Free Speechiness
Jun 13th, 2006 at 1:59 pm by Susie
I’ll have to find out the details, but when I was at lunch (for Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack’s speech), someone at my table told me security took the anti-war protestors’ sign and then hustled them out of the ballroom during Hillary’s speech.
Meanwhile, here’s the AP story:
WASHINGTON - A liberal crowd both booed and cheered Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday after she encouraged Democrats to have a “difficult conversation†about their position on the Iraq war in order to win over middle-of-the-road voters.
Clinton’s attempt to strike a moderate stance on the divisive issue of the war contrasted sharply with the angry words of another potential presidential contender, Sen. John Kerry, the party’s 2004 standard-bearer, who called the war “immoral†and a “quagmire.â€
At a speech before a liberal gathering dubbed “Take Back America,†the New York senator took grief from those in the audience critical of her vote for the Iraq war and her opposition to an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
“I do not think it is a smart strategy, either, for the president to continue with his open-ended commitment, which I think does not put enough pressure on the new Iraqi government,†said Clinton, before turning to the anti-war liberals’ core beef with her.
“Nor do I think it is smart strategy to set a date certain. I do not agree that that is in the best interests,†said Clinton, prompting loud booing from some at the gathering.
No, that is not our main beef with her. We are angry over her vote for the war, and the fact that she continues to justify it.
Here’s CODEPINK’s explanation of what happened. Bush events have nothing on Take Back America!
ot suz, and you may know about this already, but i just found out our rep chaka fattah voted against net neutrality. shocking.
[...] I mentioned this morning that Sen. Hillary Clinton was booed for saying she did not support setting a firm date on withdrawal from Iraq. I was sitting on the opposite side of the ballroom as the boo-ers and didn’t see anything amiss, although I heard at lunch that some of the boo-ers were escorted from the hall by security. [...]
I can forgive the fact that she made the stupid decision to vote in favor of giving Bush a blank check to go to war.
I can even forgive the fact that she still feels she made the right decision to give him that power, at the time, knowing only what she knew, at the time.
I can’t forgive the fact that, knowing what she knows NOW, she refuses to admit that this Iraq adventure was a collosal error.
And I can’t forgive the fact that she has absolutely no plan to get troops the hell out of there.