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| Protesters boo Ashcroft (and rush stage) at his CU speech |
| 2007-11-30 |
| Several protesters were forcibly removed from the audience at a speech given by former Attorney General John Ashcroft at the University of Colorado at Boulder Tuesday night. The organizers of the event called in extra security from the Boulder Police Department at the last minute after hearing rumors about the protests, said Jessica Forthofer, chair of CU's Cultural Events Board, which was responsible for organizing the speech. "We thought that the conservative viewpoint isn't very espoused on the CU campus, and that's why we wanted John Ashcroft," Forthofer said, but she added that the board's guest speakers, who have included the Rev. Al Sharpton and Charlton Heston, had never received such a heated reception. About 20 student protesters from CU and Naropa University, wearing shirts with "shame" written on the backs and wearing American flags over their faces, welcomed Ashcroft to the stage by standing up and turning their backs to him. But the small group of silent protesters from the Students for Peace and Justice were overshadowed by several other unidentified demonstrators who rushed the stage to confront Ashcroft repeatedly during his speech and the question-and-answer portion. "I have a question," yelled one woman who was removed several times but kept finding a way back into the auditorium. "What medication are you on that you could violate our rights with such a clear conscience because I'd really like to get some." Ashcroft spent most of his speech defending to the estimated crowd of about 1,000 people the legacy of his tenure as attorney general: the implementation of the Patriot Act following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "The way we defend our country is to prosecute, but the threat of prosecution is empty to those who would willingly extinguish themselves to harm us," Ashcroft said. "Prosecution is the re-creation of the past. My directive from the president was to prevent, so we changed the way we did things." Ashcroft remained calm while the crowd booed him loudly several times during his speech, including when he said Guantanamo Bay was a "good place" for detainees and that he was proud of the United States government and its self-policing of Abu Ghraib, but he lost his composure when a man in the audience called him a liar. "For those of you who have nothing to learn," Ashcroft asked. "Why did you come tonight?" |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #11 More tolerance from the left. I suppose book burnings are next. |
| Posted by: AuburnTom 2007-11-30 15:24 |
| #10 "For those of you who have nothing to learn," Ashcroft asked. "Why did you come tonight?" -actually a good response methinks. I would've encouraged anyone who wanted to rush the stage to meet me in the parking lot after the event - see how tough they are then. Most lefty's are total pussies. They'll pose & peacock when the cameras are on but their bowels go to water in a real scrap. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2007-11-30 12:24 |
| #9 I give the uni credit for this, at least: "We thought that the conservative viewpoint isn't very espoused on the CU campus, and that's why we wanted John Ashcroft," Forthofer said |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-11-30 11:57 |
| #8 Seems to be a feature not a bug at universities across the board. A friend of mine is taking a political class at KU's Bob Dole building and they bring in a good collection of guests - former governers from many states and both parties - and he will only go to the democrat functions. There was a PBS deal on the other night about berkely ca students on the Israel/palestine situation and the teacher was showing film about the wall and it was only the negative effects - dark forboding pictures of different sections of the wall. Student gets up and makes a big speech (in heavy California accent with appropriate 'ya knows' to emphasize her point) completely off topic. During operation Desert Storm my grade school history teacher was crying one morning saying "When Israel nukes Iraq the radiation will span the globe and poison us within a couple of days. Funny background about the PBS story: they were interviewing this white girl at the palestinian booth and she was going on and on about this and that. In the background was a dark olive skin dude with the beanie hat and full beard eating a sandwich. He is disinterested and takes a big bite of sandwich which gets into his beard big time. So what does he do? starts picking out all the crumbs and sauce and well, while there, starts rubbing and picking his nose for a good 3 minutes(!). It was in stark contrast to the articulate well spoken members at the Israeli booth. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2007-11-30 11:55 |
| #7 Well I for one am shocked. The Students for Peace and Justice had an excellent opportunity to ask the former Attorney General of the USA questions of law surrounding the Gillian Gibbons situation. You know, the overseas minority woman teacher falsly accused of a crime of superstition? I mean what other perfect scenario do neo-hippy activists need? Must have been to heavy, man, to like, you know, pow wow after a 'bag of medication' if you know what I mean man on Happy Tuesday, and, you know, like umm, come up with some good thoughts and vibes. Yeah. We had some good thoughts though but Sparkles over there (hey.) started chewing on the only pencil. So this morning over a bowl of Captain Munchies we decided we would just be really loud man. Power to truth man! (raises fist after almost raising peace sign, rainbow binki cap falls off) |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2007-11-30 11:37 |
| #6 The good 'ol "Free speech for me, but not for thee" left. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-11-30 09:52 |
| #5 Remember that this is the hate filled university of lefties that gave us Ward "Little Eichmans" Churchill and alot of others like him. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-11-30 03:41 |
| #4 Peoples REepublic of Boulder. Lots of old stupid hippies and young stupid hippie wannabees. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-11-30 03:40 |
| #3 "What medication are you on that you could violate our rights with such a clear conscience because I'd really like to get some." We don't doubt that. YJCMTSU |
| Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 2007-11-30 03:28 |
| #2 Attacking speakers that they disagree with...what would the newspapers say if it were conservative students attacking radical feminists, for instance? Strangely, that never happens... |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-11-30 03:00 |
| #1 Freedom of speech is allways the first thing to be attacked by the left. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-11-30 02:05 |