Subject: [big campaign] "McCain=Bush" - worst fears confirmed
From: "Alan Franklin" <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:03:21 -0600
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cqyl 

As it turns out, it wasn't the Secret Service who ordered Denver Police to
remove <http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/CqyX>
librarian Carol Kreck from the line outside McCain's "public town hall"
Monday, her only "offense" being her carrying an inoffensive
<http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cqyh>  sign that
read "McCain=Bush."

It wasn't the DPD's idea, and the DCPA security guard who claimed on camera
that the "Secret Service" had ordered her removal was, um, mistaken. Or
maybe he was covering up the far less defensible truth of the matter, which
is

McCain staff asked <http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_9844803>  for
protester's ouster

It was Sen. John McCain's staff who asked security at the Denver Center for
the Performing Arts to remove people holding protest signs at the venue --
not U.S. Secret Service agents, who were not involved in Carol Kreck's
ouster from the galleria.

A video of the incident circulating widely on the Internet shows a DCPA
security guard saying that he was told by the Secret Service to remove
Kreck, who was holding a paper sign that said "McCain = Bush."

But Thursday, after two days of being vilified by bloggers, letter writers
and others, the Secret Service emphatically denied involvement.

"Contrary to some recent reporting, the Secret Service had no involvement in
Ms. Kreck being removed from the area," said Malcolm D. Wiley Sr., spokesman
for the Secret Service. "It was not done at our request or suggestion. Any
assertion to the contrary is inaccurate and inconsistent with our
established policies and procedures."

DCPA spokeswoman Suzanne Blandon said the guard who told Kreck to leave was
"simply mistaken" in identifying the Secret Service as the agency that
wanted her to leave. Blandon said the guard did not intend to use the Secret
Service as leverage and did not mean to mislead anyone...

There you have it. Far worse than the original report that the Secret
Service was behind Ms. Kreck's ouster--which they could have 'justified' a
dozen different security-related ways, at least initially--it appears that
the whole fiasco was instigated by McCain staffers who were concerned about
only one thing: the embarrassing message of the sign she was carrying. 

Note that today's article states that McCain's staff only requested the
removal of attendees with protest signs--dozens of people festooned with
pro-McCain schwag were allowed in, contrary to claims from McCain's campaign
that nobody was. That's a critical point.

It wasn't a uniform security restriction imposed by the Secret Service, and
it was not some unsupportable
<http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cqy3>  distinction
between "public places" and "not really public public places" arranged
between the city and the Performing Arts Center--although that appears to
have been the pretext. And not an overzealous DCPA security guard striking
out on his own.

No, it was McCain's people who did this. Because they didn't like her sign.
As clear and audacious a violation of Carol Kreck's right to free speech as
can be imagined.

Click
<https://secure.progressnowaction.org/page/contribute/fundtodefendcarolkreck
>  here to make a donation to our fund to defend Carol Kreck, and thanks to
all of you who have donated thousands of dollars already. Looks like the
money will be well spent, fighting for Ms. Kreck's rights--and yours, too.

See also:

*	Video:
<http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cqyq>  MSNBC's
Countdown reports on Carol Kreck/McCain "town hall" civil liberties issues
*	Release:
<http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/CqyX>  First
Amendment Rights Violated by McCain Campaign
*	Librarian
<http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cqyh>  carrying
McCain=Bush sign kicked out of McCain Event

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