Laura Bush heckled during speech

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-09-17 10:42am

Laura Bush heckled during campaign speech
Friday, September 17, 2004 Posted: 5:15 AM EDT (0915 GMT)

HAMILTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq was arrested Thursday after interrupting a campaign speech by first lady Laura Bush. As police hauled her away, she shouted, "Police brutality."

Wearing a T-shirt with the message "President Bush You Killed My Son," Sue Niederer of nearby Hopewell screamed questions at the first lady as the audience tried to drown her out by chanting, "Four more years! Four more years!"

She pressed on, refused to leave and eventually police removed her from the firehouse rally.

The first lady finished her speech, praising the administration's achievements in the war on terror and the economy.

Outside, Niederer said she wanted to ask Laura Bush "Why the senators, the legislators, the congressmen, why aren't their children serving?"

She went on to blame the president for the death of her 24-year-old son, Army First Lieutenant Seth Dvorin. He was killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb that exploded on him.

"My son was in the Army, and he was killed February third this year," she said.

As the Hamilton police and Secret Service agents surrounded her and reporters pressed her with questions, she held her ground, claiming "I had my ticket" to attend the speech by the first lady.

Police subsequently handcuffed her and she was led away to a nearby van. As she was escorted, she repeatedly shouted "Police brutality" and demanded to know her rights and the charges.

Later, she was charged with defiant trespass and released.

Since her son's death, the bereaved mother has spoken out repeatedly against the ongoing Iraq conflict. She is active in an anti-war protest group, Military Families Speak Out.

The Pittsburgh Independent Media Center reports she recently participated in demonstrations around the Republican National Convention in New York.

In March, The Toronto Star placed her outside Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. where many of the wounded soldiers are treated; Dover Air Force base where soldier remains arrive; and shouting at Secretary of State Colin Powell's motorcade after a speech at Princeton University.

Neither the Bush campaign nor the Hamilton Police would comment on the incident.

Gee, I hope Laura's feelings weren't hurt by this display. The whole praising the war aspect rarely mentions the cost inflicted in lives and blood and when it is referred to it's always in the most whitewashed ra-ra terms. Here was real pain, real anguish, real anger.

I despised Hillary Clinton for her naked ambition and just plain bitchiness, I'm starting to not like this woman because I feel that midwestern vacant smile of hers is just a nice little front. No mistaking why she's stumping for Bush, she polls better than he does.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-09-17 10:55am

That "four more years" chant is getting extremely eerie.

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2004-09-17 10:57am

I hate the idiots who say the Governments children should serve in the military. The military has always BEEN an arm of the Government. They chose to sign up, they chose to serve, they know they may get sent any damn place in the world.

But I am constently growing more and more alarmed at how the POLICE are arresting and draging people off for holding a different political opinion at a public event....

Fire Fly · Post by **Fire Fly** » 2004-09-17 11:02am

Honestly, I don't think the war supporters even give a shit about those who are killed and I don't mean those in the Bush administration, I mean the average person who supports the war and supports President Bush. Sure you can have all the vigils and all the pretty words but they won't look at the human face of the war, let alone at the face of a mother who has lost her son. When these mothers try to express their anger and their grief, instead, they are drown out and scorned. "They did their duty as an American," ""they made the ultimate sacrifice," "blah blah blah blah."

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2004-09-17 11:05am

HemlockGrey wrote:That "four more years" chant is getting extremely eerie.

You mean something along the lines of "Sieg Heil!" ? Certainly felt that way watching the RNC.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-09-17 11:07am

Stravo wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:That "four more years" chant is getting extremely eerie.
You mean something along the lines of "Sieg Heil!" ? Certainly felt that way watching the RNC.

May as well have been Heil Bush.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2004-09-17 11:08am

She wasn't removed because of her shirt like the folks in WV were. She was removed because she was actively disrupting the speech and refused to stop when asked to do so.

While she's a sympathetic person because of what happened to her son, that still doesn't give her or anyone else the right to exercise the 'Heckler's Veto' without consequence.

I feel sorry for her over her son, but she was begging to get arrested and the police obliged. 'Brutality' my ass.

BTW, would anyone have a different opinion if it was a Teresa Heinz-Kerry speech and it was a Swift Boat vet screaming out questions about Kerry's 'lies'?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-09-17 11:11am

Glocksman wrote:She wasn't removed because of her shirt like the folks in WV were. She was removed because she was actively disrupting the speech and refused to stop when asked to do so.

I saw it on video. She was taken outside where she continued to talk to reporters, and then she was HANDCUFFED AND THROWN IN A POLICE VAN. How could she be continuing to disrupt the speech from outside? Why throw her in the police van?

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2004-09-17 11:13am

Darth Wong wrote:
Glocksman wrote:She wasn't removed because of her shirt like the folks in WV were. She was removed because she was actively disrupting the speech and refused to stop when asked to do so.
I saw it on video. She was taken outside where she continued to talk to reporters, and then she was HANDCUFFED AND THROWN IN A POLICE VAN. How could she be continuing to disrupt the speech from outside? Why throw her in the police van?

To be taken down to the station in order to be booked and charged.

Later, she was charged with defiant trespass and released.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-09-17 11:26am

Charged with what? Is heckling a political figure a criminal offense?

Wired_Grenadier · Post by **Wired_Grenadier** » 2004-09-17 11:38am

Gandalf wrote:
Stravo wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:That "four more years" chant is getting extremely eerie.
You mean something along the lines of "Sieg Heil!" ? Certainly felt that way watching the RNC.
May as well have been Heil Bush.

Nah, sounds shitty.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2004-09-17 11:40am

No, but 'defiant tresspass' is.

She wasn't asked to leave until she refused to quit heckling. Once you're asked to leave by someone who has the authority to make the request, you either leave or run the risk of being arrested for defiant tresspassing.

I have little patience with hecklers no matter what their motivation is. And yes, I'd feel the exact same way if it was Heinz-Kerry being heckled.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-09-17 11:41am

Fire Fly wrote:Honestly, I don't think the war supporters even give a shit about those who are killed and I don't mean those in the Bush administration, I mean the average person who supports the war and supports President Bush. Sure you can have all the vigils and all the pretty words but they won't look at the human face of the war, let alone at the face of a mother who has lost her son. When these mothers try to express their anger and their grief, instead, they are drown out and scorned. "They did their duty as an American," ""they made the ultimate sacrifice," "blah blah blah blah."

It's not so much the average Bush supporter that bothers me. It's Bush himself. He can't put a human face on war. So he has no problems throwing soldiers into the meat grinder to settle a decade-old score with a tin-pot dictator.

Talon Karrde · Post by **Talon Karrde** » 2004-09-17 02:59pm

HemlockGrey wrote:That "four more years" chant is getting extremely eerie.

So are the hecklers who seem to get a high off of sneaking into party events and attempting to disrupt them.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2004-09-17 03:32pm

Talon Karrde wrote:So are the hecklers who seem to get a high off of sneaking into party events and attempting to disrupt them.

Hey. You've been here quite a while and yet I have almost no idea who you are. Mind telling me why you throw yourself into the bullet EVERY time the GOP takes fire? We have conservatives here, but very few morons who will defend Bush and the Right at EVERY turn.

Furthermore, you really think a woman enraged about her son dying in a useless war is more eerie than knee-jerk warhawks who care nothing about lives, only their own facist ideals?

Talon Karrde · Post by **Talon Karrde** » 2004-09-17 03:35pm

Lazy Raptor wrote:
Talon Karrde wrote:So are the hecklers who seem to get a high off of sneaking into party events and attempting to disrupt them.
Hey. You've been here quite a while and yet I have almost no idea who you are. Mind telling me why you throw yourself into the bullet EVERY time the GOP takes fire? We have conservatives here, but very few morons who will defend Bush and the Right at EVERY turn.

Furthermore, you really think a woman enraged about her son dying in a useless war is more eerie than knee-jerk warhawks who care nothing about lives, only their own facist ideals?

First off, democrats do the same thing here. You just don't notice their knee-jerk reactions protecting Kerry because of the numbers of liberals here.

In reference to your second question, that's your opinion, that Bush is running a facist regime. I dare say that's not probably mainstream opinion. Yes, her son died. Yes, we are sorry for her. But her son signed up to go enter the military, and sorry, when you enter the military, you might just have to fight. It IS part of the job description.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-09-17 03:45pm

Talon Karrde wrote:First off, democrats do the same thing here. You just don't notice their knee-jerk reactions protecting Kerry because of the numbers of liberals here.

I like the way you assume that anyone who dislikes Bush or disagrees with some of the more obviously partisan attacks on Kerry must be a Democrat. I also like the way you employ this knee-jerk "you do it too!" retort without bothering to provide examples; who around here has not conceded at some point that Kerry is a spineless twat?

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2004-09-17 03:46pm

Talon Karrde wrote:First off, democrats do the same thing here. You just don't notice their knee-jerk reactions protecting Kerry because of the numbers of liberals here.

Bullshit. Maybe you can't see how going "your wounds were not bad enough, and you didn't get shot at enough, even though we can't sucessfully prove legitimate service on the part of our candidate" is very stupid, and pointing out the obvious is very hardly a "knee-jerk defense" which you so graciously admitted to doing.

Furthermore, this board is NOT a giant Kerry wankfest, I won't use up fingers counting those who genuinely think Kerry would be a good President, and merely better than the status quo.

In reference to your second question, that's your opinion, that Bush is running a facist regime. I dare say that's not probably mainstream opinion. Yes, her son died. Yes, we are sorry for her. But her son signed up to go enter the military, and sorry, when you enter the military, you might just have to fight. It IS part of the job description.

Bullshit, don't attempt to tell me what the job description is. I've taken the fucking oath. You swear to defend the CONSTITUTION of the United States against ALL ENEMIES foreign AND domestic. DEFENSE of the nation does not involve getting thrown into any bullshit conflict your Chimp in Chief gets half a mind of starting. The military is not there to fight any fight. It is there for a very specific purpose, and a misguided, bungled invasion is not in the criteria.

Remember, you think that a very distrought woman is just as scary as an audience apparently unmoved by this. Step back and think about that for just a second.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-09-17 04:11pm

Karrde, we don't see the protesters at Kerry's rallys lead away in handcuffs and charged. Take those partisan-colored glasses off and look at the whole picture for once.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-17 04:16pm

Talon Karrde wrote:In reference to your second question, that's your opinion, that Bush is running a facist regime. I dare say that's not probably mainstream opinion. Yes, her son died. Yes, we are sorry for her. But her son signed up to go enter the military, and sorry, when you enter the military, you might just have to fight. It IS part of the job description.

That does not remove his mother's right to feel that her son died in a useless and wrong, and illegal (as Kofi Annan pointed out today) war. Or to place the responsibility for that war at the feet of those who pushed for it.

Fire Fly · Post by **Fire Fly** » 2004-09-17 06:19pm

One of the key difference between a Democrat and a Republican in this day an age is that Democrats are willing to crtitize their own people. For some reason, a good portion of them aren't very good at dancing to the tunes of rhetoric. However, a good many of your average Republican seem to make excellent human shields and are incapable of criticising the Republican leadership.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-09-17 09:30pm

I see the police in NJ have dropped the charges against the woman. I hope she heckles Laura Bush again!

Here's what she should say:

"My son is dead because of the lies of George W. Bush. He is just as dead as the young man Laura Bush killed when she ran a stop sign. Why do members of the Bush family bump off so many young men through their recklessness? Have they no shame or remorse?"

Demagogic as hell, but true!

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2004-09-17 09:38pm

Iceberg wrote:That does not remove his mother's right to feel that her son died in a useless and wrong, and illegal (as Kofi Annan pointed out today) war. Or to place the responsibility for that war at the feet of those who pushed for it.

I've no sympathy for this woman pimping her son's sacrifice so she could make a "statement". Unless her son was tied up and dragged off to be conscripted against his will. Like it or not, this is NO DIFFERENT from using 9-11 as a vollyball all over the RNC.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-09-17 09:39pm

Fire Fly wrote:One of the key difference between a Democrat and a Republican in this day an age is that Democrats are willing to crtitize their own people. For some reason, a good portion of them aren't very good at dancing to the tunes of rhetoric. However, a good many of your average Republican seem to make excellent human shields and are incapable of criticising the Republican leadership.

I'm a registered Republican and I rip Bush all the time. The Republicans look like they're marching in lockstep because they're better organized and they keep the dissent internal. But there are plenty, especially fiscal conservatives and small "l" libertarians, who can't stand Bush. Don't assume Republicans are drones because Karl Rove puts on a good show and morons like Talon Karride take a bullet for the president every time anyone says something bad about him.

And don't even kid yourself into thinking there aren't Democratic zombies who'd defend John Kerry if he ate a live baby on Meet the Press. That's been a feature of American political life since the party structure solidified.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2004-09-17 11:11pm

Lord Poe wrote:
Iceberg wrote:That does not remove his mother's right to feel that her son died in a useless and wrong, and illegal (as Kofi Annan pointed out today) war. Or to place the responsibility for that war at the feet of those who pushed for it.
I've no sympathy for this woman pimping her son's sacrifice so she could make a "statement". Unless her son was tied up and dragged off to be conscripted against his will. Like it or not, this is NO DIFFERENT from using 9-11 as a vollyball all over the RNC.

And? Hypocrisy is the primary defining trait of electoral politics. Fuck "playing fair."