At the Obama Town Hall yesterday, we had a great deal of fun with our pals in the media by asking if they had to sign a loyalty oath to the president, as attendees to Bush/Cheney events had to for “town halls” conducted by the previous administration. And Matt Cunningham had a post in Red County chatting about some creepy Obama loyalty oath I’ve never heard of (Matt’s word, “creepy”…)
The Register’s Alan Bock continues to carry water for the Republicans by saying no such oath was required. Alan writes on the Orange Punch blog:
“(Liberals wanted me to note that nobody had to sign a loyalty oath to get in, but of course Bush didn’t require that either, though he (or his people) often pre-selected audiences, friendly questioners and those sitting close.)”
I’ve been reading about these loyalty oaths for years. A little research, Alan…maybe a correction is warranted. But let’s be honest, you guys won’t correct an item like that because some Republican in the crowd yesterday told you that the GOP didn’t have loyalty oaths and that’s always good enough. To save some time, here’s some of the stories easily found that deal with Republican loyalty oaths.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31019-2004Jul31.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2108852
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6417592/bushs_new_loyalty_oath
http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/04/edi05041.html
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13742.html#more-13742
http://crooksandliars.com/2007/11/29/again-with-gop-loyalty-oaths/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/15/145147/184
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/27/AR2007112702235_3.html
I could go on.
The there are these stories about people being removed from Bush rallies for opposing policies on the war.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4325807/detail.html
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-9923528.html
http://peaceandjustice.org/article.php/20070817143330894
I don’t believe anyone was removed from the Town Hall yesterday due to the work of the Obama administration or the Democratic Party.
What’s funny to me while watching conservatives bash Obama.
It wasn’t that long ago we were told that any criticism of a President (especially one with troops in harms way) was unpatriotic or even treasonous.
Yet we have a Chuck Norris talking about “Bubba” militias who are well armed ready to press for Texas secession and a former VP candidate who spoke to a group wanting Alaska to secede.
Yet the GOP loves them.
The idea that my colleague Alan Bock carries water for Republicans is too funny for words. Alan is a principled libertarian who dislikes both parties. I’ve covered many GOP events, including conventions and one interview (in a small group of reporters) with Dubya and was never forced to sign any sort of loyalty oath or questioned about my beliefs. (Rudy Giuliani did cancel an editorial board once he learned that I refer to him in print as Il Duce.) I’m not saying the loyalty-oath didn’t happen in other forums, but that hasn’t been my experience.
Alan is a principled libertarian who dislikes both parties.
This is code for:
I live in a dream world.
Steve — Alan is clearly in error here on loyalty oaths required by Bush and Republicans. How about a correction?