In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
It has come to this
Criticizing Cheney to His Face Is Assault?Howards says he was taking two of his kids to their Suzuki piano camp in Beaver Creek, Colorado. They were walking across the outdoor public mall area when all of a sudden he saw Cheney there.Now assault is the threat of violence, not the actual act.
"I didn't even know he was in town," Howards says. "He was walking through the area shaking hands. Initially, I walked past him. Then I said to myself, 'I can't in good conscience let this opportunity pass by.' So I approached him, I got about two feet away, and I said in a very calm tone of voice, 'Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible.' And then I walked away."
...
"About ten minutes later, I came back through the mall with my eight-year-old son in tow," Howards recalls, "and this Secret Service man came out of the shadows, and his exact words were, 'Did you assault the Vice President?'"
Here's how Howards says he responded: "No, but I did tell Mr. Cheney the way I felt about the war in Iraq, and if Mr. Cheney wants to be shielded from public criticism, he should avoid public places. If exercising my constitutional rights to free speech is against the law, then you should arrest me."
Which is just what the agent, Virgil D. "Gus" Reichle Jr, proceeded to do.
"He grabbed me and cuffed my hands behind my back in the presence of my eight-year-old son and told me I was being charged with assault of the Vice President," Howards recalls.
He says he told the agent, "I can't abandon my eight-year-old son in a public mall."
According to Howards, Reichle responded: "We'll call Social Services." Before that could happen, however, "my son ran away and found my wife," who was nearby, Howards says.
Now Howards had confronted Cheney with a an opinionated statement that could make one draw the conclusion that Howards wasn't one of the typical devoted followers he usually allows himself to see. Howards could therefore be potentially aware of all the abuse Cheney has perpetrated upon our country's ideals and beliefs, much less directly upon its citizens. Now anyone so informed and aware would also be logically so disgusted and angered by Cheney that slapping him and spitting on him would almost be a guaranteed action upon meeting him.
Therefore the act of an intelligent informed citizen meeting Cheney is so obviously a threat of violence that any intelligent and informed citizen who actually views Cheney in person can legitimately be arrested for assault.
Really QED for the secret service.
- rob 2:57 PM - [PermaLink] -
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