Endgame Viable

Saw an interesting post on Just a Bump in the Beltway about how Bush choreographs all of his appearances so there are no dissenters in the crowd. That’s not really news, but it’s good to be reminded of how unreliable television is. Obviously I disagree with elected leaders constructing their own cult of personality, but allow me to play devil’s advocate for a moment. The people in Bush’s roving “rally groups” would almost certainly argue that it is as much their free speech right to cheer for the president, as it is the would-be protester’s free speech right to protest. And frankly I can’t disagree with that. I think one solution to such rule exploitation is simply to make sure observers are aware of the nature and purpose of all the demonstrators. When it is popularly known that the “rally groups” are intentionally brought in to squelch protesters, as opposed to being spontaneous outbursts of support, I would think they’d lose their effectiveness.