Your Tax Dollars at Work

Bush's propensity to script his "town hall" meetings using hand-selected supporters to represent his views as if they represented the general population isn't a secret. Neither is the control exercised over who gets tickets to these events. But now we learn that the Secret Service is being informed of potential trouble makers at these events and that those same people are being ejected from these events. On what basis? Bumper stickers expressing political opinions that aren't aligned with the Bush administration's policies.

So just who is hard at work, scouring the bumpers of the cars the folks attending the Bush town halls? Has the secret service gone overboard? Maybe the Dept. of Homeland Security or the FBI? Local police assisting the federal government? Nope. None of the above. It's stalwart and alert members of the  Republican party.

I wonder when the RNC was given the job of bumper reading, when they were dispatched to "name names" to the Secret Service, when they were given the job of Bush bouncer at public events. Ah, I'm in error. According to the Secret Service, these town halls are private events. I'm surprised. They certainly aren't billed that way. Neither are they funded that way. Despite the fact that the Bush/Cheney campaign staff seems to have moved into the West Wing or the Treasury Department's social security war room, despite the fact that the plan to privatize social security is being promoted and funded like a candidate for office (i.e. huge corporate funding), the whole thing is still significantly funded by our tax dollars. How is it then that these town hall meetings are private events? The short answer is that they aren't, that the designation "private" is used to justify the RNC's involvement, to justify the eviction of citizen's with tickets. It's a public event funded by public dollars not open to the public. It's bullshit.

I don't know what we can do about it.  Certainly, that branch of government charged with oversight of the executive branch, the Congress, isn't about to investigate. The media can't seem to generate much attention on the rare occasion that they try. And individuals don't have much power. The only suggestion I have is that the next time someone is ejected from one of these events, they should get the name of the person(s) ejecting them and their connection to the event - government agency or political party. And if it's an RNC staffer, they should talk to the Secret Service then and there and ask on what authority a political staffer is bouncing then. Then scream it to high hell. The MSM might not pay attention, but the blog world will. And then we'll see.

You can get a first hand account of the bumper sticker owner who was bounced from a Bush event in this DailyKos diary.

UPDATE:
I need to clarify that I may have mistaken the reference "Republican staffer" as definitely RNC where it may have been an individual employed by a Republican. I don't know.

Additionally, I'm pleased to see that the Washington Post has picked up the story.

UPDATE II:
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has more details here and here and here.

Comments

[tas]

Sorry, I have to make a correction here: "It's stalwart and alert gestapo of the Republican party."

Any objections? :)

God, could you only imagine the field day which Republicans would have in the media if Clinton was doing this?