McCain: Carrying On Bush's First Amendment Ideals

Glenn Greenwald had an excellent compare and - well, compare, because there is no contrast - piece on Bush and McCain. Let's have an excerpt, shall we?

One of the hallmarks of events at which George Bush appeared was the complete elimination of any dissent. In one of the most notorious cases, three individuals who arrived at a 2005 Bush town hall meeting in Denver with an anti-war bumper sticker on their car and anti-Bush t-shirts underneath their clothing were first threatened with removal before they sat down and then, 20 minutes later, were forcibly removed despite not having uttered a word. Numerous other cases of that kind have been documented, where perfectly well-behaved individuals were barred, removed and even arrested at Bush speeches, including taxpayer-funded events, exclusively for holding signs or wearing clothing that were critical of the Leader or his policies.

Bush didn't come up with this tactic all by his lonesome. He had an architect:

At the center of this dissent-suppressive policy was Gregory Jenkins, the former deputy assistant to President Bush and White House director of advance, as well as a former Fox News producer. Jenkins was sued by the ACLU for his role in the removal of the Denver attendees and in several other cases. Bush officials originally denied any role in this conduct, but a Presidential Advance Manual for which Jenkins was responsible uncovered by the ACLU explicitly instructed event workers on when and how "to stop a demonstrator from getting into the event" and "calls for Bush volunteers to distribute tickets in a manner to deter protesters and to stop demonstrators from entering."

Note that Jenkins is former. No longer with the White House. Now, one thing we know is that where Bush leads, McCain eagerly follows. He's snatched up any number of Bush cast-offs. And so this next bit should not surprise you in the least:

Earlier this month, the same Greg Jenkins joined the McCain campaign to oversee the campaign's advance planning...

[snip]

That move was part of what The New York Times called "the elevation of Steve Schmidt -- who worked closely with Karl Rove," and noted that Jenkins is "another veteran of Mr. Rove's operation."

The placement of Jenkins in charge of McCain campaign events is already producing exactly the heavy-handed, dissent-suppressing tactics that were the ugly hallmark of Bush events.

Such as chucking lil ol' librarians out on their ear for attending public speeches while holding a sign that says "McCain = Bush." Let the arrests of political dissenters begin.

Glenn sums up thusly:

Regardless of what one thinks of McCain, a McCain administration would clearly maintain in power the same people who have been running the country for the last eight years and, with them, much of the same noxious behavior.

Such as eviscerating the Constitution. Considering what they've done to the Fourth Amendment, I really don't think we can allow them another four years to turn their tender attentions on the rest.