Obama takes his disdain for free speech on the road.

As many of you recall, Obama’s little henchmen tried to suppress our first amendment rights when we attended the so called “unity” rally in New Hampshire. Here’s a reminder if you didn’t see it the first time:

He also doesn’t want any of us anywhere near the convention next month in Denver.  In fact, he’s gone out of his way to be more intolerant of free speech than the Republicans have.  Yes, you heard that right.  While the Democrats have conspired to cage protesters far from the sensitive eyes of superdelegates like Donna and Nancy, the Republicans have actually stepped back from the destruction of free speech in this country:

Free speech zones have been employed by both Democrats and Republicans at past political conventions. This year, however, Democrats face the embarrassing possibility that they will be the only party actually caging dissenters. Protesters at the upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver in late August will be corralled into caged “free speech zones” made of chicken wire and chain link fences which are located more than two football fields from the delegates’ entrance. Those who attempt to exercise their First Amendment rights outside this makeshift cage, which is partially obscured by trees and sculptures, will be arrested. (Ironically, protesters at this year’s Republican National Convention will not face a cage or even policemen in riot gear.)

Not only that, but Barack’s buddies in the media want to get in on the action as well.  See, they don’t want to have to be bothered with seeing protesters, much less actually reporting on the fact that they are there:

Even the news media, once considered a vital stronghold for ensuring accountability in government, is also conspiring to keep protesters out of sight and earshot. Members of the media are urging Denver officials to move the designated protest zone away from where media tents will be situated, reportedly due to concerns that loud demonstrations could disrupt broadcasts or that reporters and photographers could be doused with tear gas or pepper spray if there are confrontations between police and protesters.

In fact the City of Denver, which is controlled by a Democratic Mayor, has consistently lied about the ability of protesters to have their voices heard.  According to City Attorney David Fine:

…people in the area “will be within sight and sound of the delegates.”

Not true, say lawyers for the ACLU, who thankfully are not so drunk on the Kool-Aid as to have forgotten our basic rights as laid out in the Constitution:

“No human voice, or any other sound . . . can ever hope to reach a person at the entrance,” lawyers for the ACLU wrote in an amended complaint filed in federal court in Denver.

In fact, they appear to have placed the free-speech zone at least 2 football fields away from the Pepsi Center, and at the back, opposite of where the delegates will be entering.  I found a picture illustrating the placement of the “free-speech zone”

According to a map released by the city late last week, the protest zone will be in the southern corner of Lot A, about 700 feet from the Pepsi Center. In some places, the view of the building’s main doors is obstructed by trees and sculptures.

Thankfully the ACLU is doing its job to protect the Constitution from those who would gag us and strip us of our most cherished of rights.  They plan to fight this tooth and nail, as they did after the fiasco of the Republican Convention in Boston in 2004.  There is precedent on their side as well, as the judge in that case deemed that protesters’ first amendment rights were violated, but it was too late to make a difference then.  Maybe this time we’ll see justice prevail.  The ACLU had this to say about their lawsuit:

In a complaint filed in federal court, the ACLU is asking U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger to order the city and the Secret Service to locate the protest zone, which will be surrounded by a wire mesh fence, closer to the Pepsi Center.

Krieger has scheduled a trial for July 29 – less than a month before the convention starts – to settle that and other issues raised by the ACLU. Krieger was also asked to:

* Bar authorities from searching people entering the protest zone unless police have probable cause, or from declaring that police have the right to search anyone in the protest area.

The city has not said how it will handle searches, but Fine said Monday that, “Simply put, we are going to abide by the Constitution.”

* Allow protesters to hand out leaflets to people attending the convention who are within the secured perimeter of the Pepsi Center. The city has said this will be prohibited.

* Allow parades to pass near the Pepsi Center and at times when delegates are present.

Let’s all wish them the best of luck, and maybe send a little donation their way. 

But Obama is not content to deny Americans their free speech rights, he also wants to deny Germans theirs as well.  Funny that he feels the need to do so, since they clearly LOOOVVEE him so much.  But real progressives in Germany are not so happy with The One:

But not everyone, of course, is euphoric about the conditions under which Obama will appear in Berlin.

Those wishing to attend have been advised that signs and posters will be prohibited at the speech — a move that has come in for criticism particularly from the left. There has been speculation that the Obama camps wants to avoid pictures of Germans making anti-American statements that could hurt the candidate back home.

Obama and Co. hate free speech.  Why?  Because they know that the hype around  him is an illusion.  They have to keep him in a tight bubble lest the false portrait that his lackeys in the media have created of the “beloved agent of change” will disintegrate before their very eyes.  The polls are already showing this to be true, so they have to keep the charade up by any means necessary. It is our jobs as PUMA to tear down that facade and show the world the true face of the anti-democratic, presumptuous selectee. GO PUMA!!!!

***UPDATE*** commenter echinopsia kindly sent a link to this pic showing what a protester would look like to an SD entering the Pepsi Center: