Bush Approval Rating at 51%

_________________________________________________
Why should I worry that any Islamofascit would want to cut off my head.

 

GET THIS THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS

WE HAVE WON THE WAR! IN IRAQ...DO NOT DRAG

THIS INTO A QUAGMIRE...WE HAVE DEFINED VICTORY

SADDAM OVERTHROWN
ELECTIONS
GOVT
BILLIONS IN RELIEF SOME OF THAT MONEY ACCOUNTED
FOR SOME OF IT NOT(BILLIONS!)

this silliness about victory in the war in Iraq
is just that silly and keeps us wasting blood
and treasure.

We have a time table and thank God we do, we
will be drawing down soon...that timetable was
leaked for a reason..and the reason was to float
the idea to the American people.

 

[/QB][/QUOTE] It's all a coincidence isn't it. One coincident after another.Don't take off those blinders NiteShift, you might see something very revealing about the Prez that you won't like and then you will become disinchanted like the rest of us. But take heart, our side won the election. at least we have that to brag about. [/QB][/QUOTE]

I am wearing blinders? I don't think so. As I said, Pres Bush can be criticized for any number of things, but you were thumping him for things that he doesn't control. I doubt seriously if you've been 'disenchanted'. Probably you never liked Bush to begin with, and probably never would have voted for him. If I'm wearing blinders, then you have tunnel-vision.

 

ACLU: Anti-Bush Protesters Exiled to Distant Zones
Friday, September 05, 2003
By Peter Brownfeld
Washington — Supporters can stand near President Bush and loyally wave their signs, but demonstrators opposing the president's policies are exiled to protest zones (search) in isolated areas, the American Civil Liberties Union (search) has alleged in recent court filings.

Protesters across the country — from South Carolina to Missouri to Florida — have brought several cases against the Bush administration, claiming its strict rules for dissenters violate their free speech rights.

“A favorite tactic of the Bush administration has been to herd protestors at presidential appearances into ‘designated protest zones,’ out of sight of [the president's] motorcade, and to arrest people who refuse to be moved. The policy, applied only to those with dissenting views, has been used to suppress dissent nationwide,” the ACLU wrote in a May 2003 report.

The ACLU of Eastern Missouri (search) sued the Secret Service (search) and the St. Louis police to stop a protest zone from being established for the president’s Aug. 26 visit to St. Louis. The organization said during three other visits by the president to the city, protesters were relegated to designated areas far away from the scene of any action.

The local police and Secret Service acknowledged that they had planned to use a free speech zone during the president's visit, but subsequently agreed in court not to do so. Based on that concession, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Limbaugh decided not to issue a temporary restraining order.

“The government did admit that they had already set up a designated protest zone and it was going to be on the other side of the football-domed stadium, so between where the president was going to be and the protestors was a domed football stadium,” Matt LeMieux, executive director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri, told Foxnews.com.

During a Bush visit to Tampa, Fla., last November to support his brother Jeb Bush's re-election campaign for governor, police arrested three protestors for “trespassing after warning.”

A designated protest zone had been set up several hundred yards from the president. Police said the three men willfully violated the protest zone and toted their signs: “Why Do You Let These Crooks Fool You?” and “War Is Good for Business. Invest Your Sons.”

The Hillsborough County Court later dropped the charges, but the three are now suing for damages. Naming the Secret Service, the University of South Florida, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department and the Sun Dome as defendants, the suit accuses them of "excessive interference with protected speech through the establishment of ‘protest zones’ and the unlawful arrests and intimidation of plaintiffs in the exercise of presenting opposing political views at political events taking place in a public forum.”

“If your sign said, ‘We like Bush,’ you were not censored, and if your sign said, ‘We don’t like Bush,’ you were relegated to the free speech zone,” Luke Lirot, the plaintiffs' attorney, told Foxnews.com.

Lirot rejected the argument that the distinction was made for security reasons, saying that if someone wanted to do harm to the president, he or she would not carry an anti-Bush sign, but would do whatever it took to get as close as possible.

ACLU lawyer Chris Hansen, who has tracked speech zone cases, said the use of protest zones is not a phenomenon unique to the Bush administration.

This is "a problem that has existed with all administrations. It is true of all administrations," Hansen said.

But Lirot said he believes the Bush administration has been much more proactive than previous administrations in keeping protestors away from the president.

“I think it’s become far worse with this president. I know [protest zones] have been around for a while ... but these days, it is so clear that the message of dissent is being censored,” he said.

The Secret Service rejected the notion that it enforces the law selectively based on protestors’ views and denied involvement in establishing protest zones.

“The decisions that the Secret Service makes are based on security considerations. The establishment in oversight of public viewing areas is the responsibility of state and local authorities,” Secret Service spokesman John Gill told Foxnews.com.

Local police, however, have said they acted under orders from the Secret Service when setting up protest zones.

A spokesman for the University of South Florida Police Department said that the USFPD established the zone, but worked with the Secret Service on the details and received final approval from that agency.

“My strong impression is that the Secret Service is the ultimate decision maker. Most local police are deferential to whatever the Secret Service wants. Demonstrators are very frequently told [by local police] this is what the Secret Service wants us to do,” Hansen said.

The USFPD spokesman indicated that the zone was established for all individuals speaking out and not just for the president's critics.

LeMieux said regardless of whether or not the zones are meant to keep protesters farther away from the president than supporters, the Missouri court's decision was meant to make sure free speech is guaranteed to all.

“Whether you supported or opposed the president, you were finally treated the same,” he said.

 

Anti-Clinton demonstrators were routinely kept behind fences in designated areas. Pro-Life protesters are usually penned up and kept off to the side of pro-abortion marchers. It is the way that law-enforcement officials prevent full-scale riots.

 

At this point, between elections, I'm not sure what a presidential job approval poll actually measures, or how accurate it might be.

The original source for this thread was a poll by Rassmussen, which tends to be conservatively biased because its commercial subscribers tend to be conservative. Likewise, Zogby tends to have a bit of a liberal bias, because its commercial subscribers tend to be liberal. Zogby has his job approval at 40% as of today. The other major national poll, Gallup, doesn't let you see the analysis of the numbers unless you pay the money and subscribe. The Associated Press quoted Gallup yesterday, showing a 41 percent approval rating, unchanged for almost a month.

Ultimately, he's a lame duck who doesn't have to watch the polls as much anymore. Perhaps, in this second term, without him having to run for re-election, he will actually do something.

 

QUOTE]Originally posted by NiteShift:
Anti-Clinton demonstrators were routinely kept behind fences in designated areas. Pro-Life protesters are usually penned up and kept off to the side of pro-abortion marchers. It is the way that law-enforcement officials prevent full-scale riots. [/QUOTE]

You are probably correct on this one NiteShift, That is the nature of politics to always show your good side. Do you have any links realating to your statement

 

-----------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Rocko9:
You are probably correct on this one NiteShift, That is the nature of politics to always show your good side. Do you have any links realating to your statement
-----------------------------------------------
At the moment all I have is this;
At a Clinton rally in Colorado, 2000
Police kept protesters behind waist-high barricades in a large area near the convention center driveway. There was little interaction with those lining up to see the president in the morning.

At a pro-abortion rally in DC, 2004
U.S. Park Police arrested 16 protesters from the Christian Defense Coalition for demonstrating without a permit near the intersection of 14th Street and Madison Drive at about 3 p.m.
Sgt. Scott Fear said that the group had permission to demonstrate along Pennsylvania Avenue but moved into an area designated for the March for Women's Lives.

Probably lots of links around if I searched, but I am mostly going by what I've read in the news. But you are right, that is the nature of politics and it is the nature of law enforcement types to keep things managable.

 

Gas price is not the fault of the president. Any president. It wasn't Clinton's fault. It wasn't Reagan's and it's not Bush's.

OPEC (located in the middle east) charges what they want. They choose what to charge the gas stations.

 

This is what Bush said to Bill Clinton about
dealing with the Saudis.

Gas Prices

Mr. Bush was critical of Al Gore in the 2000 campaign for being part of “the administration that's been in charge” while the “price of gasoline has gone steadily upward.” In December 1999, in the first Republican primary debate, Mr. Bush said President Clinton “must jawbone OPEC members to lower prices.”

As gas topped a record level of $50 a barrel this week, Mr. Bush has shown no propensity to personally pressure, or “jawbone,” Mideast oil producers to increase output.

A spokesman for the president reportedly said in March that Mr. Bush will not personally lobby oil cartel leaders to change their minds.

To me that is a major flip-flop...now it seems
we hear this spin that they have no control
and that prices will probably go up..in other
words they will "do nothing" while jawboning
Clinton to do something even when oil was at
10 dollars a barrel..amazing!

Mr. Bush said Mr. Clinton should "jawbone [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] members to lower the price" and said "if in fact there is collusion amongst big oil, he ought to intercede there as well."

Well Mr. President the collision has happened
and so we wait for you to use your bully pulpit
instead you kiss the Saudi King and hold his
hand...the picture said a thousand words.