America Has Only One Free Speech Zone
Worcester, Mass, March 31: Libertarian Presidential candidate George Phillies today condemned the use of 'free speech zones' that hide demonstrators from the press. "The United States has only one free zone, Phillies said. "Our free speech zone is called America. It starts at the Pacific, crosses shining hills and amber waves of grain to the Atlantic, and extends to wherever Old Glory flies or American citizens stand. Those who say otherwise are speaking against our country.
"In recent years, Presidential candidates have used Federal secret police bodyguards to herd demonstrators away from the press intoso-called 'free speech zones.' Many of those zones have been cages surrounded by fencing or barbed wire. Once demonstrators are locked up, candidates can pretend no one disagrees with them, because opponents are out of sight.
"A candidate who hides from his critics behind lines of barbed wire is a craven coward. He is unfit to sit in the Oval Office. If your Presidential candidate is afraid of a few teenagers in silk-screened tee-shirts, what will he do against a foreign tyrant with an army?
"Our Constitution guarantees the right of Americans to assemble peaceably. Free speech zones attack our Constitution and Bill of Rights, because they advocate the claim that rights only exist where our government says they do.
"These 'Free Speech' cages depend on our consent. They exist because we stay silent. A few Americans can be herded like sheep into pens. Ten thousand Americans, peaceably assembled to protect by our peaceable presence the free speech of our fellow Americans, will not herd. The choice is yours.
"If you want a President who is not afraid of his fellow Americans, please support me. This fall, vote Libertarian. You can count on a Libertarian president to sit in the Oval Office, not to cower under the Presidential desk."
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