Democratic Convention protesters will be behind wire, so they can be seen and heard

Good news! Protesters at the upcoming Democratic Convention in Denver in August will be fenced in behind wire, so they can be seen and heard. Authorities are still trying to decide whether chicken or chain link wire will be used, but in any case free speech is alive and well, rest assured of that!

But, seriously. In a move that's partially good but in no way makes up for their support for illegal activity, the ACLU is suing Denver and the U.S. Secret Service over the restrictions. If there must be fencing, it should be in an area where those attending the convention can, you know, actually see the protesters and receive handbills from them.

While the name of the umbrella group conducting the protest (Recreate 68) isn't exactly a good sign, and some of the groups are no doubt planning for violent activity of some kind, dealing with that in the normal way is far preferable to putting free speech in a cage.

I note also that the Party hacks (aka bloggers) who are selected to cover the Convention will largely ignore that side of things and will simply do what they're told. See this from 2004.

Politics · Mon, 06/30/2008 - 19:31 · · Importance: 1