Friday, October 28, 2011
Politics Right-Wingers Back Occupy Nashville's Right to Protest
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 5:40 PM
While I am no fan of the flea baggers Occupy Nashville protest, I do not think they should be banned from protesting at the capitol. They should have the right to assemble if it is peaceful and not hurting anyone. If you cant protest at the state capitol where can you protest? ... I say let them stay as long as they can stand up. Those that make peaceful protest impossible make violent protest inevitable.
Oatney's upset about the sudden curfew and predicts the protesters will file a winning lawsuit:
[The reaction of State officials in how to deal with the protest has been overly broad and is blatantly unconstitutional, and whatever the circumstances of the sit-in at this point, the State has acted in a way that brings danger to the rights of all of us. First, the State abruptly changed the rules for assembly on Legislative Plaza, banning protests without a permit-one was not previously required until Friday-and closing the Plaza from 10pm to 6am. The Capitol grounds were not closed to the public at any hour of the day or night until today. Clearly, this sudden change of rules-while it may apply to all of us later-was aimed at Occupy Nashville right now, and that means that the State of Tennessee has invited a lawsuit, will probably have it by nightfall, and those suing will be in a position in which liberals rarely find themselves—on the constitutionally correct side of the issue.
Comments (16)
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May the circle be unbroken -- where the left and right meet in opposition to tyranny. Sad that spot is so tiny. Still.. welcome boys.
Congrats and thanks to them both. The Governor has flagrantly violated the First Amendment, and he should be called into account for it.
I hope to goodness some decent pro-American lawyer is preparing a motion for an emergency injunction against the Governor and his brownshirts.
While I'm glad to see Campfield's general approval of the protestors' constitutional rights, the "flea baggers" reference is unbecoming and inappropriate for any elected official. That may as well be a racial slur as it is a cultural one. Such talk is simply immature and a government official shouldn't speak in such a way of a WORLD-WIDE protest. It is painfully obvious how out of touch he is with the general public to have such loose lips.
"While I am no fan of the flea baggers Occupy Nashville protest, I do not think they should be banned from protesting at the capitol. They should have the right to assemble if it is peaceful and not hurting anyone. If you cant protest at the state capitol where can you protest? ... I say let them stay as long as they can stand up. Those that make peaceful protest impossible make violent protest inevitable."
--- Republican TNGA Senator Stacey Campbell plagiarizing from the original thoughts and words of Democratic U.S. President John F. Kennedy (1962).
What is it with TNGA Senator Campfield and the Halloween season? One year he is wearing a mask and terrorizing young girls while stealing Section B seating during a UT football game in Neyland Stadium; this year he is passing off the words of U.S. President John F. Kennedy as his own.
This is no longer about the occupy nashville protesters. It is NOW about having RESTRICTIONS PLACED ON FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS. I encourage everyone to take a hard look at the actual policy that Bill Haslams administration put into place. The expenses of "usage fees", "appropriate security", and a one million dollar liability insurance policy that must be acquired to protest even during the time constraints of 6am to 10pm is ridiculous. This not only restricts peoples freedom of speech, it is discrimination against the lower economic class. This policy will cause our state to be in years of legal battles arguing the first amendment rights. I am not talking about the battles with the "Occupy" protesters, but the battles with those of us who realize we just had our rights restricted. This policy can be recalled by the authorities who enacted it, and I recommend they do just that before hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars are flushed down the drain.
The protesters already have a winning case. Period.
To all the foolish people commenting on this claiming that the protesters are uninformed or misguided:
How are you going to tell your children that this is the greatest country in the world or that capitalism works when we're in debt to china (a communist country). Did any of you get a bail out?
These people are out here protesting because the "leaders" in our government take their commands from the corporations that are paying them and it's time to end big government and stop this vicious cycle of debt and corruption. They're fighting for the same things that the tea party and other Americans are fighting for. You and I have no rights anymore.
Some of us right-wingers are smart enough to remember that we didn't have a permit when thousands of us descended on Legislative Plaza to protest the income tax late into the night several years ago. If the state can impose a curfew to stop Occupy Nashville from being on the plaza after 10 p.m., a future governor could do the same in order to shoo protesters away while the legislature passes an income tax at 2 a.m. some year in the future.
Sen. Canfield: better a flea bagger, like me, than a douche bagger, like you.
As for the inevitably successful lawsuits, I resent that Tennessee's tax dollars will have to be spent to compensate the victims of the Haslam/Gibbons/storm troopers' constitutional violations. I wish there were some way those assholes could be made to pay, personally, for what they've done, instead of making the rest of us pay for it.
I believe they can be made to pay. First, file suit in federal court for an injunction against the state for violation of civil rights. Second, file a class action law suit at the state level and name them personally. I doubt the second would fly cause I don't know how you quantify damages, but it might be fun to try. Any lawyers out there want to become famous?
Hobbs, thanks for pointing out to your fellow conservatives that their side doesn't win just because my side loses. A restriction of one person's rights that the rest of us tolerate will inevitable restrict ALL of our rights. I admire your respect for civil liberty.
Not surprising that conservatives would defend Occupy's right to demonstrate.
There's this thing called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.,
One of which, ironically enough, is the Right to peaceably Assemble and Petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Conservatives are funny about taking the Constitution seriously.
I may think (some of) the stated aims of the Occupy movement are ludicrous or dangerous (wealth redistribution, $20 minimum wage, etc).
Nevertheless it is wrong, nay, UN-constitutional for the government (including the state of Tennessee) to deny them their right to peaceably assemble and present their petition.
I'm less inclined to defend their targeting private businesses or individuals, or their occupation of private property.
But peaceably assembling and petitioning the government?
Everybody has that right! It's fundamental. Campfield is right. Haslam is wrong.
They need to back up and withdraw their actions to abridge the Occupy movement's fundamental, constitutional right.
@Bill Hobbs:
We may very well need an income tax to pay for all the overtime accumulated as of late by the THP.
Did you know they have to bus in these state troopers from around the state and put them up in hotels, in order to enforce Haslam's and Gibbons's directives?
