Hecklers interrupt Sen. Clinton at Brown University (Anti-war protesters)

[norml]

Hecklers interrupt Sen. Clinton at Brown University
April 8, 2006


PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Anti-war protesters interrupted U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech at Brown University on Saturday night by heckling the New York Democrat for four solid minutes before police escorted them out of the auditorium.

Clinton was about eight minutes into her 50-minute speech, "Women Leaders," when an unidentified man stood and shouted "Is it leadership to support the war?"

He was quickly joined by two other hecklers as he stood on his seat and continued to criticize Clinton for her vote to authorize the U.S. invasion of Iraq and her subsequent votes to fund the war.

Despite the heckling, Clinton did not stop her speech, which was general in tone. Her only direct reference to the Iraq war was to decry the substandard equipment issued to American soldiers. She did not address allegations that President Bush authorized the release of classified national security information to the media.

Before the speech, about 70 protesters rallied outside the auditorium and said they targeted Clinton because her votes on the war mirror the Bush administration's policies despite her being considered the front-runner among Democratic presidential hopefuls in 2008.


snip


http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2006/04/08/hecklers_interrupt_sen_clinton_at_brown_university/

[progressivebydesign]

1. Yes.. I'll enjoy eight more years of republican rule.. oh hell..

why not indefinitely. Why the fuck don't they heckle the REAL criminals in all this??

[benburch]

4. She supports this illegal war.

That makes her an even bigger criminal that the GOP Senators, because she of all people ought to know better.

[IndianaGreen]

6. She is a war enabler and she is silent on Bush's crimes

We don't need her at all when we have people that have spoken against the war, and have expressed regret on their war votes and are incline to censure Bush at a minimum. People like Feingold, Kerry, and even Edwards have now spoken against the law breaking of the Bush regime. Yet Hillary remains silent!

[henslee]

50. I have to agree.

[Tight_rope]

96. I like her...but I have to agree...If only she would denounce the war

and the criminals who lied to get us in this war.

I have to admit, she is one of our best candidates for a Democratic President in 2008. But I'm afraid that many will feel the way I do, and not vote for her because of her stance on the Iraq war.
:patriot:

[Javaman]

88. She riding Bill's coat tails can only get her so far...

Until she(former repuke)comes out against this war, I will never ever support her.

[norml]

8. I'd heckle her too, for the same reason that they are.

While I'm glad for much of what she's done in the Senate, I can't support her support for much of the PNAC agenda.

Besides, she's never going to run for the Presidency.

That is, and always has been right wing spin to paint her as power mad, and detract from her accomplishments.

[The Wielding Truth]

84. Isn't it nice that they could get close enough to be heard.

That's something we rarely see at a Repuke "invitation only" event. Real democracy is not so neat and tidy.

[saigon68]

29. Hubert Humphrey did that shit too

HE LOST.

Those who ignore the lessons and mistakes of past history

ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT THEM

[CrazyForKucinich]

34. Why don't we not nominate Hillary?

Feingold is all we need.

[jwirr]

42. I am not for Hillary in 08 either but we need to think about

something my daughter said the other day, "Why do we always try to run these people not one has ever heard about?" I was talking about Feingold. She is a working woman who does not have the time to set on DU to get to know all the pols. It is a good observation. She loves Al Gore but does not think he will ever want to run again. We should do a Dem poll to see how is known by ordinary people. It would be a start.

[IndianaGreen]

44. Were it not for Bill Clinton running for President

Hillary would still be a lawyer working for the corrupt Rose Law Firm.

[President Kerry]

65. am I on FR, by chance?

I don't know if she turns out to be the candidate. If she is, I will vote for her, and vote enthusiastically. And no, I don't support the war. This is madness, just what the repugs want! Can't we for once show them they're wrong?

[GodlessBiker]

95. They, too, believe she is turning right.

Hey, at least we take her at her word. Freepers think she is just lying to get votes.

[Bridget Burke]

80. If it weren't for Hilary...

How do you that her husband would have gotten that far?

[The Wielding Truth]

83. Maybe not prez, but she sure wouldn't be "home bakin' cookies".

Remember that line and remember she is a forceful and tenacious soul.

[IndianaGreen]

87. A tenacious defender of Bush's war policies

that's what she is! She is also morally bankrupt as she remains silent on Bush's crimes and assault on the Constitution. In that respect, she epitomizes the "good German" syndrome, those that remain neutral in the face of tyranny.

[saigon68]

91. " morally bankrupt " SUMS IT UP

She would vote to reinstate the draft too

[Tesha]

64. *EVERYONE* who voted to support this war is a criminal.

This includes Hillary.

Tesha

[norml]

75. Or an idiot, if they believed Dubya and crew really wanted inspections.

Now let's see how they do on Iran. :eyes:

[Tesha]

78. "Nuke, nuke" "Who's there?" "Murka" "Murka who" "Murka nother mess..."

[OKthatsIT]

86. SHE VOTED FOR IRAQ...she will split the Dem Party

..she conveniently disappeared for Bankruptcy vote and she did vote for Patriot Act Renewal.

She, and her husband are supporting the status quo. And BILL hangs out with Bush Sr.

Excuse me?

[benburch]

2. Good!

I will do everything in my power to see to it that Hillary Clinton never gets the Democratic nomination for President.

[saltpoint]

3. A lot of things conservatives and Republicans say in public forums

rub me the wrong way, too, but I feel their right to speak should be sacrosanct.

Would I rather hear Mario Cuomo or Shirley Franklin than Jeff Sessions or Mitt Romney? Sure. But I want a Constitution that guarantees that everybody gets a crack at the mike, not just one side.

And never moreso than at college campuses, where a range of ideas ought to be the order of the day. Kurt Vonnegut told the Indianapolis STAR in an interview, "If you limit your choices, you lower your odds."

[countmyvote4real]

5. Good. She deserves it for standing by her vote to invade Iraq.

Maybe she's more afraid of being tarred as a flip-flopper than having a conscience. She may not be a ringleader of the * cabal, but she's still an enabler until she says this false invasion of a foreign country was a mistake.

[pnwmom]

25. Nobody actually voted to invade Iraq. The authorization to use force

was written so that we would invade ONLY IF Hussein refused to allow the inspectors in. He allowed them in, and they found nothing.

But Bush attacked anyway.

[IndianaGreen]

45. Even Kerry and Edwards have abandoned that loser excuse for IWR

Both of them have stated quite clearly that they now regret their vote for war.

[pnwmom]

49. I do too -- but it wouldn't have made any difference. n/t

[SOS]

53. The IWR

gave Bush the authority to make the sole determination on attacking Iraq. That's why Byrd was so furious. The Congress abdicated it's authority to the Executive.

(b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION- In connection with the exercise of the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President shall, prior to such exercise or as soon thereafter as may be feasible, but no later than 48 hours after exercising such authority, make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that-- ......

All of the conditions laid out in the IWR are completely meaningless because Bush was given the authority to determine whether or not those conditions were being met.

[saddemocrat]

62. I thought...

that they gave him the authority if he refused to allowe inspectors in....If we want to blame someone, why not Bush. The dems at that time that voted for the resolution were doing it based on the 'intelligence' that they had been given. Granted, the intelligence was crap...but they were voting to protect the people...not "for Bush".

[Tesha]

79. Only the very naive could have believed they weren't inviting Bush...

Only the very naive could have believed they weren't inviting Bush
to attack. After all, hadn't his people been talking about the
need to attack Iraq since well before Bush was "elected"?

Tesha

[katinmn]

7. The voices of dissent are going to get louder.

The majority of the public, the soldiers, the Iraqis ALL want us out of Iraq.

Politicians act like they are in a different universe. When they ignore the people, all we have left is protesting and voting out those who support the immoral war based on lies.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[VegasWolf]

10. Good!!!! nt

[splat]

12. She who demonstrated against Vietnam gets it back

She worked for Gene McCarthy, fer pete's sake.

[mike_c]

11. I hope she and every other war enabling congress critter is heckled...

...everywhere they go until they apologize for their IWR vote and call for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, preferably with war crimes prosecutions for the Bush administration.

[Erika]

13. Clinton needs to own up to the Iraqi war is no longer popular

Wake up, Hillary.

[Onceuponalife]

14. Don't trample free speech rights

I dislike Hilary as much as anyone, but for cripes sake, we're supposed to be progressives here. Free speech is either for all or none. You can't have it both ways. A better way to show displeasure is to silently hold signs or turn your back to the speaker. Shouting someone down that you don't like is just pathetic.

[wtmusic]

15. Like, er, the rights of the protestors?

Cuts both ways.

[brentspeak]

18. I think you missed the point

It's not "free speech" to disrupt someone else's practice of free speech.

[pnwmom]

26. People came there to listen to Hillary. The protestors were preventing

them from doing that. If they wanted to make their point, they could have waved signs, or worn t-shirts, or done something to draw attention, other than trying to shout down the person everyone else came to hear.

When I went to hear Hillary, I had to pass a gauntlet of chanting, sign-waving protestors. Fine. But at least when I got inside I could hear her speak.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bridget Burke]

81. Such elevated discourse!

True eloquence...

[awoke_in_2003]

22. How else are we gonna

get these jerks to listen. If you write them, you get form letters from staffers in return. Emails are just ignored. We need to remind all democratic leaders where we stand.

[IndianaGreen]

46. Heckling a corrupt politician is free speech at its best

Good heckling is an art form in Britain, and we could well make use of it in this country.

[Kare]

16. Front runner?

The only ones saying she is a front is the msm
and we all know which way they lean

Repukes want Hilary to be nominated
that in itself is enough for me
to say that she shouldn't be

They think they could beat her
and I think so too... she shouldn't run

[wtmusic]

17. Like the "Some say..." FOX technique

"She is considered the front runner" without any attribution to who the hell considers her that...

typical.

[gglor]

71. I am sick of hearing that she is the front runner

bill and bush sr are thick as thieves. She is probably planning to pardon bushy after we finally get him prosecuted....she ain't it for my vote and neither is slithering kerry.

People need to check their voting history and you can see they are for big business and not for us.

[norml]

20. Front runner? In their dreams!

See post #8.

[dalaigh lllama]

73. Yeah, so "they" say

Saw Blitzer tellin results of a CNN poll that said Hillary had 39% support for an '08 run. My husband wondered who it was out there who were so gung ho for Hillary. I told him Republicans.

As for Hillary in '08? Nah... I'd rather have someone who has some vision and knows what they stand for. I'm a Gore person, myself.

Re: the hecklers. Yeah, it's easy to get in and heckle any democrat. We actually allow free speech. Let's see them try the same technique at one of Bush's "open" town hall meetings. But for them to go after Hillary for the Iraq war? Jeez, it's like someone getting beat up by a bully and then kicking a stray mutt in retaliation.

[jsamuel]

19. Anyone else thinking LBJ?

[stephinrome]

21. My favorite part of the article is...

..."her speech, which was general in tone"

On heckling, if the anti-war voice got equal time in the media, people wouldn't feel the need to interrupt a speech. Hell, myself and members of our group in Rome interrupted a live broadcast of the Today Show with Katie Couric. This is no time for Mr. Nice Guy!


(sorry, I'm new and still trying to get used to threaded replies. Mine obviously has nothing to do with LBJ)

[awoke_in_2003]

23. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[stephinrome]

24. Thanks!

At least I replied to the correct message this time ;-)

[awoke_in_2003]

27. See, nothing to it

:)

[bklyncowgirl]

28. Pro-war Democrats should get the same treatment as pro-war Republicans

I have a real problem with Hillary Clinton's position on the war.

She is for it. I predict, however, that she will modify her stance after the November election where she's expected to bury whatever hapless human sacrifice the Republicans put up against her. In order to build a high enough margin of victory to appear strong for 2008, she needs to appeal to New York's large Orthodox, rabidly pro Isreal population which are a crucial swing vote in my home state. They all vote and they vote the way they're told to vote. Once she's past that she'll be free to move left on Iraq in order to gain support from primary voters who are largely anti war.

Which brings me to the second thing I don't like about Hillary Clinton--What is it this woman believes in, anyway?

[bemildred]

30. Yes, hound them all everywhere they go.

There is no more important issue than this warmongering.

[hedgehog]

59. How large is that swing vote downstate anyways?

I'm upstate with all the Republicans so I don't know much about what goes on down in the City.

Given that the last two proposed candidates against her in the fall have already crashed and burned, just what is Hillary afraid of? If she can't speak her mind and take a firm stand on the issues in this situation, when will she?

What bothers me is that her Health Care plan got shot down in the first few months of the Clinton Administration. Fine. She had another 7 1/2years to come up with an alternative or at least to keep pushing and she did nothing. With nothing to lose, she did nothing.

[bklyncowgirl]

77. New York's Orthodox population is not very large but they vote in a block

They vote in a block, every single one of them is registered to vote and they consider it part of their religious duty to vote the way their leaders tell them to vote. In a boring election (particularly a runaway like the New York Senate race is shaping up to be) when other people say "Oh what the hell she's gonna win anyway" they are at the polling booths en mass either to reward or punish a candidate.

The Orthodox have been known to swing elections and Hilary Clinton has avidly courted them from day one. The Orthodox helped put Bill Clinton over the top in the decisive New York Primary over Jerry Brown. Brown offended this group by playing footsie with people like Gore Vidal and Al Sharpton who were considered by some to have antisemetic leanings.

Hilary hopes to win so big in New York State that she will look like a monster coming into 2008 and that she'll be able to lock up support and money. The Orthodox couldn't cause her to lose but they could cut into her margin of victory.

But then maybe I'm just being cynical.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

89. I'm not sure that you know exactly what you're talking about

I work for an Orthodox firm in NYC.

Of my three bosses (all of whom are very Orthodox), two of them are not registered to vote, and the third always votes Democratic.

And none of them consider it their "religious duty" to vote. (As I said, two of them don't vote.)

[primavera]

What Hillary believes in

Haven't you heard? She's desperately concerned that there are rated M computer games in which animated characters occasionally use the word "damn"! I know, it's shocking and obviously of far greater concern than that illegally detaining people and torturing and murdering them stuff, or using fabricated evidence to justify invading another country and butchering 100,000+ innocent civilian men, women, and children, or the skyrocketing deficit and the gap between rich people and poor people growing to rival feudalism - you know, all of that little trivial stuff that only radical lefties are concerned about. No, thank God, Hillary's not going to be concerned about that petty stuff when there's important stuff like flag-burning to be addressed!

[LostinVA]

31. I am not a fan of Hillary, she's way too conservative for me

However, she did NOT vote for the war. She did NOT vote to invade Iraq. Dislike what she did, but please make sure you know what she did.

[Laughing Mirror]

38. She voted for the Iraq War Resolution, yes she did

Makes no sense painting lipstick on a pig.

[LostinVA]

39. She voted for the Resolution, not for the invasion

I don't agree with her vote, or Kerry's, etal... but the person to be lambasting is the President, his Cabinet, and the GOP leadership, who broke Federal law. This is an illegal invasion, and was not caused by anyone's vote on the Resolution.

It's not putting lipstick on a pig. And, I am 100% against the illegal invasion on Iraq. There's enough stuff to criticize Dem Congresscritters with -- and we need to be accurate with what they've done.

[Laughing Mirror]

40. Illegal invasion aided, abetted, and made possible with that yes vote

There's no getting around it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. Good point

[QC]

32. Why do we never hear about these people heckling Republicans?

Kinda makes me wonder....

[ChairmanAgnostic]

37. they are blocked from attending by the local SS.

[BooScout]

33. Kerry voted for the war too....

I never saw any of you criticizing him about that. Most of you still think he's hot shit. :eyes:

[IndianaGreen]

47. Kerry and Edwards have repented of their votes, and Kerry is calling

for an end to the war by year's end. Your heroine Hillary is silently approving what Bush does. She even opposes censure of Bush, something that even Kerry supports.

[BooScout]

56. I never said she was my heroine....

You presume too much. BTW, Kerry dragged his feet on censure as well.......he's wishy washy just like most of the Dems are these days. Very few of them have the guts to do much of anything.

BTW, I don't personally think we should be leaving Iraq until we try and fix what the hell we broke. If we leave Iraq now we leave them all to the mercy of the wolves. Leaving Iraq should not be about what is best for America, it should be about what is best for the Iraqis.

[IndianaGreen]

57. Leaving Iraq now is what Iraqi people wants us to do!

The hell with those Iraqi collaborators that live in the safety and comfort of the Green Zone! Let Chalabi meet his fate!

[karynnj]

90. dragged his feet on censure?

His office told people he was likely to vote for it from day 1. He has said yes a few times in interviews. He is one of about five Senators supporting it - that's not really dragging his feet.

Why not use the same logic on the Senators unwilling to sign a letter to the Senate Intelligence committee to investigate the DSM and the entire part 2 of WMD?

[acmavm]

35. Interesting as always to note how we love republicans who are pro-war

being heckled. But not a quisling dem. Interesting.

<snip>Her only direct reference to the Iraq war was to decry the substandard equipment issued to American soldiers...
<snip>
Pure Hillary. Now if they were under 18 and playing Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, that's another story.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

36. this is a good thing. The more anti-war voices they hear, the better their

decisions will be.

Hillary will see the light. Hopefully.

[Zodiak]

43. I have to agree with the protesters here

Her contnued complicity in this illegal war is more damning than her initial vote for it. And yes, I am aware of the issue of the letter of the law with the IWR, but since she has never disavowed her part in it, she stands complicit.

I will not vote for her in the primary and look forward to working for progressive candidates who offer more to Democrats than a famous face.

[OutNow]

51. Senator Clinton - Bring the Troops Home Now

Support for Senator Clinton's presidential bid is the only disagreement that I've had with my wife in years. She is a Clinton supporter, I will not support any candidate for office that supports Bush's Iraq war. I am a Vietnam-era vet and a vocal supporter of Cindy Sheehan. After spending time at Camp Casey last summer I will never support a pro-war candidate. Never. And I'm not alone.

Bring the Troops Home Now

[fshrink]

52. "Is it leadership to support the war?"

Good, unanswered, question. The answer is "No". Why? Because it is following, at best trying to surf a political wave, but certainly not leading, which always contains a measure of risk.

[Terran1212]

54. How democracy works (for clinton supporters):

You petition and protest your elected leaders to do what you want.

Hilary should listen to the people and do what we want: an end to this war.

I've seen her speak in favor of this war before (in person). It's just stupid lip service.

She needs to respond to the people.

Or she has to go (replaced by someone else).

[Hardrada]

55. That seems clear enough!

I do wish she would at least try to redeem herself or she will be thought heartless and self-serving.

[niallmac]

60. Sadly, Hillary has demonstrated that she cannot seize

the moment by 'leading'. She has ever so cautiously tested the bath water
with each and every utterance and move so as not to go against the status quo.
I think that national health care fiasco traumatized her.

[long_green]

58. I'll say this for DLC, I mean HRC

at least she speaks at forums where she CAN be heckled, unlike representatives of an administration I know.

[MODemocrat]

61. Hillary did NOT start this damned bloody war- Bush did for no reason

She's not the only one who voted for the "war"; just like the others who voted for it, she was lied to just as we were. It's easy to do the Monday Night football game; but, we didn't know what the Bush terrorists were up to either. I've hated this war from day one; and it doesn't make me happy for anyone to support it; but the fact remains, a lot of people don't like the thought of a woman being president
and any excuse to tear Hillary down, is what they'll do.

Go ahead, flambast me; It really doesn't matter; I don't want anymore of the George W. Bush Regime if I
can help it, so I'll concentrate on his crimes, not pick on Hillary or John Kerry. :evilfrown: :mad: :smoke: :grr: :dem:

[saddemocrat]

63. Exactly

I agree 100%

Quite frankly, I'll vote for Donald Duck this time around if it bring the republicans out of office.

[VegasWolf]

66. Exactly, let's vote for anything that has a (D) after their name,

regardless of how vile or corrupt or Zell Millerish or Joe Liebermanish or ...

They don't want ot get out of Vietnam, err Iraq, well then why should that bother the voters.

:sarcasm:

[saddemocrat]

69. not what was said

but...since you're on that little rampage...if they did get nominated, why don't you work against them and support some third rate candidate who won't get elected and hand the white house over to the repugs for 8 more years.

[VegasWolf]

72. U got it!!!! That is exactly what I and a whole bunch of liberals are

going to do. My vote, and my money, will go to a candidate who is against the war. If a DINO is the only choice, then I will go 3rd Party. From this time on I will vote my conscience, not for a little letter. If I had know the pathetic representation we received by voting 2004 for clowns like Lieberman suckling up to the president, with the failure to support the Alito filibuster, the continued support for Bush's Oil War by many Dems, and the general ineffectiveness of the party, I would have voted for Nader. If Hillary wins the primary, then I will support Nader next time.

[IndianaGreen]

74. Has Hillary called for the troops to come home, or censuring Bush?

The answer: No and No!

[Raine]

67. Unfortunately

heckling her will make her more acceptable to some moderates. x( If Hillary becomes the nominee we're doomed. :-(

[JohnnyLib]

68. the fat lady hasn't sung.....

I don't like HRC's Iraq position either, but to underestimate her seems just plain foolish. Anything can happen in the next year while the preliminaries go on and the current administration continues to sink.

[Name removed]

70. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Old Vet]

76. IMHO Hillary is way overrated-We need fire this time-

If and a big IF, We win one of the houses this year Feingold will be a hero. There will be articles of impeachment presented, It will be a joyous time in history.I still believe in the people, Alot of these wrongs will be righted-I gotta believe in us.

[Bridget Burke]

82. It's just :"too hard" to heckle Republicans....

I don't love Hilary but will vote for her if she is Nominated.

[drduffy]

85. Hillary is an opportunist, a hypocrite and a corporatist.... 3 strikes

[Joey Liberal]

92. I don't feel sorry for her n.t

[genieroze]

93. Good for them. She's a DINO.

[TriMetFan]

94. I like Mrs. Clinton, BUT....

she has pissed me off with her vote on the war. She should just come out and make it clear she was wrong.