Wisconsin College Protest at Special Olympics

[Rageaholic]

The voters ID laws is one of those things that just doesn't seem necessary and will must likely cause unnecessary headache. I agree with the protesters, just not the way they handled this.

[Greenday]

putting the picture on the voter's registration card means setting up stations where people have to show in person in order to have their picture taken, which means spending money for equipment and to staff those stations. this becomes logistically and financially difficult to do while still keeping the voter's registration process a free one.

in any case, charging for the id necessary to vote would put the state in violation of the 24th amendment.

Well, it's not like they'd have to be buying new equipment every year so it'd just be a one time fee. Plus, if you are too lazy that you can't be bothered to show up in person, then you shouldn't be able to vote (even though that was part of your argument).

Why is it that people treat the Constitution like it's the Articles of Confederation? The Constitution is a living document. We can change it whenever we want. It's not set in stone.

[FArchivist]

I find it offensive they did this during an athletic outing. Would they have done it at their college's sports event?

As I've seen protests at sporting events here in GA, especially at UGA when they've had political figures present, I would say that yes, they would.

Can't we make a fine line between protesting and stalking, let alone just being plain disrespectful? Why punish the Special Olympic athletes just because you hate the Governor? What kind of assnine bullshit is that?!

We have. The rules for a public figure like the Governor and the rules for private individuals are very different. Basically, any person of "public interest", like a politician or a celebrity, does not have the right to privacy that your average private individual would have, in order to respect freedom of speech and freedom to protest as part of free speech.

As long as they get their near free benefits that no one else gets, it's worth it to these people.

1) And why not? I would fight to keep what benefits I could to. Wouldn't you? Let's not pretend it's not fair for them to fight for what they want, but perfectly fair for us to.

2) Actually, those near free benefits are absolutely available. All you have to do is sell your soul to a Fortune 500 company, like I have.

but you have to have either no heart at all or no common sense to think it's appropriate to protest a politician you hate at a Special Olympics event. That is LOW, degrading, and disgusting. Whoever did this obviously has no shame and no soul.

I'm sorry, but on Constitutional principles I must disagree.

If we disallow protesting at the Special Olympics, then to be fair and equal we must disallow it for all sporting events. And if we disallow it for all sporting events, to be fair and equal we should disallow it for all public events. And so on, and so forth. The Supreme Court has agreed, several times over the past century, with this interpretation of events. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. What's good for the Special Olympics is good for every other event or public area in the USA.

So you can either have protesting allowed at the Special Olympics, regardless of whether you like it or not....or you can only have protesting in Special Protest Zones. With a permit. At specified times.

It's the only legal alternative we have been able to come up with.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm sorry, but on Constitutional principles I must disagree.

If we disallow protesting at the Special Olympics, then to be fair and equal we must disallow it for all sporting events. And if we disallow it for all sporting events, to be fair and equal we should disallow it for all public events. And so on, and so forth.

Her comment had absolutely nothing to do with what is legal and everything to do with what is proper.

A large part of a protest is the message and image you project to those whose opinions you want to sway. Protesting at a Special Olympics event projects the image that you're a bunch of douchebags who couldn't be bothered to pick a better venue for your protest. Any message you wanted to convey has been completely derailed by the visceral outrage that most people feel at the very idea.

^-.-^

[mikoyan29]

You can keep your permanent residence and have a photo ID from another state. Better yet, like was mentioned earlier, just have the school get their ID cards up to par, then it is a moot point.

I don't see why the college kids get so up in arms over needing to vote in an election for local stuff (outside of the school board, if they are elected) when they're not even going to be there by the end of most terms. Just vote absentee for your home area and be done with it.

Because college students live there at least 9 months out of the year if not the full year. And if you are talking college students that live in apartments, they are basically living in the city at that point and local decisions have an impact on them.

[blas87]

Thank you, Andara. Obviously these clowns know the law, it's a matter of being proper and having some common fucking sense and courtesy.

Anyone who takes the protestors seriously should be ashamed. Now more recently, we have protestors bringing drugs with them to protest (dumb hippies much?!) and idiots chaining themselves to the walls of the capital. REALLY?

Hows about those losers get a job or something better to do?

[AdminAssistant]

Anyone who takes the protestors seriously should be ashamed. Now more recently, we have protestors bringing drugs with them to protest (dumb hippies much?!) and idiots chaining themselves to the walls of the capital. REALLY?

Hows about those losers get a job or something better to do?

I take them very seriously, because this is a very serious issue. It's about the right to vote, which is the central tenet of our government. And I can't think of anything better to do than to protest protest protest Walker. Drive him absolutely crazy until the second he can be recalled. He's doing terrible things in that state: stripping away voting rights, stripping away workers' rights, and isn't there something about craft breweries on the table right now? And I'm sure he's just waiting to institute some crazy anti-choice, anti-woman measures.

[Andara Bledin]

Anyone who takes the protestors seriously should be ashamed. Now more recently, we have protestors bringing drugs with them to protest (dumb hippies much?!) and idiots chaining themselves to the walls of the capital. REALLY?

Hows about those losers get a job or something better to do?

Wow. I love the establishment-loving, "dirty hippies" tone of this one.

Protesting is an important right in America and a powerful social tool. Would you suggest that Gandhi should have "gotten a job" or found something "better to do?"

Plus, it seems to me that if they're college students, they likely already have a full-time pursuit.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

Wow. I love the establishment-loving, "dirty hippies" tone of this one.

Protesting is an important right in America and a powerful social tool. Would you suggest that Gandhi should have "gotten a job" or found something "better to do?"

Plus, it seems to me that if they're college students, they likely already have a full-time pursuit.

^-.-^

Protesters who protest and smoke drugs while doing it are called...that's right, hippies.

[linguist]

Well, it's not like they'd have to be buying new equipment every year so it'd just be a one time fee.

plus the continuing expense of maintenance, upgrades, and day to day operation.

Plus, if you are too lazy that you can't be bothered to show up in person, then you should be able to vote (even though that was part of your argument).

i'm having a hard time understanding you here. could you perhaps rephrase?

Why is it that people treat the Constitution like it's the Articles of Confederation? The Constitution is a living document. We can change it whenever we want. It's not set in stone.

you seem to be asserting that the articles couldn't be changed, which is untrue. it required unanimous approval of the states, but it could be done.

in any case, this point is entirely irrelevant. just because the constitution can be changed doesn't mean we shouldn't adhere to it as it currently stands.

[linguist]

Anyone who takes the protestors seriously should be ashamed. Now more recently, we have protestors bringing drugs with them to protest (dumb hippies much?!)

do you have a citation for this, because i've only been able to find one unsubstantiated report online, on a right-wing website. they claimed that the air smelled like alcohol and pot, and then posted a video showing neither alcohol nor pot, so i'm just curious.

[blas87]

I saw it on my local news which airs on NBC, and it was also in the local newspaper. I have no real idea which side that paper leans to more.

Funny thing, it was right by an article stating that several hundred people still owe hundreds in fines from the riots....ooh I'm sorry, I mean "protests" in Madison back in February/March. You know, the property damage among the more serious offenses, and the drug possessions and disorderly conduct for the more minor offenses.

[FArchivist]

Her comment had absolutely nothing to do with what is legal and everything to do with what is proper.

What is legal is what is proper. That's why the American Revolution was fought; to have those rights we believe we should be legally entitled to, which includes the freedom to protest as we wish, how we wish, when we wish, so long as it does not break a law or regulation.

If we want to talk what is "proper", we're talking about morality and ethics, in which case I want an absolute standard of "proper" everyone is required to adhere to. If no one else wishes to propose a standard, I say we adopt Fred Phelps' viewpoint. What he says is "proper" is so, and everyone who disagrees is wrong.

Not very appealing, is it?

A large part of a protest is the message and image you project to those whose opinions you want to sway.

I would agree with this.

Protesting at a Special Olympics event projects the image that you're a bunch of douchebags who couldn't be bothered to pick a better venue for your protest. Any message you wanted to convey has been completely derailed by the visceral outrage that most people feel at the very idea.

I agree with this personally.
But I defend to the death their right to do it anyway. It is up to them to decide how they want to provide their message and the means in which they do it.

Obviously these clowns know the law, it's a matter of being proper and having some common fucking sense and courtesy.

The moment we let "common sense" (which doesn't really exist) and courtesy override our legally-granted rights is the moment where we deserve to live under Chinese authority. Or an Iranian ayatollah.

Protesters who protest and smoke drugs while doing it are called...that's right, hippies.

Then over half the Tea Party, Oathkeepers, and the rest are "hippies". Somehow, I don't think so.

It's really a bad term anyway. Most of these protesters aren't hippies at all, since they didn't become so during the 1960s youth movement. They aren't neo-hippies either, which is the correct sociological term for people who become hippies today.

Most of these college students are instead Social Justice Warriors.

[blas87]

Or more like college kids who hop on bandwagons, as my mother put it, they are extremely impressionable and easily swayed into causes that they don't know much about.

Similar to school kids around here who were swayed by their teachers to ditch out of school during those "protests".

[Greenday]

plus the continuing expense of maintenance, upgrades, and day to day operation.

What day to day operation? Does Wisconsin have daily elections I don't know about?

i'm having a hard time understanding you here. could you perhaps rephrase?

Shouldn't*

you seem to be asserting that the articles couldn't be changed, which is untrue. it required unanimous approval of the states, but it could be done.

in any case, this point is entirely irrelevant. just because the constitution can be changed doesn't mean we shouldn't adhere to it as it currently stands.

Unanimous approval pretty much means can't be changed. That's why they got rid of it in favor of the Constituion in the first place. And it's not irrelevant. I'm saying if something is stupid, we should change it.