Pin the Bush on the Flag and Impeach Cheney (and Bush)

August 21, 2007 11:23 AM

Asheville likes to play: Pin the Bush on the Flag and Pass the Impeach Cheney (and Bush).
posted by paulinsanjuan (37 comments total)

An update to "Flag Fight" here.
posted by paulinsanjuan at 11:24 AM on August 21, 2007

I love the idea that displaying an "Impeach Cheney (and Bush)" sign is criminal because it distracts drivers.

I'm assuming that the US no longer has those massive billboards near highways any more. It's been a few years since I've been over, so I can see how I'd have missed that change.
posted by imperium at 11:42 AM on August 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

I love how he was handcuffed and photographed, including his tattoos.

Come with me, Citizen.
posted by Big_B at 11:46 AM on August 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

The cop in the first story, who also served in Iraq, really just makes me wish for more IED's in Iraq. Hopefully they'll send his stupid ass back there.
posted by quarter waters and a bag of chips at 12:00 PM on August 21, 2007

Asheville is full of hippies. They need a little smacking around every now and then.
posted by zzazazz at 12:01 PM on August 21, 2007

I just hate it when people do the right thing and jump through all those little legal hoops, and some bastard decides he just has to arrest them violently anyway. Well, I hope he had fun. God knows he's not on the force out of any sense of right or duty.
posted by tehloki at 12:04 PM on August 21, 2007

AMERICA LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
posted by DU at 12:14 PM on August 21, 2007

The cop in the first story, who also served in Iraq, really just makes me wish for more IED's in Iraq. Hopefully they'll send his stupid ass back there.

Stay classy, chief.
posted by billysumday at 12:16 PM on August 21, 2007 [2 favorites]

The cop in the first story, who also served in Iraq, really just makes me wish for more IED's in Iraq. Hopefully they'll send his stupid ass back there.

Yeah, I'm going to have to go ahead and say that you're an asshole.
posted by SweetJesus at 12:40 PM on August 21, 2007 [5 favorites]

That cop in the first story, Christ what an asshole.
posted by notsnot at 12:44 PM on August 21, 2007 [2 favorites]

...really just makes me wish for more IED's in Iraq.

Jerk.

Well, I hope the county sheriff's office likes getting sued, because boy, are they going to get sued!

And whoever the C.O is at the armory - if he isn't making it crystal clear to the guardsmen who hang out there that the couple's right to use the flag the way they did is one of the rights the guardsmen have sworn to uphold, well, he's a jerk, too.
posted by rtha at 12:48 PM on August 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

That cop in the first story, Christ what an asshole.

Agreed. But so is the guy who said this.
posted by dersins at 12:51 PM on August 21, 2007

In related news --

Civil liberties are in jeopardy — ‘it happened to us.’

After being arrested, but not charged, on July 4, 2004 for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts at a rally for President Bush, Nicole and Jeffrey Rank of Corpus Christie, TX sued the federal government. Last week, they settled with the government for $80,000. The Ranks appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball last night, arguing that “civil liberties continue to be in jeopardy” and that they “didn’t realize it until it happened to us.” Crooks and Liars has the video here.

posted by ericb at 12:56 PM on August 21, 2007

Would the officer himself be subject to suit for assault or would he be protected?
posted by a robot made out of meat at 1:05 PM on August 21, 2007

Holding up a sign counts as blogging now?
posted by brain cloud at 1:05 PM on August 21, 2007

I love officers who arrest first and decide what law it is that you're breaking later. Is the chief there not elected? Is whoever appoints those in charge of the department not elected? Democracy anybody?
posted by a robot made out of meat at 1:11 PM on August 21, 2007

I'm puzzled. On what basis would a county officer pursue a matter like this in city limits? There was no hot pursuit, no danger or life-threatening situation and no request for assistance. It would seem to be a civil matter for the Asheville police - and, unless they request assistance, only the the Asheville police.
On the face of it the officer in question appears to be a complete twit.
posted by speug at 1:12 PM on August 21, 2007

I'm puzzled. On what basis would a county officer pursue a matter like this in city limits? There was no hot pursuit, no danger or life-threatening situation and no request for assistance. It would seem to be a civil matter for the Asheville police - and, unless they request assistance, only the the Asheville police.
On the face of it the officer in question appears to be a complete twit.
posted by speug at 1:12 PM on August 21, 2007

speug, as I understand it, jurisdiction only applies to the courts. If an officer observes you violating a law, he can arrest you (well, anyone can, but an officer is shielded from certain liabilities you're not). Now, there are procedural questions that might be raised, but I'm pretty sure he's well within the law.

What's more interesting is the arrest-him-now-and-pick-a-violation-later approach.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 1:40 PM on August 21, 2007

Holding up a sign counts as blogging now?

FreewayBlogger.com. (Previously).
posted by ericb at 2:15 PM on August 21, 2007

To be fair, he was relying on the "Because I Said So" statute.
posted by InfidelZombie at 2:17 PM on August 21, 2007 [2 favorites]

Man this is some scary/deppressing shit. But I also wonder if this isn't a bit like the UCLA taser case where the individual officer was already kind of a nutcase.
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 2:19 PM on August 21, 2007

A friend of mine, over the weekend, was stopped while walking home, manhandled, generally mistreated, and kept half-naked in a cold cell for twelve hours.

The police don't need a reason.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:41 PM on August 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

From a comment in that first link:

In addition to being a former Deputy, SSgt. Radford is also Deputy Scarborough’s direct superior in the National Guard MP unit. Nobody’s really talking about that, either.

Radford was the guy that originally called in the complaint against the people displaying the flag; Scarborough was the cop who resonped to the complaint. I think this is pretty clearly not about a lone nutjob officer.
posted by maryh at 2:43 PM on August 21, 2007

Asheville is an absolutely wonderful town.
posted by lazaruslong at 2:48 PM on August 21, 2007

“It’s not our job to judge whether it’s constitutional.”

..said the Pig.
posted by Liquidwolf at 3:09 PM on August 21, 2007

Around here, the signs just say, ' IMPEACH THEM '. Everyone understands.

Kudos to the residents of Asheville for continuing to excercise their rights.
posted by zennie at 3:12 PM on August 21, 2007

It's obviously not too epidemic there since in both cases they were approached by other cops, and told they weren't doing anything wrong before the dickheads arrested them. There's assholes in every group, even (gasp) MeFi. Unfortunately these cops are assholes with the ability to make your life miserable.
posted by Eekacat at 3:22 PM on August 21, 2007

AMERICA LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!

I'm only so-so these days. Can I just live on the border?
posted by YoBananaBoy at 3:36 PM on August 21, 2007 [3 favorites]

Asheville is a very interesting place where there is a strong artist/hippie/counter culture population mixed in with the 'Hill Williams' of the mountains of Western North Carolina. It is a wonderful town, but there are some interesting tensions and dynamics.
posted by UseyurBrain at 5:02 PM on August 21, 2007

Impeach them, they say. And replace them with what?
posted by ZachsMind at 5:30 PM on August 21, 2007

W00t Ashvegas representin'

Yes, this was really out of character, as political protest is more or less an expectation enforced by your neighborhood associations.
posted by moonbird at 6:12 PM on August 21, 2007

Yes, this was really out of character, as political protest is more or less an expectation enforced by your neighborhood associations.

This is exactly what I love about Asheville. The social pressure is there as in every community, but it's to be more kind, to each other and the earth.

Asheville has the sort of social inertia that to me will eventually see it as one of the only self-sustainable villages in the US already functioning and in harmony come the end of cheap oil.
posted by lazaruslong at 6:38 PM on August 21, 2007

Not too long ago (within the past 6 months) we had signs on highway bypasses over here, saying "Support the Troops" and displaying American flags. Of course that isn't considered distracting...

We also have a problem with sign thieves here. Conservative-ideal signs flourish fine, but recently a good deal of "End the War - Support the Troops" signs were stolen. And I just don't mean a single neighborhood incident, I mean a lot. During the 2004 elections I had two Kerry signs stolen.

If I have any point to all of this, it is that whatever the beliefs of those in charge in your area may be are the beliefs that are going to be enforced, one way or the other. I didn't mention I live two minutes away from our local House representative, an ardent Republican.
posted by deacon_blues at 8:24 PM on August 21, 2007

1. Looks like they were right to have the flag in "distress mode"
2. It's telling that it was the county and not the city police who got involved. I'm guessing that the Scarborough and Radford are chums. Scarborough understood that if he tried to pass jurisdiction over to Ashville, then they would go soft on them, since they're a bunch of damn hippies.
3. This is a psychic wound not necessarily unique to America but still one that needs to be resolved -- the huge disconnect between the largely left urban population and the conservative rural population. I think we might begin to see (if we haven't already) a form of geographic political segregation, which will lead to even more disconnect. It doesn't help that there is, in additional to the purely political aspect, lots of cultural and economic factors as well.

posted by Deathalicious at 4:51 AM on August 22, 2007

On the first link about flag desecration, shouldn't we arrest Bush first?

I've seen a photo of him desecrating a flag with an ink pen.
posted by nofundy at 6:31 AM on August 22, 2007

Always nice when the hometown makes the news. Sigh. Yeah, we have some idiot cops here but that's hardly unique. I'm happy to report that the Honk to Impeach people on the overpass are back and have been all week.

oh, and Speug asked about why it was a county cop - there's a lot of overlap between Buncombe County & Asheville proper. As I understand it, county police have full jurisdiction in the county, which includes all of Asheville. The sheriff's office is right downtown and it's usually sheriff's office who take care of traffic violations and a lot of that sort of day to day stuff. You actually see them more than city police, who are usually only spotted downtown. In West Asheville, where the first incident took place (and where I live) it's almost always Buncombe County cops driving around.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:34 AM on August 22, 2007