Give me a break...
A City Commission candidate decided to do a little politicking at the Riverfest last weekend. His efforts, though, were stymied by City officials who claimed he had to pay a $75.00 fee in order to wander around the event and pass out his campaign literature.
Their justification? Safety.
Give me a break. Please explain to me how imposing a tax on someone for exercising his or her free speech rights makes an event more or less safe.
I think that somewhere, someone along the line in this country decided it would be a good idea if people are allowed to express their viewpoints. I also think that political speech is what they had in mind more than anything else. Oh yeah, it's called the First Amendment.
I can understand regulating speech in some locations. In other words, it is reasonable to say that you cannot pack 750 people into the Civic Center to protest something, or that you can't protest anywhere you want in the airport or at Great Falls High.
But this is a public park during a public event. You're talking about 1 or 2 guys walking around through throngs of people passing out flyers and saying hello.
Give me a break.
3 comments:
Gilko sounds like a stooge. The article says he's been on the job since 1980... that sounds about right.
Whew...I am SO GLAD that he was prevented from handing out those flyers -- good lord, someone could have gotten a paper cut!
Cripes.
Hard to believe that any public official would have the chutzpah to pull this kind of stunt.
To threaten a candidate--a lawyer no less--with imprisonment for speaking in a public park is inexcusable. Whoever did this should be fired.
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