It's just more of the same old, same old.

Glenn said: Because the McCain campaign's ejection of a dissenter was at a private campaign event rather than a publicly-funded speech, many of the legal and Constitutional issues that rendered Bush's similar behavior illegal are likely inapplicable.

Do the legal and Constitutional issues change when the venue is a public space such as a park? Of course, I can imagine that the campaign would go through the motions of "leasing" the park for their "private" event, but does that really allow the campaign to remove people from a venue such as a public park?

What continues to mystify me about this whole Denver episode is how the McCain campaign treats a "McCain = Bush" sign as an instance of dangerous dissent.

I wonder if it would have made a difference to add an exclamation point.

Do the legal and Constitutional issues change when the venue is a public space such as a park?

Potentially. There aren't really First Amendment issues applicable to private events, which is normally what a campaign event is. It's not taxpayer-funded. But billing it as being "open to the public" could raise other legal issues, though not Constitutional ones.

The point is more that the spirit of the conduct -- the underlying mentality -- is the same, as are the bad actors responsible.

and they should hire more of these guys - We need McCains popularity to be down, down, down!

If it weren't for the illegal and heavy handed tactics, many of the protesters would get no news coverage at all. Wouldn't it be better if they kept it up?

I'm a little pissed at the taxpayer having to shell out $80K settlements when the bill should go to the RNC, but I don't begrudge the plaintiffs one dime. Actually, we should make hundreds of plaintiffs, and when the total taxpayer tab hits $5M or so some of the diehard Republican voters might notice something is wrong here.

Thank the world for 60 year old librarians. Reminds me of my mother, who if she were alive would be right there with her.

That a sign reading "McCain=Bus" is automatically interpreted as anti-McCain.

A general question: By what criteria, and under what circumstances, are people allowed to be "culled" in this fashion?

Certainly at private events, they can do what they want. But a public Town Hall meeting? Hmmm.

Do the availablity of seats, or indoor vs. outdoor, the owner of the venue, the sponsors of the event...Do any of these things come into play?

I'm thinking there must be some blanket CYA phrase somewhere that allows them to pull out anyone the want.

Anyone, any thoughts?

There you have it. McCain = Bush in underlying mentality

The librarian lady was removed for holding a sign saying, McCain = Bush. Glenn's post is more confirmation that she and her sign were exactly accurate about that.

How does the public property vs private property issue work with respect to public vs private events? If an event is held on public property (say, in a city building), people are allowed to mill about (with or without protest signs) so long as they don't impede access to that building, no? Are police officers allowed to remove people from a building if they're non-disruptive, simply because they're protesting in some way? Seems a fairly fuzzy area, but my Constitutional law history understanding is pretty limited. Any thoughts?

Howard Fineman, of all people lets us in on the secret:

"We’ve long since documented the desperate lengths that John McCain is willing to go to win the office of the Presidency, even to the point of hiring the same people responsible for those whisper campaigns in 2000 that he might be a little off his rocker from his years as a POW and that he fathered an illegitimate black baby. Chris Matthews seems a little surprised that John McCain is actually seeking to win the election. Not sure what Chris thinks McCain’s been doing for the last 18 months, but it’s Howard Fineman who gives the real answer to the $64,000 question. The White House wants McCain to win because they know there would be no accountability for all their criminal acts with another Republican in office."

Excellent video courtesy of Crooks and Liars, click the signature.

Does the Obama Campaign, regularly, religiously restrict its campaign events to "invitees," meaning supporters of BHO? Well, yes:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-7663625,00.html

Does the Obama Campaign practice "stagecraft," for instance barring hijab-wearing Muslim teenagers from photo-ops so as to distance Obama from any Muslim imagery? (Barack Hussein is NOT a Muslim! Please remember that, alright?) Again, the answer is "affirmative," and we ain't talking about affirmative action:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080618/POLITICS01/806180427

There is every good reason to calculate (to the very limited extent that any such "calculation" can be made), that in Campaign '08, John McCain's campaign events have been more open that the Obama events.

But will they get those damned kids off his lawn?

Whatever you think of McCain's views on issues, it is baffling to see his political transformation. He was probably never the "maverick" the press made him out to be, but he was clearly different than Bush in style and tactics. The only conclusion that I can reach is that he saw how a candidate and President with as many flaws as Bush still managed to win reelection in 2004 and concluded that if those tactics could propel Bush to victory in 2004, surely they can get McCain elected in 2008. Only time will tell if he was indeed correct.

I'm thinking there must be some blanket CYA phrase somewhere that allows them to pull out anyone the want.

Anyone, any thoughts?

-- bignose

Apparently not.

One of the lawsuits brought against Jenkins -- Rank v. Jenkins, brought by the ACLU on behalf of two Texas citizens who "were arrested for trespassing, handcuffed, and hauled away in a police van" on the West Virginia State Capitol ground when trying to attend a Bush July 4 speech wearing anti-war and anti-Bush t-shirts -- ended with a settlement under which the Government paid them $80,000.--GlennGreenwald