Bushie bullies

Freedom of speech and peaceful assembly might look swell on paper, but when a president as reviled as Bush comes to town, it’s sometimes necessary to thumb one’s nose at the Constitution—or at least that’s what’s implied in an ACLU-obtained White House guide to readying for a presidential event.

Authored in 2002, the Presidential Advance Manual shows the administration’s contempt for anyone with a differing opinion. In addition to preliminary steps for preventing demonstrators from being anywhere near the visiting president, the manual calls for the use of tactically-positioned “rally squads” who can be “dispatched to surround and drown out protestors immediately.” Though suggesting demonstrators be barred from accessing an event for carrying any form of sign, banner or placard, the manual instructs rally squads to “use their signs and banners as shields between demonstrators and the press.”

While the White House usually blames the ejection or arrests of protestors on the unauthorized actions of overzealous volunteers, the ACLU says the manual, even the heavily redacted version they obtained, shows such actions as being administration policy.

by Scott Saxon