[Winona Online Democracy] Hello Winona Online Democracy,
In today's Star Tribune there is a great column by Nick Coleman on page B3, in the Metro section. It addresses free speech and dissent in today's political culture. I saw the exact same sad things when President Bush came to La Crosse. They literally brought in semi trailers and huge dumpsters and stacked them on top of each other. The purpose was to create a temporary, but very effective, Berlin Wall. The so-called "free-speech zone" is a farce of Orwellian or Huxley dimensions. It's all a well scripted show that the media seems very willing to soak up and help spin. The former Soviets and Pravda are being put to shame. :-< How can other media outlets and communication methods like Winona Online Democracy do better? Dwayne Voegeli August 15, 2004 ----- Title: Just what's happened to plain old dissent? Nick Coleman, Star Tribune August 15, 2004 Three times in the last three weeks, I have recounted stories of partisan assaults on free speech: A trio of teenage brothers arrested in Duluth after a presidential campaign stop; a Coon Rapids man forced to fortify a display of his beliefs with concrete and steel after repeated acts of vandalism by opponents of his views; and a Mankato National Guard member -- recently returned from duty overseas -- threatened with arrest and interrogated about his political views before being admitted to a presidential campaign rally. There are probably many more such incidents to come. Minnesota is a "battleground" state in this year's election, and the emphasis is on "battle." And we're not alone: Free speech is in trouble across the country. Peaceful protesters are being forced away from political events; average citizens are being required to sign "loyalty pledges" stating that they support a candidate before being permitted to attend rallies; others have been arrested for simply wearing T-shirts expressing contrary views. Many of these incidents are not even reported. But there seems to be a pattern: Thursday's New York Times mentioned an incident during President Bush's July 13 visit to Duluth (the same event at which the three teens were arrested). It seems that Secret Service agents posted photos of men not welcome at the Bush rally. One was a local homeless activist. Another was a pointy-headed professor and Green Party activist named Joel Sipress who apparently ended up with his face plastered at security checkpoints just because he helped organize (openly and legally) an anti-Bush rally six blocks away. When the Secret Service puts your picture up, you get a little nervous. "It's troubling," says Sipress, 40, a professor of American history at the nearby University of Wisconsin-Superior who ran for the Minnesota Senate in a 2002 special election and got 37 percent of the vote. "There are periods in the history of this country in which dissent comes to be viewed as subversion. I don't think we're at that point yet, where people need to be in fear of speaking out. But there are signs we might be headed in that direction." He's got company. Another college prof named Terry Morrow agrees that free speech is taking a beating. Morrow, chairman of Communication Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., is preparing a scholarly article on the subject for a law review. And he says the assault on speech is across the board, and all across the political spectrum. Morrow says that the presidential campaigns have adopted a three-prong strategy to suppress protest and sanitize their political events so that only true believers get near the candidates. First, many political events that once would have been considered public and part of an open campaign for the highest public office in the land are now dubiously held on "private" property. This allows organizers to screen attendees and keep out anyone not firmly on the bandwagon. Second, a "no-protest" zone is created around the event, an area where police and the Secret Service allow virtually no free expression whatsoever, which is why two teens in Mankato were barred from a Bush rally when an organizer discovered that one of them had a Kerry campaign sticker in his wallet. Finally, an ersatz "free-speech zone" is established off-site -- out of camera range and sometimes behind barbed wire and fencing -- where anyone who so wishes may go and howl at the moon, and with about the same effect. These anti-democratic strategies help guarantee Stepford-Wife crowds where candidates see nothing but adoring faces and anyone with a differing view who somehow makes it into the event and is foolish enough to raise his voice can be isolated and removed -- as happened to a lone protester who infiltrated Bush's Duluth rally. If this is democracy, it is wobbling. "The very purpose of protest is to make audiences aware of the issues," says Morrow, who's on the free speech committee of the National Communication Association, a nonprofit group of educators and students. "By its nature, protest is meant to send messages that disturb an audience. That's essential to getting the message heard." But America has hung a new sign on this election: "Do Not Disturb." That explains why anyone who stands up in public holding a "No War for Oil" sign may get his free-speechifying backside busted, as happened to a guy named Brett Bursey in South Carolina during a Bush visit in 2002. The president and other candidates for the most important job in the free world absolutely must have careful and tight security. Those who object to true security measures should have their IDs checked carefully. But how did we get to the point where what's on your T-shirt --or even on your mind -- can prevent you from participating in the public forum? Comedian Lenny Bruce used to say there was no justice in the halls of justice. Sadly, perhaps, there's no public forum left in public. "In a free society, dissent is a good thing," says Morrow. "It's good to let people speak their minds rather than being forced to bottle up their thinking. But we're not letting people relieve the pressure. And all that does is push some to violence." That's the "safety-valve" theory of the importance of free speech. But there's something even more precious that we may be losing when dissent is stifled and protest silenced. We may be losing the opportunity to change our minds. "If those who disagree never get to listen to the other side, they lose the opportunity to change their opinion," Morrow says. "What if someone listened, and changed their mind?" Always with the jokes, those professors. Change our minds? It's easier just to arrest the other guys. Nick Coleman is at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------ Dwayne Voegeli Winona County Commissioner (507) 453-9012 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 359 Pleasant Hill Dr. Winona, MN 55987 ------------ _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
