Quote Originally Posted by mrdevious
That's something that's always confused me. In the states people are supposed to have the right to assemble, then I keep seeing protestors being arrested for "illegal assembly". It's like we all have rights, as long as we ask the government's permission to excercise them.
The big difference between the U.S. and somewhere like China and North Korea is that when issues of illegal assembly come up it is more often in regards to the "where and when" that the "what".

Should we have the right to assemble and protest? Of course. No doubt about it. But what if that assembly takes place on private property? Do the prostesters' rights outweigh those of the property owners? What if the protest takes place on a major thoroughfare in a large city? Do the protesters have the right to tie up traffic, disrupting the business in the area, preventing emergency vehicles from passing through?

I hate Bush as much as any logical sane person but come on people, we need to use commen sense. The next time you want to bitch, and say we live in a police state, because some protester is forcibly removed from some pro-Bush function think about this: What if some Bush supporter decided to protest your opinion on your front lawn? How long before you forcibly removed them? Does that make you a Nazi too