Dems: 'What Country Do I Live In?'

[whatelseisnew]

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0817-03.htm



On Thursday, the Island County Democrats caught heat from several Island County Fair Board
members and from members of the public for distributing buttons, bumper stickers and signs
some called unpatriotic. The dispute became so serious that the message and purpose of the
booth was discussed at the fair board's Friday morning meeting, though no action was taken.

Most prominent and -- according to Island County
Democrat and booth volunteer Craig Brant --
most controversial were two yard signs, one
reading "Bush Lied" and the other "Beat Back
Bush." The signs, like all the other materials in
the booth, were available to anyone coming to the
booth. The Democrats were asking for donations
in return.

Though the booth's primary purpose is to register
Island County citizens to vote, Brant and other
volunteers in the booth quickly discovered that
the political materials were getting the most
attention. When the Democrats were told to take
several of their signs down, Brant said he was
dumbfounded.

"I wonder what country I'm living in," he said.

[bearded_cat]

1. Being against the current administrations policies

is a patriotic duty for all Americans. Being against the freedom to disseminate signs critical of the current administration goes against the principles this country always stood for. It's that simple - if you are against freedom of speech, you are unpatriotic. Period. There is no possibility for compromise on this question.

[xchrom]

2. welcome bearded!

i like the way you think.

[Andy_Stephenson]

4. I agree!

Welcome to DU bearded.. :hi:

That took place here in Washington State.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. Say it ain't so, Joe.

Island County....hmmm....that's either Whidbey or Camano Island. One has a Naval Air Station and the other is an exclusive community. If there's Dems there....

[bearded_cat]

5. Thanks!

I just can't believe how uninformed people are about their own country. I know that the administration lies every other day about something, the media either covers it up or spins it some other way. Either Americans are hypnotized as the Germans were in the '30s or are just plain ignorant of the way this society is supposed to function. This is nothing like the country I grew up in. Fear and cowardice and deceit are everywhere. It's embarrassing to see it manifested daily in the lives of ordinary citizens. We have definitely entered into a time of great injustice perpetrated on the citizens of this country. I don't know if it will be possible to return to how it was just a few short years ago. Science fiction horror stories ain't got nothin' on reality.

[VolcanoJen]

11. Welcome aboard, bearded_cat!

DU Welcomes bearded_cat!!

:bounce: :toast: :hi: :bounce: :toast: :hi: :bounce: :toast: :hi: :bounce:

[neuvocat]

3. You just can't give in to the pukes.

They have the mentality of continually going after people even after they've given in. You just have to make a stand.

[sandnsea]

6. Send them some love!

In case some didn't click and read - Here's their link.

http://www.islandcountydemocrats.com/

[philosophie_en_rose]

7. I am so proud.

Of course I had nothing to do with it, but I am so excited that a local Democratic party is so aggressive and inspiring. FYI, children spontaneously protested the Republican ice cream booth at the fair and the "Bush Sucks" pins sold out.

Island County Democrats have a website - http://www.islandcountydemocrats.com/ - and I know that they would appreciate a word of support. Or send an eyeful to the South Whidbey Record for hideous editorial bias - http://www.southwhidbeyrecord.com/


As a side note, this is the same community where a freeper intentionally hit a woman with his car for having a peace flag. It was pleabargained to a fine. And where the paper printed insulting personal attacks on a teenager who was beaten for standing by the road with a sign. Unfortunately, Northern Whidbey Island is freeper infested.

[Rose Siding]

8. There was a man killed at this fair

LANGLEY -- A man working on a carnival ride at the Island County Fair was killed Saturday after a roller coaster pulled him into the air by his hair and then dropped him from as high as 40 feet onto a fence.

The accident happened on what is traditionally the busiest day of the fair at one of its most populated locations, said Island County Sheriff Mike Hawley.

snip>

Grethe Cammermeyer, a former Vietnam War nurse who was at the fair to staff the county's Democratic Party booth, said she arrived at just after the accident.

more...........

http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/8/17/17355931.cfm

[pfitz59]

9. Island County is a paradox!

South Whidbey is home to many Liberal Seattle commuters, while Central is farmers and fishermen, North Whidbey hosts a large military population full of Freepers, Fundies and Dittoheads. Like most of Western WA about 45-45-5 (D/R/G). The GOP Brownshirts patrol fairs and festivals just itching to harass Greens and Dems. Was at Issaquah salmon fest last year just after a gang of GOP hoods harrassed the Dem booth. The 80+ granny manning the booth told them what fer! It will get worse as 2004 approaches!

[Mairead]

10. Listen to the 'centrists' (aka rightwingers) at DU

They're not substantially different to the Fair Board guys who forced the signs to be taken down. They're DINOs to the core, and worse--proud of it! It's really repulsive to watch them at work here. Their song is 'give up...move right...give up...FDR's ideas are dead...move right...give in now...resistance is useless...winning is everything...sell your soul...give up'.

Fair has me boakin.

[proud patriot]

12. I wonder if my local Dems have some of those signs

:shrug:

[goobergunch]

13. Does anybody remember this?

Constitution of the United States of America

<snip>

Amendments

Article I.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

<snip>

Article XIV.

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

---

Last I checked, this was still in force. The Island County people have no power to force others to agree with their political beliefs...and they can't tell me, the county Dems, or anybody that Bush didn't lie and force us to believe it.

[philosophie_en_rose]

15. Please e-mail [e-mail]

And let them know what you think about their unpatriotic tactics.

Island County Fair
819 Camano Avenue / P.O. Box 519
Langley, WA 98260
360. 221-4677
[e-mail]

[w4rma]

16. Republicans = Tories who want a King to be loyal to (n/t)