Brent H
10-23-2007, 01:58 AM
Hillary Clinton gave a speech in downtown Seattle on October 22. There were two major groups of people who showed up to express their 1st Amendment Rights. One group consisted of Hillary Clinton supporters. They were clustered on a single street corner. The other consisted of multiple groups of Ron Paul supporters spread out over a larger area. I estimate that there were at least as many Ron Paul supporters as their were Hillary Clinton supporters. In terms of visibility, Ron Paul supporters beat Hillary Clinton supporters hands down because we had monstrous signs that dwarfed Hillary's signs.
I was informed that there were two news stations who sent people out to film Ron Paul supporters before the Hillary Clinton's supporters arrived. When I was there, a reporter from the Seattle Times came to interview Ron Paul supporters. I got his attention for a few minutes to talk to him about the monetary system in the country, and why it is inevitable that the monetary system is going to blow up and hurt everyone in the middle and lower classes. I also talked to a supporter of Hillary Clinton for about 15 minutes about the same topic. She had a slightly better understanding of the monetary system and has a husband who supports Ron Paul. She agreed that the Federal Reserve needs to be abolished. She supports Hillary Clinton because she wants affordable/free health care for everyone. I asked her how the government would pay for health care if the monetary system collapses? Her response was that it wouldn't matter because the government can always print more money!
There were a couple of negative incidents. One involved a supporter of Ron Paul who made derogatory personal comments to supporters of Hillary Clinton involving their physical appearance. I and others asked him to stop. Unfortunately, he continued this behavior for quite some time.
The second incident involved myself and a Seattle police officer. After Hillary's speech was over, people started exiting the front of the building and I suspected that Hillary was exiting from the back side of the building. So I started walking down a deserted side walk with my Ron Paul sign to get to the back of the building so I could show it to Hillary. A police officer stopped me and told me that I couldn't walk down the side walk. I asked him why, and his response was something to the effect of "because I said so". I thought that was quite interesting and asked him if there was a law or ordinance that prevented me from walking on the sidewalk. He said that "yes there is a law". I asked him to cite the law and he then responded that "I am the law". I couldn't believe my ears! I asked him if he was a law enforcement officer, or if he was an "opinion enforcement officer". I also informed him that his job was to enforce laws, and not just make them up. His response was "but I was told to not let people walk down the side walk because Hillary Clinton receives death threats". Unfortunately I didn't have a voice recorder or video recorder. I would have loved to YouTube the guy. In my opinion, this police officer demonstrates a widespread problem with "law" enforcements officers who follow orders without question, and expect citizens to also follow orders without question. This was a fairly mild violation of my civil rights, but is indicative of what happens when ordinary men put on a badge and uniform.
I encountered an individual from a group that is sympathetic to Ron Paul, but was present to educate the public on other issues unrelated to Ron Paul. After talking to this individual, I received an invitation to attend one of his group's meetings to teach them how members could change their membership from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party for the specific purpose of supporting Ron Paul.
Oops, I forgot to mention one important thing: Hillary Clinton doesn't seem to have very strong support in Seattle -- I would estimate that at the most, she drew about 100 - 200 people to her speech. In comparison, Ron Paul drew about 1,500 people on September 14. Hillary Clinton's motorcade drove by the Ron Paul signs, but I don't recall seeing many Hillary Clinton supporters among the crowd of Ron Paul supporters.
I was informed that there were two news stations who sent people out to film Ron Paul supporters before the Hillary Clinton's supporters arrived. When I was there, a reporter from the Seattle Times came to interview Ron Paul supporters. I got his attention for a few minutes to talk to him about the monetary system in the country, and why it is inevitable that the monetary system is going to blow up and hurt everyone in the middle and lower classes. I also talked to a supporter of Hillary Clinton for about 15 minutes about the same topic. She had a slightly better understanding of the monetary system and has a husband who supports Ron Paul. She agreed that the Federal Reserve needs to be abolished. She supports Hillary Clinton because she wants affordable/free health care for everyone. I asked her how the government would pay for health care if the monetary system collapses? Her response was that it wouldn't matter because the government can always print more money!
There were a couple of negative incidents. One involved a supporter of Ron Paul who made derogatory personal comments to supporters of Hillary Clinton involving their physical appearance. I and others asked him to stop. Unfortunately, he continued this behavior for quite some time.
The second incident involved myself and a Seattle police officer. After Hillary's speech was over, people started exiting the front of the building and I suspected that Hillary was exiting from the back side of the building. So I started walking down a deserted side walk with my Ron Paul sign to get to the back of the building so I could show it to Hillary. A police officer stopped me and told me that I couldn't walk down the side walk. I asked him why, and his response was something to the effect of "because I said so". I thought that was quite interesting and asked him if there was a law or ordinance that prevented me from walking on the sidewalk. He said that "yes there is a law". I asked him to cite the law and he then responded that "I am the law". I couldn't believe my ears! I asked him if he was a law enforcement officer, or if he was an "opinion enforcement officer". I also informed him that his job was to enforce laws, and not just make them up. His response was "but I was told to not let people walk down the side walk because Hillary Clinton receives death threats". Unfortunately I didn't have a voice recorder or video recorder. I would have loved to YouTube the guy. In my opinion, this police officer demonstrates a widespread problem with "law" enforcements officers who follow orders without question, and expect citizens to also follow orders without question. This was a fairly mild violation of my civil rights, but is indicative of what happens when ordinary men put on a badge and uniform.
I encountered an individual from a group that is sympathetic to Ron Paul, but was present to educate the public on other issues unrelated to Ron Paul. After talking to this individual, I received an invitation to attend one of his group's meetings to teach them how members could change their membership from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party for the specific purpose of supporting Ron Paul.
Oops, I forgot to mention one important thing: Hillary Clinton doesn't seem to have very strong support in Seattle -- I would estimate that at the most, she drew about 100 - 200 people to her speech. In comparison, Ron Paul drew about 1,500 people on September 14. Hillary Clinton's motorcade drove by the Ron Paul signs, but I don't recall seeing many Hillary Clinton supporters among the crowd of Ron Paul supporters.