Rally Squads ORLY? RLY.
August 22, 2007 4:19 PM Subscribe
Presidential Advance Manual [pdf] has been leaked, apparently. WaPo reporter Peter Baker discusses the "rally squads" to be set up by the advance team, whose job is to drown out potential protesters with chants of "USA! USA!" Slate's Dahlia Lithwick opines as well, and relates the document to the recent payment of 80,000 dollars to two people who had the unmitigated gall to wear anti-Bush T-shirts at a public event.
If only they'd put as much effort into the advance planning of the Iraq war.
posted by Poolio at 4:27 PM on August 22, 2007 [12 favorites]
posted by Poolio at 4:27 PM on August 22, 2007 [12 favorites]
Pretty tame. Not exactly rocket science to infer what the play book is on anyone or thing that breaks the narcotizing, out of touch spell of the shrub feeding the swill to the peoples. A lot of that PDF was missing (redacted), now that I would like to see.
posted by Skygazer at 4:29 PM on August 22, 2007
posted by Skygazer at 4:29 PM on August 22, 2007
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 4:30 PM on August 22, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 4:30 PM on August 22, 2007 [4 favorites]
You know, I was watching Triumph of the Will the other night, when it hit me like a flash that the fascist salute looks a lot like a symbolized erection.
Think of all those pathetic fuckers miming their own tumescent cocks back at the sputtering Führer on the platform.
posted by felix betachat at 4:32 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
Think of all those pathetic fuckers miming their own tumescent cocks back at the sputtering Führer on the platform.
posted by felix betachat at 4:32 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
$20,000 dollar signing bonus for joining the military, $80,000 for trampling on the constitution... $450,000,000,000 plus for the war.
posted by Gregamell at 4:32 PM on August 22, 2007
posted by Gregamell at 4:32 PM on August 22, 2007
A lot of that PDF was missing (redacted), now that I would like to see.
I suspect that a lot of the [redacted] sections have to do with security precautions. If that is the case, I am certainly comfortable with their redaction.
As much of a Bush-loather as I am, I still don't believe that the details of presidential security should be made public.
posted by dersins at 4:34 PM on August 22, 2007
I suspect that a lot of the [redacted] sections have to do with security precautions. If that is the case, I am certainly comfortable with their redaction.
As much of a Bush-loather as I am, I still don't believe that the details of presidential security should be made public.
posted by dersins at 4:34 PM on August 22, 2007
$20,000 dollar signing bonus for joining the military, $80,000 for trampling on the constitution... $450,000,000,000 plus for the war.
Freedom costs a buck-o-five.
posted by Poolio at 4:35 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
Freedom costs a buck-o-five.
posted by Poolio at 4:35 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
If you heckle a US president, you're going to get thrown out of the building. That doesn't strike me as such an awful thing. What's so freakin' weird about the .pdf though is the absolute paranoia. There will always be super-secret protesters, and hence a need for "rally squads," and a need for extreme vigilance.
It's really bizarre. And funny. And sad.
posted by bardic at 4:37 PM on August 22, 2007
It's really bizarre. And funny. And sad.
posted by bardic at 4:37 PM on August 22, 2007
$20,000 dollar signing bonus for joining the military, $80,000 for trampling on the constitution... $450,000,000,000 plus for the war.
Wondering how many months you could be held in a secret detention facility without charges being brought against you? Priceless.
posted by secret about box at 4:46 PM on August 22, 2007 [3 favorites]
Wondering how many months you could be held in a secret detention facility without charges being brought against you? Priceless.
posted by secret about box at 4:46 PM on August 22, 2007 [3 favorites]
Yeah, but it's more than heckling they want to prevent. It's any dissent whatsoever. Frankly, if you stand up and heckle a speaker during a speech you probably deserve to be thrown out, and if it is bad enough, charged with disturbing the peace. Wearing a T-shirt, respectful questions, and even chants after the speech is over are different. Bush is a pussy. He can't handle the truth. He really has no clothes, but can't bear to hear it.
posted by caddis at 4:47 PM on August 22, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by caddis at 4:47 PM on August 22, 2007 [4 favorites]
If you heckle a US president, you're going to get thrown out of the building.
If your "heckling" consists of silently wearing a "no Bush" T-shirt at an event that is claimed to be non-political, then you shouldn't be.
posted by grouse at 4:49 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
If your "heckling" consists of silently wearing a "no Bush" T-shirt at an event that is claimed to be non-political, then you shouldn't be.
posted by grouse at 4:49 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
Here's to the State of George W
This is an updated version of Phil Ochs' "Here's to the State of Richard Nixon" performed by Eddie Vedder and written by Tim Robbins (who's also on stage).
posted by Poolio at 4:50 PM on August 22, 2007
This is an updated version of Phil Ochs' "Here's to the State of Richard Nixon" performed by Eddie Vedder and written by Tim Robbins (who's also on stage).
posted by Poolio at 4:50 PM on August 22, 2007
I'm sure the president, like me, glanced at it and thought "boring" and turned on some music.
posted by Citizen Premier at 4:50 PM on August 22, 2007
posted by Citizen Premier at 4:50 PM on August 22, 2007
Metafilter: miming their own tumescent cocks back at the sputtering Führer on the platform
I kid, I kid...
posted by ryoshu at 4:52 PM on August 22, 2007
I kid, I kid...
posted by ryoshu at 4:52 PM on August 22, 2007
So the implication is Bush is really a six-year old with progeria?
posted by docpops at 4:54 PM on August 22, 2007
posted by docpops at 4:54 PM on August 22, 2007
Freedom costs a buck-o-five.
Well, that depends entirely on what caliber of ammunition is used. Some are 1.05 others can be much more or less.
posted by IronLizard at 5:00 PM on August 22, 2007
Well, that depends entirely on what caliber of ammunition is used. Some are 1.05 others can be much more or less.
posted by IronLizard at 5:00 PM on August 22, 2007
That wasn't hard to fix.
posted by maxwelton at 5:07 PM on August 22, 2007 [2 favorites]
Augie Busch has an advance team that goes ahead of him to bars, making sure that everyone's drinking Budweiser, so that he never sees anyone drink a Miller. (I am not making this up.)
posted by klangklangston at 5:17 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by klangklangston at 5:17 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
Those Busches, they're all alike.
posted by deadcowdan at 5:28 PM on August 22, 2007
posted by deadcowdan at 5:28 PM on August 22, 2007
I suspect that a lot of the [redacted] sections have to do with security precautions.
I doubt it. The Secret Service really couldn't give a shit about rally squads and has zero influence on the political angles, so it's unlikely that their planning process would be intermixed with the kinds of things that were not redacted from the document.
More likely, what was redacted were instructions about the President's personal staff. Recall the brouhaha regarding Cheney's advance team planning docs, and its revelations that the VP must have his hotel room TV tuned to FoxNews before he even enters the room.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:39 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
I doubt it. The Secret Service really couldn't give a shit about rally squads and has zero influence on the political angles, so it's unlikely that their planning process would be intermixed with the kinds of things that were not redacted from the document.
More likely, what was redacted were instructions about the President's personal staff. Recall the brouhaha regarding Cheney's advance team planning docs, and its revelations that the VP must have his hotel room TV tuned to FoxNews before he even enters the room.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:39 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
The World Famous:
I've seen the previous president's advance manuals.
Clinton's required that there were some people in every crowd he could give 'special hugs' to.
Bush senior needed everywhere to be cleared of lip readers.
Reagan required all viewers to have their horoscopes checked against his.
Carter just wanted people to be able to afford the gas needed to get there.
Nixon's was simplest, he just wanted everyone to meet an evilness requirement.
posted by sien at 5:42 PM on August 22, 2007 [3 favorites]
I've seen the previous president's advance manuals.
Clinton's required that there were some people in every crowd he could give 'special hugs' to.
Bush senior needed everywhere to be cleared of lip readers.
Reagan required all viewers to have their horoscopes checked against his.
Carter just wanted people to be able to afford the gas needed to get there.
Nixon's was simplest, he just wanted everyone to meet an evilness requirement.
posted by sien at 5:42 PM on August 22, 2007 [3 favorites]
"Most often, the demonstrators want a physical confrontation."
Liberty and justice are just a red herring!
posted by kamikazegopher at 5:44 PM on August 22, 2007
Liberty and justice are just a red herring!
posted by kamikazegopher at 5:44 PM on August 22, 2007
"What does Augie do if someone is drinking a Budvar?"
Stabs them in their fucking face. (I am making that up.)
posted by klangklangston at 6:09 PM on August 22, 2007
Stabs them in their fucking face. (I am making that up.)
posted by klangklangston at 6:09 PM on August 22, 2007
I can't wait for these advance squads start chanting "USA! USA! USA!" when Bush visits Sydney.
I give them about 5 seconds before they are taken & thrown to the sharks.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:14 PM on August 22, 2007
I give them about 5 seconds before they are taken & thrown to the sharks.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:14 PM on August 22, 2007
If only they'd put as much effort into the advance planning of the Iraq war.
... it still would've been a bad idea.
posted by Poolio at 7:01 PM on August 22, 2007
... it still would've been a bad idea.
posted by Poolio at 7:01 PM on August 22, 2007
Augie Busch has an advance team that goes ahead of him to bars, making sure that everyone's drinking Budweiser, so that he never sees anyone drink a Miller. (I am not making this up.)
posted by klangklangston at 8:17 PM on August 22
That reminds me of this:
posted by klangklangston at 8:17 PM on August 22
That reminds me of this:
The biggest beer producers in the world meet for a conference, and at the end of the day, the presidents of all the beer companies decide to have a drink together at a bar.posted by caddis at 7:21 PM on August 22, 2007 [5 favorites]
The president of Budweiser naturally orders a Bud, the president of Miller orders a Miller, Adolph Coors orders a Coors, and so on down the list.
Then the bartender asks Arthur Guinness what he wants to drink, and to everybody's amazement, he orders tea!
"Why don't you order a Guinness?" his colleagues ask suspiciously, wondering if they've stumbled on an embarrassing secret.
"Naaaah," replies Guinness. "If you guys aren't going to drink beer, then neither will I."
DNI McConnell: ‘Americans Are Going To Die’ If We Keep Talking About Wiretapping
Dissent is bad, mkay?
posted by homunculus at 7:30 PM on August 22, 2007 [3 favorites]
Dissent is bad, mkay?
posted by homunculus at 7:30 PM on August 22, 2007 [3 favorites]
The amateurish nature of this manual is reassuring--it reads more like a manual for high school pep rallies than Nurembergs (Everybody make big signs!! Put the peppiest cheerleaders in the front row!!). If these guys were more serious about this business, we would have been in dire straits, given their utter lack of scruples. I'm sure any Mefite, given access to the enormous piles of cash and influence available to this man and this administration, could have put on a much more impressive propagandistic extravaganza.
I thank God that this administration's incompetence rose on par with their lust for power. It's like a community theater version of The Prince.
posted by Nahum Tate at 8:43 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
I thank God that this administration's incompetence rose on par with their lust for power. It's like a community theater version of The Prince.
posted by Nahum Tate at 8:43 PM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]
The amateurish nature of this manual is reassuring--it reads more like a manual for high school pep rallies than Nurembergs
That's because all of the [REDACTED] bits give the instructions for decoding the bits we got to see. The whole thing is actually an invocation of the Great Old Ones. You'll see tonight as you dream when your subconscious decodes it and suddenly Nyarlathotep has write permissions to your neocortex.
There will be gibbering.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:12 PM on August 22, 2007
That's because all of the [REDACTED] bits give the instructions for decoding the bits we got to see. The whole thing is actually an invocation of the Great Old Ones. You'll see tonight as you dream when your subconscious decodes it and suddenly Nyarlathotep has write permissions to your neocortex.
There will be gibbering.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:12 PM on August 22, 2007
"The amateurish nature of this manual is reassuring..."
Though I have a hard time remembering it myself, we have been mightily rope-a-doped the last seven years: Sure, the manual might be amateurish but it was effective, more importantly they managed to line up the significant news media in a respectfully non-amateurish manner.
I think it would have been better for Bush to see the dissent, though I doubt it would have changed a damn thing.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:43 AM on August 23, 2007
Though I have a hard time remembering it myself, we have been mightily rope-a-doped the last seven years: Sure, the manual might be amateurish but it was effective, more importantly they managed to line up the significant news media in a respectfully non-amateurish manner.
I think it would have been better for Bush to see the dissent, though I doubt it would have changed a damn thing.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:43 AM on August 23, 2007
“Wearing a T-shirt, respectful questions, and even chants after the speech is over are different.”
Agreed. I don’t know that purposefully drowning out dissent with targeted and hired goon squads is or isn’t a violation of the first amendment (I’d suspect it is, even though it’s not strictly speaking congress making a law, as it is occuring under the auspices of the chief executive), but it’s certainly nowhere near the spirit of the constitution.
Further, I suspect this would give rise to a greater risk of physical violence. The fundimental right to speak freely is obvious in the constitution, what’s not so obvious is it’s usefulness as a safety valve.
Someone is pissed off, you let them yell, say their peice, make their point, and maybe you can reason with them.
Drown them out and they’re just going to be frustrated.
This “Do not fall into their trap!” business really pisses me off.
Like baiting and inciting someone to violence is suddenly a trap on their part for swinging at you.
To me what’s worse is what’s already in place with predesignated “protest areas” out of sight of the motorcade and the event site.
Given of course they’re not a threat, it is an absolute injustice to restrict someone’s physical space based on their ideology.
I still don’t know how the government gets away with it. Doesn’t seem like any protest group has had heavy enough lawyers to counter the “free speech zones.”
Also, little known fact - Chester A. Arthur’s manual?
No blue M&Ms.
*hohohocheapoldschtickfilter*
posted by Smedleyman at 3:50 PM on August 23, 2007
Agreed. I don’t know that purposefully drowning out dissent with targeted and hired goon squads is or isn’t a violation of the first amendment (I’d suspect it is, even though it’s not strictly speaking congress making a law, as it is occuring under the auspices of the chief executive), but it’s certainly nowhere near the spirit of the constitution.
Further, I suspect this would give rise to a greater risk of physical violence. The fundimental right to speak freely is obvious in the constitution, what’s not so obvious is it’s usefulness as a safety valve.
Someone is pissed off, you let them yell, say their peice, make their point, and maybe you can reason with them.
Drown them out and they’re just going to be frustrated.
This “Do not fall into their trap!” business really pisses me off.
Like baiting and inciting someone to violence is suddenly a trap on their part for swinging at you.
To me what’s worse is what’s already in place with predesignated “protest areas” out of sight of the motorcade and the event site.
Given of course they’re not a threat, it is an absolute injustice to restrict someone’s physical space based on their ideology.
I still don’t know how the government gets away with it. Doesn’t seem like any protest group has had heavy enough lawyers to counter the “free speech zones.”
Also, little known fact - Chester A. Arthur’s manual?
No blue M&Ms.
*hohohocheapoldschtickfilter*
posted by Smedleyman at 3:50 PM on August 23, 2007
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posted by Poolio at 4:24 PM on August 22, 2007 [3 favorites]