Freedom of Speech Under Fire at Yankee Stadium; Fan Ejected for Bathroom Break During 'God Bless America'

Yes, you read the headline correctly... Can you believe that a man was ejected from Yankee Stadium for trying to use the bathroom during the "God Bless America" 7th inning stretch! When it comes to civil liberties in this country it seems like our rights are being taken away day by day. Here's the scoop from WCBSTV:

During the patriotic 7th inning stretch at Yankee Stadium, nature called on Bradford Campeau-Laurion. When he tried to leave his seat during the traditional singing of God Bless America, however, he says he was stopped by a NYPD officer who said he'd have to wait until the song was done.

"I then said to him, 'I don't care about God Bless America. I just need to use the bathroom.' As soon as I said that, he immediately pinned my arm behind my back," Campeau-Laurion told CBS 2.

The 29-year-old says two officers pinned both of his arms behind his back and ejected him from the stadium.

"He shoved me out the front gate and told me get out of their country if I didn't like it," he said.

The NYPD version contradicts Campeau-Laurion's version saying:

"The officers observed a male standing on his seat, cursing, using inappropriate language and acting in a disorderly manner while reeking of alcohol, and decided to eject him rather than subject others to his offensive behavior.

When told the NYPD version of events here is what a friend attending the game with Campeau-Laurion said:

"That's ridiculous," said the fan, who asked not to be identified. "That's completely false."

The Yankees have a rule restricting movement in the stands during the playing of God Bless America. The rule is enforced by ushers, stadium security and the NYPD. Here is what the NYCLU had to say about that:

"Because they are enforcing a rule of that imposes political correctness through refusing to let somebody go to bathroom while a patriotic song is playing, that violates Constitutional rights," said Donna Lieberman, a spokesperson for the NYCLU.

The New York Yankees and New York Mets started playing "God Bless America" during the "7th inning stretch" after 9/11, and I've always that was ridiculous and went too far. The Mets have been lenient about playing it by only doing it once in a while, but the Yankees have always been very strict about it. I've always had a problem with the playing of 'God Bless America', because I don't think that should be played during sports games. The 'Star Spangled Banner' is the national anthem, and NOT 'God Bless America' so that should be the only song being played. I've never been to a Mets or Yankees game where an incident like this happened, but I've always felt that it was a very tense atmosphere at Yankee Stadium and something like this could happen so I'm not entirely surprised.

Campeau-Laurion hasn't decided whether to seek legal action. I'll keep you updated if he does. This could get interesting.

Remember, "Dissent is Patriotic".

Dre

McCain Picks Gov. Palin for VP; Dems, Be Careful What You Wish For

So the news came down yesterday that Sen. John McCain picked Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate. This selection has caused many so called "political analysts" to scratch their heads as to why she was picked, but the most surprising and startling reaction that I have seen has come from Democratic voters supporting Barack Obama and Joe Biden that are laughing off the choice as if the election in November is a guaranteed victory now.

Many Democrats have chosen the lack of experience in foreign policy argument against Gov. Palin saying that if John McCain died of cancer she would have to replace him. I found it really unfortunate that rather the Democrats talk about her record they are focusing their attention on a grim circumstance that quite frankly should not be talked about in the manner the Democrats are doing. Obama spokesman Bill Burton released the following statement criticizing the pick:

Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same.

Personally, I think there's no place for rhetoric like "heartbeat away from the presidency" in politics. They could have said that in a more civilized manner. Sure McCain is old, but do they have some intelligence that McCain is DEFINITELY going to die within the next 4 years? Because of this rhetoric the debate turned into "Biden vs Palin" as commander & chief without focusing on Palin's record in politics as Governor in Alaska.

So while Democrats on various liberal blogs were welcoming the choice of Palin yesterday by gloating with confidence that they "had the election in the bag" they ignored the real reasons why she was picked. First of all, it was no secret that John McCain was not well liked among social conservatives, and this pick immediately fixes that. Second of all, this is a pick of John McCain tapping a Republican for the future that is a true conservative. Republicans will eat that up. Thirdly, Palin has a family story that can appeal to many voters.

Lastly, and the most controversial reason for picking her is that Palin is woman and the first ever woman on a Republican Presidential ticket. Many Democrats are spinning this as though it's solely to try to grab disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters, but I firmly disagree. They are ignoring the fact that she is a social conservative. There's probably no doubt that the fact of appealing to disgruntled Hillary supporters was a factor, but the Democrats need to stop reacting to this pick as if they have a monopoly on picking woman Vice-Presidents. Another major factor why this pick is good is that it causes the Obama campaign to watch out how they attack her. With Sarah Palin as the VP by McCain this should give the Obama campaign concerns about a possible gaffe by Joe Biden that could offend the female voter.

It's a bit surprising that Democrats are being this ignorant in celebrating an early victory. If I were a Democrat I would not put my house on the line this election because winning Presidential elections has proven to not be in the Democratic Party' pedigree. If there's anyone that knows what happens when social conservatives turn out to vote it's the Democrats. Be careful what you wish for.

Dre

Democratic National Convention Day 4 Review

This will be a brief review of the speeches that I saw. Today I only managed to see Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech, and Al Gore's speech through YouTube due to being busy so please forgive me!

Former Vice-President Al Gore- This speech was not good. He had one good line about John McCain "recycling" Bush, but that was it. He's a very flat speaker, and after watching his speech today I can sort of understand why he "lost" in 2000. Yes he added his take on the environment, but it's really a tough watch.

Sen. Barack Obama- The crowd went nuts in Invesco Field when Obama came out, and they played this dreamy tune which fit the moment very well. This speech was masterful, and carefully crafted and delivered. It contained a lot of jabs at McCain that were unlike any other Obama speech before this. He laid out his platform, and made a great case as to why he is a better candidate than John McCain. Not only was this great, but it was memorable and reminded me how much of a piece of shit John Kerry's speech was in 2004 (I don't remember Gore's). I don't know if I can say anything else about this speech except this was something that was sorely needed for Obama to get elected, and it lived up to my expectations and exceeded them. The only downside about delivering such a great speech like this is that people will always compare every speech he does from now on to it.

Wrap Up: I can't comment on the flow or anything like that, but I'll just say Obama did what needed to be done with his speech. Invesco Field had a packed house and had the most people to ever attend a Presidential nomination. That's something. The visual from above was great along with the pyros. You could definitely sense something special within the venue. There was talk about the set with the Roman columns, but on camera you couldn't see it. The background of Obama speaking was great. The Obama definitely get's an A+ for theatrics for this speech.

Did it change my mind?
I was not supporting Obama before the speech he gave, and--I'm still not supporting him. As I stated above Obama laid a great case as to why he was better than McCain. I and many other progressives opposing Obama's candidacy have stated many times that Obama is better than McCain. But the question is, is Obama the BEST candidate running? The answer is simply no.

I'll explain this equation in terms of a test. If 65 is just passing, and McCain is failing then Obama is a 65-70. When you take a test do you try to "just pass" or do you try to go for the best possible score and get a 100? Obama is just not the best candidate running in the general election. I can't explain it any better than that. More on that later...

Dre

Democratic National Convention Day 3 Review

Here is a brief review of the speeches that I saw and remembered the best. I didn't see that many today so please forgive me!

The Roll Call Vote - I started watching during the beginning of the roll call vote. I've always found this process to be one of the most interesting parts of the convention. Every state gets a chance to say "We are the great state of ____ , the state that invested laziness" ...you get the point. Some of the things were interesting like New Jersey saying "home of the Superbowl Champion New York Giants". Well the stadium(Meadowlands) is, but not the team. The clerk was hilarious, and I had to ask myself if she was a long lost twin of ex-Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris because she sure looked like it.

The roll call vote got interesting when Illinois chose to pass, and I thought that it was choreographed so Hillary Clinton would come out to cast the nomination clinching votes for Barack Obama later on. Partially true...Hillary actually came out motioned that the roll call vote be suspended and Obama be given the nomination by acclamation. It passed. The media did clarify that even though the vote was suspended delegates that hadn't cast their votes yet would have the chance to.

Former President Bill Clinton- Bill Clinton came out to a huge ovation with the crowd waving American flags. The crowd wouldn't stop cheering and Bill started to tell the crowd to settle down and stop. Actually at one point when he said it, it sounded like he was being irritated and wanted to get the speech over with. It wasn't a bad speech because he said all the things that needed to be said to promote Obama. I didn't think it was a great only because it didn't sound like something extra special from Bill Clinton. Just a Bill Clinton speech.

Sen. John Kerry - His speech was very interesting and ironic because he criticized John McCain for changing positions. Hmm...Does that sound like some familiar? Kerry came on the stage after(not right after) Bill Clinton, and I actually thought Kerry's was better. For someone who gaffed his way to losing to President Bush in 2004 he sounded very different, and much better.

Vice-Presidential Nominee Sen. Joe Biden - Joe Biden was introduced by his son Bo Biden (Delaware Secretary of State). Bo Biden's introduction was actually VERY GOOD he talked about Joe Biden the father, and moved many in the audience to tears. Personally I didn't think it was THAT touching, but it was a damn good introduction.

Joe Biden's speech accepting the Vice-Presidential Nomination was very good, and the best of the night from a political perspective. What he had in his speech lacked in Hillary's speech. He gave personal anecdotes about Barack Obama which was a much more effective sell than just saying "Vote for the Democrat, and Obama happens to be the Democrat this year"(summary). Biden also hit "his friend" John McCain very hard with forceful language in his normal screechy yelly exclamation point voice.

At the end of his speech Biden's wife Jill came to the stage and said she had a "surprise", and it was Barack Obama. Obama came out to a HUGE ovation, and said a few words praising the speeches given by Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden. After Obama spoke Joe Biden's extended family came on the stage, and it was a great moment for the Biden family. Unlike other family groupings on stage in other political events, you could definitely sense the close knit relationship in the Biden family.

Wrap Up: I actually saw other speeches, but I don't recall on the top of my head who they were. From what I saw it DNC Day 3 seemed to run pretty smoothly. The momentum wasn't broken with music like last Day 1, and I think they might have realized that problem. Gov. Bill Richardson was slated to speak before Joe Biden, but he never came out. Turns out they re-scheduled him for Day4. I was actually looking forward to his speech. Day 3 was probably the best day of the convention because Biden's speech had great lead-ins by Kerry, and Bill Clinton.

After Day 3 of the convention I still haven't been convinced to vote for Senator Barack Obama for President. Will Barack Obama convince me after he gives his Presidential nomination acceptance speech? We'll find out later!

Obama Campaign Blocks Haymaker from Kucinich to Bush

According to TheHill:

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who was asked by Obama to speak about the economy, was scheduled to deliver his speech Tuesday afternoon. The Obama campaign struck just one line from his speech, which slammed the Republicans and the Bush administration, according to a Democratic source.

That line, addressing Republicans, read: “They’re asking for another four years — in a just world, they’d get 10 to 20.”

Now I know the Obama campaign wants to control the message of the convention, but if this line was delivered I have no doubt in my mind that Kucinich would have gotten a standing ovation, and major headlines. It would have been the harshest thing any Democrat has said about the Bush administration. Censoring this line didn't take away the awesomeness of Kucinich' speech Tuesday, but it should worry Democrats that the Obama campaign blocked a major blow to Bush that could have helped Obama's standing among progressives at the very least.

Democratic National Convention Day 2 Review

Like the first day of the convention I didn't see everything. This is a brief review of the speeches I saw and remembered.


Governor David Paterson-I turned on the TV as he was starting to speak. His speech focused on Americans with disabilities, and took shots at McCain. The speech was delivered well considering he didn't use a teleprompter for obvious reasons. He got a huge ovation from the crowd that he deserved.

Congressional Black Caucus Tribute to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones-Members of the Congressional Black Caucus came up to the podium to pay tribute to Stephanie Tubbs Jones. After speaking they played a video package of politicians that have died. It was a great segment, but I think it should have been in a better time slot.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich - His speech was one of the best of the night. He gave a great speech on the economy, and the crowd got into it. As the camera scanned the crowd you could see some people with what I would say was a "stunned smile" as if they've never seen him before but were pleasantly surprised. With the media blackout of his campaign during the primary it's not surprising some may not know who he is. Why they gave him an early time slot is beyond me. The Democratic Party underestimates his popularity among Democrats.

Governor Brian Schweitzer- He had the slot before Hillary Clinton, and I have to admit his speech was great. I never heard of the guy before, but the speech he gave was very well crafted and whoever wrote it should be compensated well. I will say that his speech was the best written speech so far. The crowd was totally into it, and gave him a huge ovation at the end.

Senator Hillary Clinton- Now I'm gonna be extremely honest and objective here. I am not a Hillary fan and I will never vote for her, but from a political perspective this was a great speech. All of her shots against McCain were memorable. Before the speech they played a great video tribute to her, and after she came out she got a huge ovation for like 5minutes.

Now I don't know if many of you saw this, but on the C-SPAN feed during the ovation they kept showing Bill Clinton and he was near tears. At one point during the ovation they showed Bill and he was mouthing the words "I love you" several times, and I honestly think that was a great moment that not many people may have seen. The reason why it was a great moment is because people always question his loyalty towards Hillary as a husband, and I don't ever recall seeing Bill Clinton get that emotional.

I think Hillary Clinton said everything she had to say. She tried her best to unite the party while at the same time attacking John McCain. She could have said more positive things about Barack Obama, but for what she was supposed to do she did good enough.

Wrap Up: I think Day 2 of the DNC went much better than Day 1. Things seemed to be moving much smoother, but the time slots were the main issue for me. First of all Dennis Kucinich should not have been buried in the daytime. I also think the Stephanie Tubbs Jones tribute should not have been buried and it should have been on prime time along with the tribute to the politicians that have died. Have you ever seen the video they do at the Oscars of all those that have died in the movie industry and when they play it? The Democrats should have followed suit and put that on prime time to honor their memories the best way possible. Hillary Clinton did pay tribute to Stephanie Tubbs Jones, but I still think something bigger should have been in prime time. In something like this time slots are crucial because they should be putting the best speakers when more are watching. I might have even put Governor David Paterson on prime time also. All in all it was a good day because they spent the day attacking McCain.

Democratic National Convention Day 1 Review

Here's a brief review of the speeches that I saw on the first day of the Democratic convention. (The order may be off)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi-She gaveled in the prime time part of Day 1 of the Democratic Convention. and I have to say her speech was AWFUL!. The whole flow of her speech was off, and she made several failed attempts to get the audience to chant something anti-McCain (I forget the exact words).

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. - I'm surprised he's not getting more praise because his speech was one of the best of the night. I don't know much about him and his positions, but Jackson was forceful and honestly sold Barack Obama really well. A great pick up off of the crappy speech Pelosi gave right before him.

Former President Jimmy Carter- They showed a video package of him, and then Carter and his wife came out to wave to the crowd and do their impressions of a museum exhibit...meaning they didn't speak. Democratic Party what were you thinking? Is this how you treat a former Democratic President, and man that preaches peace? Bad job by the Democratic Party here.

Sen. Edward Kennedy - Edward Kennedy was introduced by Caroline Kennedy and this may be looked back on as one of the best moments in the whole convention. The crowd was on it's feet waving Kennedy signs and Edward Kennedy gave a great speech. This speech is a "Must Youtube" if you missed it.

Michelle Obama- A video package was played before Michelle Obama was introduced by her brother Craig Robinson. Michelle's speech was good, but not great. She said what she "had to say", and focused on Barack Obama the family man. During the speech she threw a bone to Hillary Clinton, and emphasized her love for America. I didn't see this speech as a great speech because it seemed very ordinary, but it accomplished what it had to.

After the speech Barack Obama was on a live video feed from Oklahoma and their two children gave the convention another moment by speaking back and forth with their daddy. The media is saying this was unscripted but I'm not sure I buy that. Why did the kids have mics in their hand in the first place? It still was a good moment scripted or unscripted.

Wrap Up: After the first day of the convention it had the Kennedy moment, and the Michelle Obama speech which many are acclaiming as great, but I wont. The problem with the first day of the convention was the flow. Nancy Pelosi gave the prime time part of the convention a rocky start. (Is it me or should the Speaker of the House have a more prominent speaking role in the convention? Oh yea I forgot we're talk about the Democratic Party here...) Another problem was that the music would be blaring in the background for long periods of time in between speeches, and it would leave me wondering when the next speaker would come. That flow is partly the reason why I missed some of the prime time speeches.
Bottom Line: Less downtime please.

Obama/Biden: A Disastrous Train Wreck

Finally Barack Obama has selected his running mate and it's......Sen. Joe Biden!.....**Yawn** Well, Biden is better than Sen. Evan Bayh so I have to give Obama credit there, but this pick is riddled with problems and contradictions.

When Barack Obama first announced his candidacy one of the most appealing parts of his campaign was the "Judgment(Iraq War) vs Experience(Washington politician)" aspect. That part of his message was one of his biggest selling points during the primary election cycle that I would argue got him most of his support, and ultimately helped him defeat Sen. Hillary Clinton. As many people have noted Barack Obama has had a lot of position changes since he won the nomination, but this pick of Joe Biden to be his Vice-Presidential nominee might be the icing on the cake.

First of all, Joe Biden (like Hillary) voted to give President Bush authorization to use force against Iraq which breaks the "Judgement" part of Obama's message. As far as experience goes, Biden is as Washington as a politician can get with 36 years of being a U.S. Senator which is more "Washington style politics" than what John McCain has. Many people say Biden is some foreign policy guru, but how does the fact that he was a supporter of going into Iraq which is arguably the biggest foreign policy failure in U.S. history not come into the equation? From what I've read so far many people are having selective amnesia on that fact. Let's not forget that during the Democratic Primary debates Biden was adamant about not leaving Iraq quick so that should raise immediate red flags for Democrats who are expecting Obama to get the U.S. out of Iraq by the end of his term.

The Announcement

If you watched the big rally with Barack Obama introducing Joe Biden as his running mate you should have noticed during Biden's speech that it was not written by Biden. You could clearly notice the Obama speech formula in the beginning. Biden's speech was nothing short of a train wreck. First of all there was nothing exciting about Biden's speech, and he was stumbling over the words at times. He said things about McCain that were already said before, but the most shocking thing was that he did not even mention Iraq. Day 1 with Biden as VP couldn't have gone any worse given the fact that outside of the Democratic Convention from now until November he may have had the most attention today. Voters are going to vote for Obama/Biden after watching that?

Many people see Biden as a "gaffe machine", and the fact that the Obama campaign forced a speech on Biden that was clearly not his style showed that they did as well. If the Obama campaign expects Biden to be giving Obama campaign written speeches from now until November then the Democratic Party is in trouble. Not to mention the fact that Biden already has a few gaffes like "Obama is clean and articulate", and the "711/Indian accents" one. Even hours after the announcement the McCain campaign already had ads out of Biden criticizing Obama during the primary season. Did the Obama campaign not have enough foresight to see that would happen?


The Outcome/Hillary

When picking a VP the question is always gained votes vs loss of votes. I honestly don't see how picking Joe Biden as VP will gain many votes for Obama. In fact, I think it might lose votes for Obama. Since conventional wisdom suggests Biden is some foreign policy guru this pick by Obama screams "I suck at foreign policy". Will people want to vote for a candidate who's VP pick is a BIG admission of failure at foreign policy in the midst of a War in Iraq and Afghanistan?

As someone who is strongly opposed to Hillary Clinton recently I decided to check that at the door and honestly think if Hillary would be a good VP pick for Obama. Sure picking Hillary will probably lose votes, but I think picking Hillary there would have been more of a net gain of votes than by picking Biden. If you look at Hillary's record and Biden's record they are very similar. Why not go for Hillary then? It's bold, shows guts, and unites the party. I can think of many reasons why I wouldn't because of Obama's campaign message, but picking Hillary could be spun easily. Like I said, I'm not a Hillary supporter and even if Obama picked Hillary I could still not vote for Obama, but at the end of the day I think the right political move was to pick Hillary. Barack Obama simply couldn't get past his ego to make that happen.

Based on this Vice-Presidential pick, Barack Obama's shift in positions to the right, the continued feud between Obama/Hillary supporters, and Obama's alienation of progressive Democrats I am going to have to go on record and predict that John McCain/??? will be the next President of the United States.

Dre