreoAmadeo@Oct 22 2004, 02:19 PM

Leo Tolstoy:
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

OK...I've seen a lot of words here. Some of it productive, I suppose. Most of it just reflecting what the two main contenders are doing to each other. Do you ever suppose that our own attitudes, singularly, as a human being, and plurally, as a national entity, toward the rest of the world, didn't create the mess we are currently involved in?

Thomas a Kempis:
Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.

You must start with creating a world within....so you can reflect that which you see, without.


Good Day!

​

So, let me get this straight: Shut up and squint and think goodgood, and this will have an effect on the dog-and-pony show of the national elections? That, without doing so, we have a distorted view of the "outside" world?

There are two kinds of messes (as you call them). One is the one in which we are all equally to blame, such as the ongoing grind of the corrupt government. The other consists of specific instances of criminal and/or stupid conduct by leaders, which must be highlighted to try to stifle it. That's politics. You are apparently talking about a yogic extension of Peter Pan thoughts-- you're way over my head on that.

Let me guess: you spend a lot of time in sandals.

 

[Cornelia]

2004 Elections

My heart is with you, my friends.

 

[Judge Bean]

2004 Elections

Originally posted by Cornelia@Oct 25 2004, 06:44 AM
My heart is with you, my friends.

​

I think that the effects of November 2nd are going to reach across the oceans, Cornelia; our hearts are with you, too.

 

[Darkwolf]

2004 Elections

My heart is with you, my friends

Thank you Cornelia. This is going to be a tough one, but it may be just the wake up call that we need here. It is something that may get the average American involved again, make us care again.
For years, we have been becoming less and less involved in how the country is run. I don't know wether some of the fire that forged us into a nation is still beneith the covering of apathy, but now we have a chance to find out. To tell the truth, I fear the answer to that question. However it is one that needs to be answered.
Phil.

 

[Alyxavior]

2004 Elections

"Let me guess: you spend a lot of time in sandals."

Do you sleep in combat boots?

*smile*

 

[StarLord]

2004 Elections

Only when we are on duty CreoAmadeo.

I have to side with Both Paul and Darkwolf on this one Cornelia. Regardless of what happens it's going to affect the whole world. Too bad the opinion of a few billion Europeans isn't enough to wake the slumbering beast from it's nap and clean house.

Now if there WAS a treasure map on the back of the Decleration Of Independance, it would garuntee more people would be reading that and checking the Constitution just to make sure the treasure that is there, is safe.

 

[Snow]

2004 Elections

I don't know where to put this:

http://www.drudgereport.com/abct.htm

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED OCT 27, 2004 12:42:01 ET XXXXX

ABCNEWS HOLDS TERROR WARNING TAPE

**Exclusive**

In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. \"The streets will run with blood,\" and \"America will mourn in silence\" because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.

ABCNEWS strongly denies holding the tape back from broadcast over political concerns during the last days of the election.

The CIA is analyzing the tape, a top federal source tells the DRUDGE REPORT.

ABCNEWS obtained the tape from a source in Waziristan, Pakistan over the weekend, sources tells DRUDGE.

\"We have been working 24 hours a day trying to authenticate [the tape],\" a senior ABCNEWS source said Wednesday morning, dismissing a claim that ABC was planning to air portions of the video during Monday's WORLD NEWS TONIGHT.

The terrorist's face is concealed by a headdress, and he speaks in an American accent, making it difficult to identify the individual.

US intelligence officials believe the man on tape may be Adam Gadhan - aka Adam Pearlman, a California native who was highlighted by the FBI in May as an individual most likely to be involved in or have knowledge of the next al Qaeda attacks.

According to the FBI, Gadahn, 25, attended al-Qaida training camps and served as an al-Qaida translator.

The disturbing tape runs an hour -- the man simply identifies himself as 'Assam the American.'

MORE

The video appears to be from al-Qaeda's media liaison organization. It has a banner crediting the Sahab Production Committee. The speaker refers to Bin Ladin and Zawahiri as \"our leaders\" and praises the 11 September attacks. The video appears to have been made in the past several months based on the speaker's discussion of the conflict in Darfur, the 9/11 Commission and other recent events

Developing...

-----------------------------------------------------------
Filed By Matt Drudge
Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
http://www.drudgereport.com for updates
?DRUDGE REPORT 2004
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

 

[Darkwolf]

2004 Elections

God, they've been warning of that for years now. I'm beginning to think that they got nothin. A major attack would certianly screw up our soon to be screwed up election a lot further though, if they are going to, it'll be on election day, or during the chaos that will follow. Everybody be careful out there.

Phil