White House Manual Details How to Deal With Protesters
WASHINGTON - Not that they’re worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn’t want any.A White House manual that came to light recently gives presidential advance staffers extensive instructions in the art of “deterring potential protestors” from President Bush’s public appearances around the country.0822 04
Among other things, any event must be open only to those with tickets tightly controlled by organizers. Those entering must be screened in case they are hiding secret signs. Any anti-Bush demonstrators who manage to get in anyway should be shouted down by “rally squads” stationed in strategic locations. And if that does not work, they should be thrown out.
But that does not mean the White House is against dissent — just so long as the president does not see it. In fact, the manual outlines a specific system for those who disagree with the president to voice their views. It directs the White House advance staff to ask local police “to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferably not in the view of the event site or motorcade route.”
The “Presidential Advance Manual,” dated October 2002 with the stamp “Sensitive — Do Not Copy,” was released under subpoena to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of two people arrested for refusing to cover their anti-Bush T-shirts at a Fourth of July speech at the West Virginia State Capitol in 2004. The techniques described have become familiar over the 6 1/2 years of Bush’s presidency, but the manual makes it clear how organized the anti-protest policy really is.
The lawsuit was filed by Jeffery and Nicole Rank, who attended the Charleston event wearing shirts with the word “Bush” crossed out on the front; the back of his shirt said “Regime Change Starts at Home,” while hers said “Love America, Hate Bush.” Members of the White House event staff told them to cover their shirts or leave, according to the lawsuit. They refused and were arrested, handcuffed and briefly jailed before local authorities dropped the charges and apologized. The federal government settled the First Amendment case last week for $80,000, but with no admission of wrongdoing.
The manual demonstrates “that the White House has a policy of excluding and/or attempting to squelch dissenting viewpoints from presidential events,” said ACLU lawyer Jonathan Miller. “Individuals should have the right to express their opinion to the president, even if it’s not a favorable one.”
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that he could not discuss the manual because it is an issue in two other lawsuits.
The manual offers advance staffers and volunteers who help set up presidential events guidelines for assembling crowds. Those invited into a VIP section on or near the stage, for instance, must be ” extremely supportive of the Administration,” it says. While the Secret Service screens audiences only for possible threats, the manual says, volunteers should examine people before they reach security checkpoints and look out for signs. Make sure to look for “folded cloth signs,” it advises.
To counter any demonstrators who do get in, advance teams are told to create “rally squads” of volunteers with large hand-held signs, placards or banners with “favorable messages.” Squads should be placed in strategic locations and “at least one squad should be ‘roaming’ throughout the perimeter of the event to look for potential problems,” the manual says.
“These squads should be instructed always to look for demonstrators,” it says. “The rally squad’s task is to use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform. If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protestors (USA!, USA!, USA!). As a last resort, security should remove the demonstrators from the event site.”
Advance teams are advised not to worry if protesters are not visible to the president or cameras: “If it is determined that the media will not see or hear them and that they pose no potential disruption to the event, they can be ignored. On the other hand, if the group is carrying signs, trying to shout down the President, or has the potential to cause some greater disruption to the event, action needs to be taken immediately to minimize the demonstrator’s effect.”
The manual adds in bold type: “Remember — avoid physical contact with demonstrators! Most often, the demonstrators want a physical confrontation. Do not fall into their trap!” And it suggests that advance staff should “decide if the solution would cause more negative publicity than if the demonstrators were simply left alone.”
The staff at the West Virginia event may have missed that line.
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
We wouldn’t want anybody to upset boy george, the nutless wonder, would we.
Sounds like the Dick ‘n Bush admin. is more like Cuba and Libya than they would like to admit. Gotta love that “freedom of speech” in the “land of the free”. We’re all slaves and cogs in the corporate dictatorship.
False democracy must be destroyed and eliminated, to save ourselves and the planet.
Hitler had well run rallies, too.
What’s amazing is the American sheeple still think everything is just hunky dory and they are “free”…Silly sheep, fighting over there to save our “freedom” here…I can’t decide to laugh or cry…
From what I hear of Bush’s temper, his staff is as worried about his reaction to protest as much as anything else. And they’re the ones who have to endure his disposition, as well as a sight from which to protect America. Oh, the perils of living with a dry drunk.
Pro-war, pro-Bush people can become violent. These people have already provent themselves to be irrational and unreasonable. Be careful. Remember your history.
Four people were killed at Kent State May 4,1970. Only 2 of them were involved in the protesting.
This bloodstain on the pages of US History can be repeated easily. Be alert, be aware, and “look what’s going down”. I honestly hope that needless tragedy will never re-occur.
I recall the first time I saw John Kerry in Cincinnati. He was greeted by the Republican Youth Squad who stood at the front of the stage and tried to shout down everything he said. So the message is….why play fair? Indeed
This video will show the uncovering of some provocateurs at a small peaceful rally in Canada at the recent summitt meeting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St1-WTc1kow
This video is a “how to” in what to do when there are provocateurs.
I think it is certain that such tactics have been used in the US also.
Imo the provocateurs were ashamed of themselves. and in a more violent nation the rock would have been used.
Its important to take videos and use cameras when protesting.
Please notice the older clearly middle class people in the video who were peacefully demonstrating.
This is the Toronto Star article about the incident:
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/248608
Police accused of using provocateurs at summit
Quotes from the article:
“A video, posted on YouTube, shows three young men, their faces masked by bandannas, mingling Monday with protesters in front of a line of police in riot gear. At least one of the masked men is holding a rock in his hand.”
“The three are confronted by protest organizer Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. Coles makes it clear the masked men are not welcome among his group of protesters, whom he describes as mainly grandparents. He urges them to leave and find their own protest location.”
“Coles also demands that they put down their rocks. Other protesters begin to chime in that the three are really police agents. Several try to snatch the bandanas from their faces.”
“Rather than leave, the three actually start edging closer to the police line, where they appear to engage in discussions. They eventually push their way past an officer, whereupon other police shove them to the ground and handcuff them.”
“Late Tuesday, photographs taken by another protester surfaced, showing the trio lying prone on the ground. The photos show the soles of their boots adorned by yellow triangles. A police officer kneeling beside the men has an identical yellow triangle on the sole of his boot.”
“Kevin Skerrett, a protester with the group Nowar-Paix, said the photos and video together present powerful evidence that the men were actually undercover police officers.”
I remember in the first couple years, a guy and his friend were on a road in some rural area with their anti-bush sign. They were forced away from the pro-bushies so they ended up all by themselves down the road and across the street. They could hardly believe their luck when the vehicle bush was in was approaching. There was bush in plain view. He was waving and smirking at everyone, and then he turned to wave at this guy and his friend when he read their sign. Then bush angrily flipped them the bird. I guess TPTB were careful not to let that happen again.
You know what I think about sometimes? You know how those people who have crossed over (and have been revived again) say you are shown a panaoramic review of your life? I hope then that bush and cheney see EVERY SINGLE face of every protestor and EVERY sign that has ever been held. All at the same time. No hiding from it..they can’t close their ‘eyes’…they can’t hide…as THE FACE OF EVERY PROTESTOR haunts them and taunts them as they descend into the lower rhealms of hell…
should anyone incapable or unwilling to hear the voices of those he serves be allowed to continue service?
put it another way:
should an employee be able to silence or ignore his bosses?
we don’t need more evidence of this corrupt regime.
we need congress to grab him by the balls and shove ‘em up his ass. (though his head makes it a tight fit)
As I’ve mentioned before, here’s another story along the same lines…except it’s Barack Obama’s people doing it, not George Bush’s. Controlling speech is most definitely a bipartisan project.
ORANGE you smart enough to outfox the Bushists, Billarys and Obamanations in these regards?
I am surprised that the Bushies were able to get the manual successfully translated from the original German. I guess they can do some things right.
This is our country. We the people of the United States of America. The President serves at our pleasure. Accordingly, the President will also be informed of our displeasure.
All power and authority in our democracy rests in the people. We can remove corrupt officials from the government peacefully. All we need to do is stand up and re-claim this authority. I believe the best mechanism for this is the National Initiative for Democracy publicized recently by Mike Gravel.
….and all at taxpayer expense, no less.
Welcome to the kingdom ladies and gentlemen.
Should be interesting to watch how the impending war protest (8/25) at Kennebunkport is handled. By the number of sponsoring organizations and the names involved, this should be thousands of folks. The organizers have said they plan to march to the Bush family compound. How the media cover it should also be revealing.
So…the right to peaceably assemble in the United States is now null and void? People living in Europe are nothing but Socialists and people who live in Southwest Asia are nothing but Islamofascists who hate our freedom and want to attack us - Is that the general opinion over there? It is your beloved President, neoconservative Republicans, and fundamentalist Christians that are TAKING AWAY your freedom! People who live outside of the United States has nothing to do with it.
USA! USA! LAND OF TYRANNY HOME OF THE SLAVE!
USA! USA! LAND OF TYRANNY HOME OF THE SLAVE!
USA! USA! LAND OF TYRANNY HOME OF THE SLAVE!
Chant something like that next time in front of Nationalist Americans and George W. Bush fans in Washington DC.
Well, what can you expect? Try this link.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0902-08.htm
This was just in the vicinity of the Repug Nazional Convention in ‘04. Perhaps they don’t want us to see him biting the rug when he is crossed.
Remember, the concentration camps are ready, where we who believe in Democracy and Representative Government may well wind up spending our days, far from the media, under the watchful eyes of Blackwater guards.
As the Borg said, “Resistance is futile. You will be dissimulated.” Or something to that effect.
A timely quote from Thomas Jefferson:
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”
Not surprising. But Sir Melvin has a good point. Rhythms and chants can be coopted, not just drowned out, the latter being the Bush way. Go along with the chant, give the rhythm a little catchy swing, jazz it slightly and gradually add a syllable here and there. People will go along (that’s what marching is all about) if it’s audible enough (i.e., need a composer squad, not just one person to do this). Or one group chants a Bushy line, a few minutes later second group begins filling in gaps in the rhythm with a response line showing the context of the lie. Radical cheerleaders would be the experts on this.
“’decide if the solution would cause more negative publicity than if the demonstrators were simply left alone.’
The staff at the West Virginia event may have missed that line.”
They had already read between the lines:
Take action first, apologize later, as the results proved:
“They refused and were arrested, handcuffed and briefly jailed before local authorities dropped the charges and apologized.”
But the Bush Administration was successful in keeping them from practicing freedom of speech, as the planbook proves. I think $80,000 was a cheap price to pay the couple. “Setting up a dictatorship: Priceless.”
“President” Bush does not need to see the protests! He is unreachable in more than one way. Gatherings in public are absolutely necessary to inform and encourage others. More people are needed if we are ever to have freedom, if we are ever to stop the US from spreading Pax Americana! [from Webster’s dictionary —Pax Romana 1. the terms of peace imposed by Rome on any of its dominions; hence, 2. a peace dictated to a subjugated people by a conquering nation.] (see *Rebuilding American Defenses*)
Do what you can to make more aware, get more people involved. Any small thing, any way you can. Here are a few ideas –
Send your comments to the media - http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111
Many organizations use CapWiz for contacting elected officials and news organizations. A web search will show you who uses it, if you want to use it through a particular group. Or use the following -
http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/dbq/media/
Here’s another resource - you can find the site of the newsgoup and make contact through the site -
http://www.newsdirectory.com/index.php
Send comments, articles, altrernative news stories (like from Common Dreams), events etc. Wake up your local media!
Love the Earth and She’ll love you back.
Do these “rally squads,” wear brown shirts? Also, I hope its more than wishful thinking on my part but I’ve heard rumblings that Laura is going to leave the sorry sot, if that’s going to happen, pray for Barney.
millions of people in the streets didn’t stop the war. millions of naked people occupying the halls of congress will hold the attention of the Vichy Democrats.
Defeatism is futile.
Seems there are still consequences to bear, even though they may seem small, for trying to quell dissent and free speech. People see through the smokescreen. Then the psychological Jedi mindtrick has worked on you if you believe that direct action doesn’t work. Does it work immediately..? No. But given enough time and dedication and sacrifice from people willing to stick out their necks it does. The ‘mood of the country’ is still pro-Bush in many areas, but it’s not what it used to be even a year ago.. now dissent is more common even in the MSM and I think that is in part attributable to people like this who just won’t shut up.
Congratulations to the Ranks and all others who speak out! Never shut up.. that’s just what the fascists want you to do.
“….the art of “deterring potential protestors” from President Bush’s public appearances around the country.”
The manual should read:
1) The Art of “Extinguishing” the First Amendment.
OR….
2) The Art of “Preventing” U.S. Citizens From Exercising Their First Amendment Rights.
Oh those pesky amendments, can’t we just eliminate them all? Oh wait, he already did…
“White” America began as a Christian Capitalist Labor Camp, no part of the imposed European system was meant to produce either peace or equality, only a wealth-extracting sanctimonious fascism. And white folks are the last ones (being highest on pharaoh’s pyramid) to learn what it means to be on the receiving end. However abstract it may sound, neither can be dismantled without the fundamental step of renewed, refreshed historical perspective based in the archaeological and other demonstrable facts—then we can begin to realize where we went wrong and where we must turn to get it right again, and with “reality” on our side, the liars will undeniably show up for what they are. Hint—You may recall from any number of films that the 1960s-70s “protesters,” however wrongheaded at times, were not afraid of the police or of screwing up the weekend while confronting raw power. I can’t think of a movement in our midst today (except for the Xer-shitheads who riot for the fun of it) that really has the guts to put its meat on the line. Till that happens, founded in the courage of genuine human history, nothing will change except to get worse. REALITY is going to close in on each and all of us until we start saying NO WITH OUR BODIES
Kristina40, you nailed it. Most Americans don’t actually know what the word “freedom” means, they just like the sound of it. I sent the following response to one of my rightwingnut relatives after she sent me another jingoistic crap story:
“I think it’s terribly ironic that stories like this get sent out, celebrating American freedoms, and yet when those freedoms really are being taken away, the folks who share these stories seem to have nothing to say about it. For example, the Constitutional freedom to have a telephone or e-mail conversation without the government listening in — unless they can prove to a judge they have a good reason and get a warrant — that freedom is gone, erased by the stroke of a pen by President George W. Bush. The freedom to not be put in prison without being given the reason has also been taken away by the same administration. People are being hounded and jailed for attempting to make use of their right to free speech — so that one’s gone, too. Freedom of assembly is being compromised as federal agents attend gatherings and meetings — even church meetings — incognito and then create FBI files on everyone present. These things are all really happening, to real American citizens all over the country, and yet people who claim to love freedom look the other way.
Is it freedom, or the idea of freedom, that you cherish?”
I haven’t heard from her since.
LOL Bobby, one thing about the truth, nobody wants to hear it…
This may seem like a crazy idea, as many of mine are. If I correctly recall, Chimpy is part owner of the Texas Rangers, is he not? What if people wore shirts and brought in signs protesting the war en masse at many ballgames (of course make sure they are well-disguised)? Many fans in the stadium will see it, and some most likely will shout profanities at the protestors and perhaps throw a hotdog or two (they definitely will not throw their beer because to them it would be the textbook definition of alcohol abuse). But they will constantly see the message and may get discouraged from attending the ballgame. Lower attendance means lower profits, which means… you get the picture. According to this stupid and illegal manual, protestors cannot get anywhere near Chimpy, unless they have the haphazard luck of the couple cited in one of the above posts where Bush’s entourage happens to drive by. So why not bring the message to other places (other than Crawford or Kennebunkport) that have some sort of meaning to “W”?
“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for
people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”
-Noam Chomsky
This explains this administation in a nutshell. They don’t believe in freedom!!
free·dom (frē’dəm)
n.
The condition of being free of restraints.
Liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression.
Political independence.
Exemption from the arbitrary exercise of authority in the performance of a specific action; civil liberty: freedom of assembly.
Exemption from an unpleasant or onerous condition: freedom from want.
The capacity to exercise choice; free will: We have the freedom to do as we please all afternoon.
Ease or facility of movement: loose sports clothing, giving the wearer freedom.
Frankness or boldness; lack of modesty or reserve: the new freedom in movies and novels.
The right to unrestricted use; full access: was given the freedom of their research facilities.
The right of enjoying all of the privileges of membership or citizenship: the freedom of the city.
A right or the power to engage in certain actions without control or interference: “the seductive freedoms and excesses of the picaresque form” (John W. Aldridge).
I sware we are definitely living in Orwellian times. failure is success, wrong is right, oppression is freedom, I mean the list goes on and on and on…
This administation will do everything in its power to avoid it’s own shadow self. These have to be the most unbalanced humanbeings I have ever come across. No wonder why Cheney has had so many heart attacks. Well they can’t run from it forever, and soon it will engulf them like they were entering the suns athmosphere. Now that’s what I call your own private hell.
These people are friggin’ psycho.
Shout “usa usa usa”.
Rings earily like “seig heil! seig heil!”
Nationalism gone mad.
In addition to parroting for LRT boondoggles (mass transit is a good thing, but these guys appear to be paid advertisers to some contractors), my local Air America affiliate 950 AM is slamming Bush for this anti-first-amendment behavior as if the Rethugs had a monopoly on it.
Remember the 2004 Democratic convention “free speech zone”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone
Sorry folks, if Bush were the root of all evil we’d have it MADE, because when he’s eventually out of office everything will just be fine again.
Not the case.
How long has this country been oppressed?
claudius actually brings up an excellent point. If Congress REFUSES to defund the war in Iraq, the public MUST boycott any business that supports the war based on its donor funding. Bush is only the symptom, the problem is the corrupt system that has existed for 40 years. Protesting at a ballgame and depressing consumer/fan turnout would go a long ways to TERMINATING the corrupt system and that in turn would TERMINATE Bush’s war against DEMOCRACY.
They have built a Berlin Wall around central Sydney for the Apec meeting next month. The overkill comes straight out of the Bush handbook.
Fuck the white house and all the special people within. These fucking scumbags…and we’re supposed to listen to this…….to tryl and make sense of lies, deception, threat, rip off…Fucking Stump Talk…..fucking bullshit…..fucking businessmen posing as intelligent human beings….Fuck it All!!….
Fucking Right catman.
catman, don’t candy coat this, tell us how you really feel…
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”
– Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
“Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?”
- Henry David Thoreau
Here is a link to the original document. Reporters should start including these public records in their stories. The Internet is a medium that should be used for more than just text.
http://recordsquest.org/?q=node/107
Here’s a line from Bush’s stirring speech of 8/22/2007: “The terrorists … seek to spread a political vision of their own — a harsh plan for life that crushes freedom, tolerance, and dissent.”
And I noticed this passage as well, from 11/6/2001: “We see the same intolerance of dissent; the same mad, global ambitions; the same brutal determination to control every life and all of life.”
It’s a good thing irony’s already dead, because it sure would be taking a beating otherwise.