Different town, same problem.
LONG BEACH – Iraq veteran Jason Lemieux might not be marching in the 11th annual Long Beach Veterans Day Parade on Saturday.The Marine, who served three tours of duty in Iraq and is now against the war, was hoping to march as a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, a national organization that calls for immediate withdrawal of troops in Iraq.<
The group’s application, however, was rejected last month because of its political views, parade coordinators said.
“I wanted to march like the rest of the Iraq veterans,” said Lemieux, a 24-year-old Anaheim resident. “I served my country. I’m a veteran of a foreign war. I think I deserve that respect.”
Iraq Veterans, along with the groups Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out, applied to march together in the parade this year under the entry “Military Patriots.”
After reviewing each group’s mission statement, the Veterans Day Parade Committee, a non-profit group that organizes the event, voted unanimously to reject the application, said parade coordinator Martha Thuente.
“They do not fit the spirit of the parade,” she said. “The spirit being one of gratitude for what the veterans have done. We do not want groups of a political nature, advocating the troops’ withdrawal from Iraq.”
Parade coordinators work hard to keep the event free from politics, Thuente said. The city did offer to set up a designated area near the parade, he said, where groups can stand and hold up signs. “We are not protesting this parade,” Alviso said. “These are good people serving this country. It’s an insult to be put in a `free speech’ area. We are members of that parade and we are proud to be with them.”
As long as their protest is civil, then they should be allowed to march.
It is not a right to participate in ANYONEs parade, but it is a right to host your own.
These organizers are within their rights to have the parade how they want.
i.e. No one would want the right-wing religious nuts in their Pride Parade.
They can also stand on the street during the parade and be almost as effective.
This event goes out of it’s way to avoid political involvement at it’s parades dealing with the present war and past wars. If these men and I assume women wanted to march as soldiers, without political signage and banners then it would have been different.
I agree with #1…..any group who put’s on a parade has the right to say who can or can not be in it. I’m sure the Long Beach city council would have allowed this group of vet’s against the war and it’s other groups to have had their own paarade if they had bothered to apply for the permit. But they chose to make it an issue, showing that publicity trump’s honoring veteran’s in their world.
The mentality that anything disagreeable needs to be hidden in a box is what results in veterans being banned from a veterans day parade.
And trust me, a ‘free speech zone,’ i.e. being surrounded by barbed wire for two hours while you speak, pretty much shows what our rulers think of speech. They think it has to be caged like a rabid tiger.
“They do not fit the spirit of the parade,” she said. “The spirit being one of gratitude for what the veterans have done. We do not want groups of a political nature, advocating the troops’ withdrawal from Iraq.”
sounds suspiciously like supporting the war is not “political,” but opposing it is.
“The city provides the staffing, flags, banners, utilities and police protection, Shannon said, but does not play any role in the approval of parade participants.”
the city providing staffing and gear for the parade makes it a public event, and therefore they should not be allowed to exclude people based on their views. if you want a private parade, buy your own flags and banners and pay for your own staff.
You guys were celebrating when it was anti-gay church Fred helps and Co who were kicked for 10 million dollars for protesting. Now you’re upset? That’s what happens to fair weather friends of free speech.
MikeN: Assuming too much as a political argument, since 2001!
Oh really Li. You can look up the post on this blog about Fred Phelps.
So if the city provides security at protests, that makes it a public event?
Sounds to me like you’re trying to police speech by any stretch necessary. Why go that far. Protests take place on public streets, so that should be enough. If you want to exclude people, hold the protest at your house! Otherwise your anti-war parade had better be prepared to include soldiers in jeeps.
8. So your OK with free speech, as long as its controlled?
The writer thinks the Parade Organizers are required to include protesters in the parade.
A special area was set up to allow the protesters, but nooooo! that is just not good enough for them.
Kelly Puente, the writer, should go out on strike with the other Hollywood loons. No one wants to reach his/her garbage.
America has always been consistent in this. It always grants immunity to draft dodgers and it always screws the veterans. Check it out, don’t take my word for it. The first marches on Washington DC were veterans who had been denied their promised benefits, and every time there has been a draft there has been, post war, amnesty for the draft dodgers. And still young men go off to war for this government only to be used as tools in the same way children are used. As in, what heartless bastard doesn’t support the troops (or the safety of the children).
America went to the dogs because people haven’t been educated here for a long time, and nobody has had to earn their freedom so they don’t value it. It’s sad to see the Constitutional Freedoms go out the window so easily, and the Democrats don’t fight it because they will be abusing the same laws and privileges when they get their turn in office.
A nation of sheep
owned by pigs
ruled by wolves
as the t-shirt says.
#8, Mental Midget MikeN,
You miss the issue that the city payed for everything. That makes it a public event. If the parade is designated only for those of a specific political bent, then they are being discriminated against. It has been over 50 years that the Supreme Court ruled “Separate but Equal” is wrong, unworkable, and illegal.
So much for a mighty democracy full of free speech… jeez.
I completely agree with the parade organizers. Why should the marchers and audience, be subject to ridicule and negativity? There is a place for everything, this is not the place.
Left wing loonies, suggest that the protesters would be in barbered wire, how absurd. I have been to many parades in our little town, with my children and other families, and how upsetting it would have been to have someone parade down the street in an anti-war/anti-military spirit, turning a nice atmosphere into a political march. I think most of the people would not turn up next year, for the parade. Would that be a good thing?
I’m conflicted about the whole issue. I’m against this war. But I don’t want to say that the Veterns shouldn’t be honored in some way. The problem is that these parades are probably being used as pro-war propaganda, in a backhanded way. I’m not sure there should be any parades at all, while a war is still going on. Problem is, the US is almost always at war, somewhere! And it’s kind of shallow to saying, “Hey soldier, we’re gonna give you a parade for what you did for us. But sorry, we can’t afford to give you decent health care.”
The parades aren’t for the Vets or the soldiers. Just like the medals that are handed out, aren’t for what anyone did. It’s for promoting the armed services, themselves. Just like the Oscars and Emmys are about promoting the entertainment industry, and selling their product. It’s the same with the war cemetaries and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They had to come up with something symbolic to make war into a religion. Every war monument and cemetary is really about the war. After a generation or two, nobody remembers who the names belong to. But symbolizing old wars, positively, justifies newer ones.
Excellent point, Glenn,
Luke, 11:48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.
#15, Glenn,
I disagree. The parade is for the vets. In our little burg all the fallen have their names engraved on the Cenotaph. The parade and ceremony is out of respect for them.
They had to come up with something symbolic to make war into a religion.
During most of our history, wars have been started by those who either were never in the military or had extremely limited service. Our current fiasco in Iraq is no different. There is nothing religious about war to those who were there.
Wars are not glorified by those who actually went to war. Veterans should be honored for their sacrifice to the country, and they should be allowed to voice their opinions pro or not about war.
So a shouting contest, where the loudest group is right, is the way to remember those who sacrificed their lives for country and honor the ones who managed to survive?
Maybe – in theory and on freedom principle – this could work at every public event, but why don’t we first try it at a remembrance, say a funeral, to help work out the details.
RBG
Meh, as far as I know, the MTV “ME! ME! ME!” iPod loving youths don’t give a shit about this.
#8. It was not just security for the parade, it was the props (flags, banners) and staffing (which the article mentioned separately from security) for the parade, as I made clear in my posting.
Yes, THAT made it a public event.