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Sunday, February 12, 2006
DUDE, WHERE'S MY CRIMINAL CHARGE?
Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor "thanks" me for asking
people in the audience to stand up
By DUANE J. ROBERTS
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
COSTA MESA, CA -- At first, I wasn't planning on
speaking at last Tuesday's meeting of the Costa Mesa
City Council. But the temptation to do so was too
great for me to resist. So I plucked a pencil out from
my shirt pocket and quickly filled in all the blank
spaces on the little yellow card you must submit to
the City Clerk if you want to speak. After I finished,
I handed it over to her and patiently waited for my
name to be called. The moment arrived much sooner than
I expected.
"Is Duane here?" asked Mayor Allan Mansoor.
"Yes," I responded.
I walked up to the podium, adjusted the microphone,
and began to introduce myself.
"Good evening," I said. "My name is Duane Roberts. I'm
Chair of the Social Concerns Committee of the
Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim, which is
located at 511 S. Harbor Blvd. I'm also a member of
the Tonantzin Collective. I want to read the following
statement."
I looked down at my clipboard and slowly began to read
what I had hurriedly jotted down in pencil only a few
minutes earlier:
Congress shall make
no law respecting the
establishment of
religion, nor prohibit
the free exercise thereof.
Nor prohibit the freedom
of speech, or of the
press. Or the right of
the people to peaceably
assemble and to petition
the government for
a redress of grievances.
"That's the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights of
the U.S. Constitution," I said. "And if anybody here
supports the First Amendment, please quietly stand
up!" I motioned with my right hand for people in the
audience to rise up out of their seats. And that they
did. In fact, almost everybody present in Council
Chambers stood up.
Mayor Mansoor, looking surprised at what had just
occurred, quickly responded: "Uh, sir, please direct
your comments to the council and ..."
But before he could finish his sentence, I abruptly
cut him off.
"Mayor Mansoor, your time is up!" I said. "Thank you!"
I then walked away from the podium.
"Thank you," he responded.
As I returned to my seat, people began to clap in
unison. But I was confused. I mean, isn't this the
reason why Mayor Mansoor had Coyotl Tezcatlipoca
beaten, arrested, and criminally charged for last
month: asking people in the audience to quietly stand
up in support of something? And now he's "thanking" me
for doing the exact same thing?
Dude, where's my criminal charge?
========================
To hear Mayor Allan Mansoor "thank" me for asking
people in the audience to stand up, click on "view
video" feature for the Tuesday, February 7, 2006
meeting of the Costa Mesa City Council at the
following link:
http://costamesa.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=4
Jump to "Speaker No. 29".
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