Citizen Harassed At Iowa Bush Appearance
I am a
registered Democrat and voting for John Kerry but I thought it would be
educational for my daughters and me to go see Bush speak at the
Davenport, Iowa, riverfront today (08/04/04). I wanted them to see that
in America the [government] was suppose to be working for all Americans
and even if I didn't agree with [their] policies, that at least I could
still show my children how elections and politics work. I waited in
line, picked up my Bush tickets for me and my kids and rode down to the
speech with some of my Republican friends and children, waited in line
some more to enter the park to hear [Bush]. When I got up to the front
of the line and was going through, I was grabbed by the security,
pushed to the side (in front of my children and Republican friends) and
my ticket was ripped and they said, “We don't like your pin, so get out
of here”. I was wearing a small pin that said “John Kerry 2004”. The
worst part is that the security team did this in front of my children;
I want my daughters to understandthat in America we have the right to
free speech and that we have the first amendment, but that was
blatantly violated. I wasn't making a scene; I didn't even say
anything, just a little pin. My daughters don't understand why this
happened. They thought in America people could express themselves
without repression. What is the problem with this picture? I feel that
someone owes me, my friends and daughters an apology and that someone
needs to reforce my rights as an American. I might be just an average
guy, butI am still an American citizen.
Glen Wooldridge
Davenport, IA
Blog For Iowa 
I linked this off to “DailyKos”, and it generated some discussion.
Thread in Comments At DailyKos
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Ooops. Nevermind. Copy and paste this into your browser:
http://dailykos.com/comments/2004/8/5/13252/85802/8#8
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I'm glad no one was physically hurt. Perhaps this could be a good lesson for you daughters in understanding the abstract ideals and freedoms this country is supposed to stand for, the gap which exists in reality, and the reasons we must remain vigilent and always strive toward the ideal.
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