To Be Silenced, Or Not to Be: That is the Question Yet another anecdote for the historians to ponder.
Getting tickets from the Jackson County Democratic Party Headquarters for the Edwards event was pleasant and easy. They didn’t ask me to declare a party, didn’t ask who I was voting for, didn’t ask me to provide personal information or a DNA sample.
Not so at the Jackson County GOP headquarters. First they wanted to know my name, address, phone number, email, and my driver’s license number. “Do they really have the time, funds, and need to run all this data through some security check? What are they afraid of?” I asked myself. But hey, if i’ll get me some tickets, I’ll grudgingly fill out the application.
It didn’t get me the tickets. “Are you a Bush supporter?” I was asked. I explained that I was a registered Independent and not necessarily a Bush supporter. “Are you going to vote for Bush?” I was asked. “No,” I honestly, and out of curiosity to see what would happen, replied. I was summarily told that if I wasn’t planning on voting for Bush, I wasn’t welcome. “John” came over to make sure I got the message.
If this is true and I have no reason to believe it isn’t, it scares the hell out of me.
There’s nothing surprising about traditional Republican Conservatives speaking their mind about what a lousy President George W. Bush is! I belong to a family full of them.
The fact is, here in New Mexico, just like everywhere else, if there’s a chance you might dissent from the Party line, you ain’t gonna get into a Republikan function. I received emails, today, from the Democrat Party, letting me know that Kerry is going to be speaking in Albuquerque on Tuesday — listing four different locations where anyone could drop by and pick up tickets for the event.
It’s limited by space. That’s why the tickets. It’s not limited by ideology. Any [local] mailing list manager knows my politics are properly termed Progressive. Anyone who read my online comments [locally, today] on state electoral offices knows I endorsed a Republican, Al Lopez, over a wardheeling hack Democrat, for the Roundhouse.
Save the “equal time” baloney for talk radio. Let me know when it happens!