On Feb. 2, in his State of the Union address, Bush told the nation he “will listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer” on changing Social Security, and pledged to move ahead with his initiative with “courage and honesty.”
Less than 24 hours later, the president was in North Dakota, presumably to pressure the state’s Dem senators, blocking certain citizens from even hearing his Social Security pitch.
The Fargo Forum reported that a city commissioner, a liberal radio producer, a deputy Democratic campaign manager and a number of university professors were among more than 40 area residents who were barred from attending the Bush event. Their names were on a list supplied to workers at two ticket distribution sites.
The “Bush blacklist” is “frightening,” Tom Athans, chief executive of Democracy Radio, said after learning that a producer for the liberal “Ed Schultz Show” was among those barred. “To blacklist a local citizen because he produces a radio program at odds with the political agenda of the White House is dangerous for democracy.”
Athans apparently isn’t the only one who thinks so. According to a tip from my friend A.Y., lingering frustration over the Bush blacklist controversy has led to a call for a federal investigation.
North Dakota’s congressional delegation has formally requested an investigation into the do-not-admit lists designed to keep people out of President Bush’s Social Security speeches.
Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Secretary of the Treasury John Snow on Friday asking them to investigate the development and distribution of the black lists, including one that surfaced in Fargo.
More than 40 residents were on the list for Bush’s Feb. 3 speech at North Dakota State University. Similar incidents have been reported in Denver and Tucson, Ariz.
“These activities have no place in a free society, and would appear, at least on the surface, to violate the law,” the letter states.
Better yet, North Dakota’s sole House rep, Earl Pomeroy (D), is seeking an explanation from an office that’s been too long ignored.
Also this week, Rep. Earl Pomeroy asked the director of presidential advance for an explanation of the lists. In his letter, Pomeroy asked Todd Beyer who was responsible for creating the Fargo list.
“I would appreciate an explanation of the procedures used to determine who can and cannot attend the President’s public events,” he wrote.
Good thinking. I’m not sure why more attention hasn’t been focused on the presidential advance office in the East Wing. Those guys are, after all, the team that goes to these locations, sets up security, rehearses with pre-screened sycophants, and apparently helps distribute blacklists of suspected critics. If anyone could elucidate the White House policy in dealing with these “public” events, it’s Todd Beyer — which means Karl Rove will make sure he’ll never say a word to anyone in the press or in Congress.
Regardless, it’s great to see Dems sink their teeth into Bush’s “Bubble Boy” problem. The tactics the Bush gang has been using are not only a disgrace and an insult to our political system, they also fit in perfectly with the Dems’ arguments about Republican arrogance and abuse of power. More of this, please.