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An activist arrested for disrupting President Bush's Republican party nomination during last year's Republican National Convention had all charges dropped yesterday. The D.A.'s office accused June Brashares of a couple crimes, including assaulting two volunteers who hauled her out of MSG, but when jurors believed Brashares and other witnesses. According to indymedia, "One trial observer writes: 'The pathetic arguement by DA...may have disolved next to great defence summation.'" The pathetic argument being perhaps being this, as reported by the NY Times:
Ha! Comparing the Republican National Convention to a private party or show - good one.In arguing the case, Jessica Troy, the assistant district attorney, said the trial was not about politics but about a cunning woman who snuck into a private affair with the intention of provoking a nationally televised disruption. She compared Ms. Brashares's actions to interrupting a church service, a private party or a show, using the audience participation play "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding" as an analogy.
"When you go to a play and stand up and start screaming 'I hate this play, you wasted my time and money,' what do you expect to happen?" she asked. "You're going to be pulled out by the ushers."
And related: Democrats want Karl Rove to resign, after his remarks in NYC last night saying, "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding to our attackers." Oh, good grief. Mayor Bloomberg is trying not to say the words "Karl Rove" and "is stupid" in the same line, gave a bland statement ("We owe it to those we lost to keep partisan politics out of the discussion and keep alive the united spirit that came out of 9/11."), while Democratic mayoral hopefuls are criticizing Rove head-on. Mike, it's tough when you switch sides, isn't it?
Photography of Brashares and RNC volunteers from the AP
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Funny/infuriating thing is, what the conservatives refuse to address, is that New York City -- the place where the attacks happened and the people who were affected the most -- is overwhelmingly liberal. 9/11 has become such a playing card for the conservatives -- our foreign action has been done in retaliation, supposedly, to 9/11. Yet the vast majority of the people who actually live in the city where it happened oppose the conservatives' agenda, even today. I just wish they would stop using us as an excuse!
Karl Rove is a shameless scumbag. We all know that, but guess what? He knows it too, and he revels in it.
So he goes to NYC and, in front of the usual friendly, pre-screened audience, delivers shameless scumbag remarks insulting peoples (like mine) patriotism. And guess what? Everybody bites.
Just like he thought they would.
Now, instead of talking about the drift and failures of the Administration, we're talking about what a shameless scumbag he is. Meanwhile, the war goes on, gas is $3 a gallon (remember when $2 a gallon provoked outrage?), people can't afford the drugs they need to live, and Social Security is being dismantled.
Rove played us. And we fell for it. The right never lets its eyes off the prize, this is why they win.
The Bloomberg statement is well worded diplomacy. I think he's saying that both Rove and Clinton are using 9/11 as a cheap device to further their own agendas or divert attention from other issues without directly calling them on the carpet.
9/11 belongs to New Yorkers, period (and to Washington DC). These red state idiots have NO IDEA what it was like to be in New York on that fateful day. They watched it on the boob tube. We LIVED it. WE KNOW IT BEST. Hands down.
Irritated NYer,
That reminds me of something I saw in a discussion group online. Some red stater was saying that everyone should respect the opinions of the people of NYC because that's where 9/11 happened. Someone else pointed out that NYC is a very blue area and voted for Kerry. The red state guy suddenly changed his tune. Fickle little hypocrites, aren't they?
The editing or lack of editing on this site continues to amazes me. Does anyone look at the copy before it gets posted?
"Of the 1,670 cases handled by the Manhattan district attorney, 91 percent ended with the charges dismissed or with a verdict of not guilty after trial." - NY Times
Damn! That's one lousy case record. I just want to know two things: How does this compare with DA offices in other cities and how much is all this frivolous prosecution costing us taxpayers?
...
The lack of consideration by some Guests here continues to Amaze me. How rude.
Back on topic: I wonder, were the Volunteers "authorized" to assault and manhandle a private Citizen?
so, is the RNC convention not a private affair, then? i'm a bit confused.
What is that old saying....Divide and Conquer. Karl Rove is a master of that and a genius. He's also Satan but anybody who reads has picked up on that. It's the end times baby.
Yawn.
Sheesh! I don't usually even notice these things but ...
Protestor -> Protester
arguement -> argument
disolved -> dissolved
defence -> defense
Do you need help with your spellchecker?
please edit. to disrupt the article's flow is to shoot yourself in the foot. if i can't read articles smoothly, i leave.
Bush and his band of Republicans are good at bullying little people like those demonstrators who go to their events.
When it comes to any sort of planning, like in Iraq, Bush and his Republicans are total idiots, without any plan, rhyme or reason. They only succeed when they can bully, when that doesn't work, they are totally helpless idiots.
Rove and Bush are perfect directors for a place called "Never Never Land"... They are not mentally or morally fit to have any influence over the direction of the United States.
irritated, I live in NYC, was here 9/11 and you are sadly a typical elitist New Yorker when you think 9/11 belongs to NYC. Sure it happened here, but it became a national issue and even global issue. No one "owns" 9/11, so drop the bravado that NY is better than everyone else.
Do I have to remind you it was DC as the target that day too.
As for the protester arrested and charges dropped, I'm fine with that, as a Republican. Security was as justified removing her as at a wedding or a play. I'm sure the charges were a message sent that you don't just get off with a slap on the wrist. But hey, the DA's office in NYC is solidly Democratic-led, and when Captain midnight rattles off statisitics, look at Morgenthau - a Democrat.
I do love seeing every commenter inject tough language in his or her Rove remark. "Scumbag," "band of Republicans" "not mentally fit" "idiots". Feel better now?
Sure, you're fine with a frivolous case. I'm not. How many tens or hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were wasted just to "send a message" here? Multiplied by how many cases the DA's office loses or drops every year? Not to mention a heavier load on the already clogged court system.
I really don't care if Morgenthau is a Democrat. I don't discriminate when it comes to criticizing stupidity. Stop being so constrained by ideology.