Merged Code Pink at the Jefferson Memorial / arrested

commandlinegamer said:
So we've pretty much established that dancing on memorials in the US is forbidden, unless you have a permit. But what about boogie-ing on down on ordinary graves? Is that okay, or just tacky?
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Depends on who's it is, I suppose. I've called dibs on a few people, nad I'll let you know what happens.

Oh wait... it's you. I might not be able to...

:P
 
This quote might be somewhat related...

"Dancing is a healthy and elegant exercise, a specific against social awkwardness, "~Thomas Jefferson
 
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Our memorial to the man who wrote the U.S. Constitution is a no free speech zone. Some people can't see irony. What's next, the Jonas Salk anti-vaccine society? The Gandhi missile?
 
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We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine
I say, we can go where we want to
A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind
And we can dance

[Sung]
We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine
I say, we can go where we want to
A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind
And we can dance
Dance!

We can go when we want to
The night is young and so am I
And we can dress real neat from our hats to our feet
And surprise 'em with the victory cry
Say, we can act if want to
If we don't nobody will
And you can act real rude and totally removed
And I can act like an imbecile

[Refrain]
I say, we can dance, we can dance
Everything out of control
We can dance, we can dance
We're doing it from wall to wall
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody look at your hands
We can dance, we can dance
Everybody takin' the cha-a-a-ance

Safety dance
Is it safe to dance
Is it safe to dance

S-s-s-s A-a-a-a F-f-f-f E-e-e-e T-t-t-t Y-y-y-y
Safe, dance!

We can dance if we want to
We've got all your life and mine
As long as we abuse it, never gonna lose it
Everything'll work out right
I say, we can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're no friends of mine

[Refrain]

Is it safe to dance, oh is it safe to dance [6x]
Is it safe to dance
 
Scott Haley said:
Our memorial to the man who wrote the U.S. Constitution is a no free speech zone. Some people can't see irony. What's next, the Jonas Salk anti-vaccine society? The Gandhi missile?
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Significant nitpick: Madison was the main framer of the Constitution. Jefferson's ideals and ideas, along with those of Paine and particularly those of John Adams, were well represented, but Li'l Jamie (as Aaron Burr used to call him) is pretty well recognized as the guy who put it all together.
 
It's one thing to dance at the Jefferson Memorial to bring attention to something important, it's another to dance just because they say, "don't dance here."

My guess is that this city ordinance sprung up because pan-handlers and street performers would otherwise mob the major monuments. Along with the dancing ban, doubtless you're not allowed to spray paint yourself silver and pretend like you're the tin man, stand around acting like a statue, or any of the million other things goofy people do to earn a coin.

It's not like there's a society-wide ban on dancing, it's just an assertion that we should maintain a certain level of decorum at our national monuments.

"Free speech zones" are neither good nor bad inherently, it's how they're used. They are also well supported legally--restraint on time and place, not content. Telling people not to make scenes where thousands of citizens travel to respectfully learn about our nation's history is fair. Confining protesters to small areas well away from an event is obviously a PR ploy. Take them on a case by case basis.
 
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Kokesh and his band were thereto protest a court ruling that upheld the arrests of a group of Libertarians who came to dance at midnight to celebrate Jefferson's birthday.

They looked kind of creepy, dancing with headphones on. This is not the sort of mood that is supposed to be maintained inside the monument.

The WACtards need to grow up.

(And what kind of Marine was that wussie boy Kokesh, anyway, that one man could slam his worthless bones to the floor like that?)

And did you hear that one little wussie complaining about a broken shoulder while he resisted arrest?

Lunatics, the lot of them, and they clearly give the public cause to worry about their own safety. My only complaint is that that cop did not slam Kokesh down hard enough.

But then, there is no telling what damage his head might do to those marble floors.
 
Foolmewunz said:
Significant nitpick: Madison was the main framer of the Constitution. Jefferson's ideals and ideas, along with those of Paine and particularly those of John Adams, were well represented, but Li'l Jamie (as Aaron Burr used to call him) is pretty well recognized as the guy who put it all together.
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The religious freedom of the First Amendment was taken directly from Jefferson's version in the state of Virginia, and the free speech, press elements were developed directly from that assertion of civil rights. Of the Constitution, Jefferson's legacy is most evident in these First Amendment debates.
 
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There has to be a better way to deal with all this than to have the federal government act like Master Shake and say "dancing is forbidden!"
 
There was a ban on demonstrations inside the monument. That is a natural thing to do. It ensures that a group of whackadoodles cannot take over the monument for some period and frighten the tourists or interfere with other people's schedules.

The Libertarians in the prior incident were acting in a bizarre manner not in keeping with public decorum for political purposes. Take that crap outside or go to jail. Not a bit arbitrary.

Kokesh's WACjobs were just there to protest the government's insistance on certain rules of orderly behavior inside the monument. They were, in simple point of fact demonstrating inside the monjument.

I hope that the whackjob complaining about his "broken shoulder" really did ghet hurt. It was his fault and the fault of the friend who tried to pull him away from the cops.

And I hope that the next time Kokesh resists arrest, it involves a trunceon. He's a slow learner and needs special education.
 
leftysergeant said:
There was a ban on demonstrations inside the monument. That is a natural thing to do. It ensures that a group of whackadoodles cannot take over the monument for some period and frighten the tourists or interfere with other people's schedules.

The Libertarians in the prior incident were acting in a bizarre manner not in keeping with public decorum for political purposes. Take that crap outside or go to jail. Not a bit arbitrary.

Kokesh's WACjobs were just there to protest the government's insistance on certain rules of orderly behavior inside the monument. They were, in simple point of fact demonstrating inside the monjument.

I hope that the whackjob complaining about his "broken shoulder" really did ghet hurt. It was his fault and the fault of the friend who tried to pull him away from the cops.

And I hope that the next time Kokesh resists arrest, it involves a trunceon. He's a slow learner and needs special education.
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Me, I try not to wish violence on anyone except in cases it is absolutely required to stop greater violence. I acknowledge that force is often necessary in law enforcement, but I don't take pleasure in physical harm coming to others. But that's just me.
 
Scott Haley said:
There has to be a better way to deal with all this than to have the federal government act like Master Shake and say "dancing is forbidden!"
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There are certain "rules" of decorum a society can and should enforce to ensure a level of civility.
Try dancing in a courtroom, talking on your cell phone at the opera, showing up for work in a itsy-bitsy-tiny-winy-polka-dot-bikini, and see the result.

Wonder how all you "What's the big deal?" folks would react to such an event at the "Tomb of the Unknowns"...
 
rwguinn said:
There are certain "rules" of decorum a society can and should enforce to ensure a level of civility.
Try dancing in a courtroom, talking on your cell phone at the opera, showing up for work in a itsy-bitsy-tiny-winy-polka-dot-bikini, and see the result.
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There are some in my office who could pull this off. I'm not one of them.
 
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