Part of the degeneration of democracy induced by the Bush/Cheney administration is the idea that only quiet, respectful citizens may come within sight or earshot of bigshot politicians. These people had a right to attend event if they WERE there to protest. This appears to have been a public event at a public university, and all appearances to the contrary, the First Amendment still applies in 2008.

No society that feeds its children on tales of successful violence can expect them not to believe that violence in the end is rewarded. -Margaret Mead

Hey, let's face it.

McCain's well has come up dry. He has no bucket...and his VP is running against him.

WOW! McCain lost his VP.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

We are in the midst of an evolutionary event. I mean this in a quite Darwinian sense. We have reached a quantum leap period in the evolution of human beings. The old species is profiling the new species out of the room in sheer self-defense.

Had these young people looked like this?

Or...God help us all...this?

(The Bush daughters)

If they showed some serious signs of carrying  the dreaded, anti-evolutionary Paris Hilton virus?

It's be "Why, come right in darlin', an' make yer se'f welcome. Y'all are one of us. You carry the mark."

How does wolves know that a domestic dog ain't a wolf?

They kin smell it.

Same here.

Bet on it.

Even if some poor examples of the new species are so self-deluded as to believe that the old species is on the right track, the old species knows better than to let 'em in. They'll just pollute the reptilian bloodline.

That's what is happening here.

Yes it is.

Bet on it.

AG

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

That's what she voted for, and now she doesn't like it.  There's still time to change your vote, Ms. Elborno.

Dear Lara,

You certainly remember Obama's great speech in Berlin this summer. Hundreds of people were denied access because the Obama campaign asked the police to stop everybody caring a poster from entering the rally area.

They feared that the hundreds of reporters and cameramen would show protesters in the middle of the jubilating crowd.

I'm writing from Germany and I got interested in your story as an active writer in the "Spiegel Online" Forum and Blog :-)

I've seen of course that you are pretty active: die-ins, sit-ins in senator offices, asking to be arrested etc. Do not wonder that the McCain staff knows you well ... And I'm not convinced that most of the 20 or so other people asked to leave weren't your usual group of protesters (at the sit-in you were also 19 or 20, correct?)

I'm actively supporting Obama and the Obamistas from here, but I think, people hijacking others events and forcing all people to listen to them are somewhat on the wrong thinking and acting path. Feel free to protest in front of the building or - if there is one - in a free speech zone. Your tactics unfortunately resemble to the ones used by
right and left fascistoid groups in Germany 75 years ago.

I believe you, when you think you're a democrat and a patriot. But forgive me, take another approach and road. You are as free to speak up as others are free to don't listen to you
Kind regards,
Mihai-Robert Soran
Frankfurt

Unfortunately this is not fully true. Just look at the prohibition of banners and posters at the Obama rally in Berlin and the expulsion of those carrying them.

Let''s make it real and put the facts in perspective about the rules imposed at the Obama rally in Berlin:
The organizers, American Voices Abroad, www.avaberlin.org/... invited with thousands of posters all around Berlin and the country to come to the rally.
The Poster reads: "Please limit personal belongings. No signs or banners permitted.". See also the official Obama site in Berlin my.barackobama.com/...

What had the famous "Der Spiegel" to say - with a risen eyebrow - about this in Germany totally unusual prohibition? "Poster prohibition for Obama fans"
www.spiegel.de/...

The more than liberal Indymedia de.indymedia.org/... wrote about the same prohibition " there is no legal base for it in Germany, because this is an event under the open sky.
Despite this guaranteed freedom of assembly the organizers will still act in cooperation with the (more than thousand) policemen against attendees who try to show posters. The police says that it will remove audience members who try to show posters AGAINST the WAR in Afghanistan (Lara would have been removed in Berlin, too :-] ) and will take their personal details. The organizers will then act in court against these people for unlawful trespassing.
"American Voices Abroad" explained that these measures were taken because Obama wants to suppress all protest against the US intervention in Afghanistan"

Now you know :-)

 The report you quote is flawed: First of all, Lara is a well known protester and was also removed earlier form a McCain rally after chanting with her group of 20 in an effort to hijack the event. She's well known also for the sit-in at two senators offices, where she publicly claimed that "I'm so excited to get arrested with all you guys!" jdeeth.blogspot.com/...

Dylan Boyle's whole report is based just on Lara's "story" and stories. He quotes, quotes, quotes HER, without trying to research by himself. Who were the 20 other? Were they expelled because of the way they looked, or were they known to security and campagne officials from earlier protests, sit-ins and "hijacks"? It's strange than most of Lara's actions are done by a group of 20 people (just read the blogs sympathetic with/to her).

And why does Dylan Boyle blindly buys her account about an expelled McCain voter? Should David look in blogs that reported Lara's earliest disturbance acts at McCain rallies then he'll see that identical stories were circulated there as well ...

Regards,
Mihai-Robert Soran

PS. BTW, since you brought me in the proximity of right-wing journals, you should take a look at my intense forum activity at forum.spiegel.de/...
Just search for my nickname there. It's ADEVAR (means "truth" in Romanian) forum.spiegel.de/...
I'm a fervent liberal, democrat, Obama supporter abroad, and an aggressive Anti-Nazi.

And that's why I criticize people using unlawful means for political action. I do not think, like some others do here, that Lara (and probably most of her groupies) isn't of good faith, but just a "little criminal".

No, I respect her views, nevertheless I consider her approach to be false and de facto antidemocratic. She's still young and will learn. "We" (my generation) were 1968 not at all different :-) But, just for Lara: we started to be successful in politics and communities first as we got involved as members, not as protesters.
Remember what Obama stands for: CHANGE from WITHIN! If you want to stop the war in Afghanistan or the fratricid killings in Palestine then skip your die-ins in favor of political influence buildup in an organization that has some say or a large enough national "lobby".

People with anti-war posters were immediately expelled from the audience at Obama's speech in Berlin.

As one says (in automatic Google translation)" "I've stood in the crowd, fairly far in the front, and I held an anti-death penalty sign high. On the back, I wrote in big letters "Obama" to fool the police and security in the crowd. Nevertheless, I was caught by security officers and rather rudely, forcefully taken away. I am not the type that will get physical and fends. (...) I mean, I like Obama, yes. But you should have at such an event the right to freely show your views!" (from the Tagesspiegel article I mentioned)

You know, it's a pitty when organizers of a US presidential election rally have to expel some people from a room they rented in one of the US States, just because they know what to expect from those publicly well known activists.

It's a lot worse and a sign of disrespect for another nation, if you go abroad, visit a sovereign state and impose rules declining more than 200.000 German citizens the freedom of SILENTLY expressing their views at your rally. Rules and restrictions that are incompatible with the laws of the hosting country and in disregard of the Constitution of the United States.

What a shame! It was the first time in Germany since 1948 that posters were banned at a public political gathering under open skies. And they were banned on request from the country that considers itself as the most and best Democracy in the World :-(

Well, I'm convinced that McCain would have done the same in Berlin, because all candidates fear a PR disaster, should the media show rally images from abroad of people protesting against the USA, the candidate and its policies.

I would have never come up with this story, but the incredibly provincial and faulty report in this paper made it necessary.

You'll wonder, but my peers in the best German Forum hosted by Der Spiegel have read the report, have investigated Lara's background and are actively debating the case. Many of us consider it a non-event and a piece of poor manipulatory journalism. In no way better than FOX does.
Regards