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 heavily redacted, secret "Presidential Advance Manual" shows the construction of a Bucky-Fuller-like dome which travels with the president to make sure neither he nor (more importantly) the media see the full range of dissent in America. Secret it may have been, but finally the ACLU subpoenaed and got a copy.
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."
Here it is, in all its redacted glory. Nothing surprising here. Move on. Move on. However, it might be kinder to detain President Bush offshore so he doesn't have to put up with the sights and sounds of open discussion, the give and take of democratic politics, in the wake of his secretive, barricaded administration.
Comments