Well, sometimes. In some places. Not this one:
So you thought you had the right to free speech, huh? Not in Quartzsite, Arizona you don’t. Citizen Jennifer Jones, attempting to air the City Council’s dirty laundry, got arrested for speaking at a public meeting in Quartzsite, Arizona. Police arrested her for speaking at the order of the City Council, specifically Councilman Joe Winslow, even after the Mayor defended her right to speak. Police chief Jeff Gilbert arrested Mrs Jones over Mayor Ed Foster’s objections.
Mrs Jones was exercising her right as a citizen to speak at a City Council meeting, and she had the floor. Councilman Winslow shut her down by passing a motion to have her shut down, which in and of itself is a violation as motions can’t be passed while a recognized speaker has the floor.
Jennifer Jones is given the floor at a city council meeting open to the public. While she is speaking the council realizes she’s about to air their dirty laundry and quickly beckons their henchman to cart her off.
Do state attorneys general do anything to protect citizens in these cases anymore, or has the police state gotten that advanced?
Nice little representative democratic republic we had here.
Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin,
“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Looks to be a tad under/over 200 years we kept the democratic part. Can a Oligarchic Kleptocratic Republic exist???
(I’m thinking it began breaking down with Reagan, but that may be a bit unfair. But absolutely our ability to govern ourselves has broken down since the turn of the 21st Century. Credit must be given to the Supreme Five who installed Bush.
We are now viewed by outsiders as becoming an ungovernable state — which must be terrifying to those looking on as we are also still the most heavily armed and fearsome military in the world — and they have so little power to control us. Repubs have worked hard to reach this state of affairs in our Federal government, are making huge inroads this year in destroying political stability in the state governments with the Extra Strength Conservative Whackjob Crazy R governors, and within some of those states are doing away with democratic rule in municipalities and counties.)
I’ve been looking, and looking and haven’t seen where the protest will be, or where the ACLU will help her sue the police chief into poverty. So, where do I show up?
I have no idea if I agree with her views, but she was clearly within her rights at that meeting and the police clearly overstepped their authority. So when does everyone stop bitching and saying “oh, that’s a shame” and bloody well do something about it. A few thousand people on that commisioner’s street might actually have an effect (no, not on his lawn, that’s his property, the street is everyone’s).