During the 2004 presidential campaign, the Bush-Cheney campaign enforced a rigorous “bubble,” which limited audiences to pre-screened sycophants, some of whom were asked to sign loyalty oaths. During Bush’s campaign to privatize Social Security, a strictly-enforced bubble was used again, ensuring that the president would only take “questions” from those who were already convinced Bush was right.
The bubble hasn’t been used quite as much recently, and in a few instances, the president has even deigned to be in the same room as people who disagree with him. Does this mean we can finally put all of the “Bubble Boy” unpleasantness behind us and celebrate the president’s new-found interest in diversity of thought? Not so much.
When school was canceled to accommodate a campaign visit by President Bush, the two 55-year-old teachers reckoned the time was ripe to voice their simmering discontent with the administration’s policies.
Christine Nelson showed up at the Cedar Rapids rally with a Kerry-Edwards button pinned on her T-shirt; Alice McCabe clutched a small, paper sign stating “No More War.” What could be more American, they thought, than mixing a little dissent with the bunting and buzz of a get-out-the-vote rally headlined by the president?
Their reward: a pair of handcuffs and a strip search at the county jail.
Local authorities said Nelson and McCabe “refused to obey reasonable security restrictions,” though that wouldn’t necessarily explain the need for a strip search. Regardless, Nelson, who teaches history and government, insisted that she was taken away because she “had a dissenting opinion.”
Given recent history, I’m inclined to believe the dissenters. After all, those enforcing Bush’s bubble don’t have a terrific track record.
* In August 2004, John Prather, a mild-mannered math professor at Ohio University, was removed by security from a presidential event on public property because he wore a shirt that promoted John Kerry.
* On July 4, 2004, Nicole and Jeff Rank were arrested at a Bush event in West Virginia for wearing T-shirts that criticized the president. (About the same time the Ranks were being taken away in handcuffs, Bush was reminding the audience, “On this 4th of July, we confirm our love of freedom, the freedom for people to speak their minds.” Gotta love irony.)
* In July 2004, Jayson Nelson, a county supervisor in Appleton, Wis., was thrown out of a presidential event because of a pro-Kerry T-shirt. An event staffer saw the shirt, snatched the VIP ticket, and called for police. “Look at his shirt! Look at his shirt!” Nelson recalled the woman telling the Ashwaubenon Public Safety officer who answered the call. Nelson said the officer told him, “You gotta go,” and sternly directed him to a Secret Service contingent that spent seven or eight minutes checking him over before ejecting him from the property.
* In October 2004, three Oregon schoolteachers were removed from a Bush event and threatened with arrest for wearing t-shirts that said “Protect Our Civil Liberties.”
* In March 2005, three Denver residents were threatened with arrest at a Bush event because one of them had an anti-war bumper sticker on their car.
* In February 2006, Cindy Sheehan was taken into custody for wearing a T-shirt that read, “2,245 Dead — How Many More?” to the State of the Union.
With that background, the idea that Christine Nelson would be taken into custody for wearing a Kerry-Edwards button pinned on her T-shirt doesn’t seem terribly far-fetched.
The good news is McCabe and Nelson are suing three unnamed Secret Service agents, the Iowa State Patrol, and two county sheriff deputies who took part in their arrest. Their suit alleges that officials violated their right to free speech, assembly, and equal protection.
I’ll let you know how the case goes, but in the meantime, let’s not forget: “The Bubble” lives on.