Next week will be pretty exciting:

FORT LAUDERDALE -- When President Bush and the top diplomats from 34 Western Hemisphere nations gather here, swarms of security agents will clamp down on the area to ensure they can meet without distractions.

But protesters are arguing that some of the protections for the three-day Organization of American States General Assembly starting Sunday are "draconian" restrictions on their First Amendment rights and will keep them far from the event.

"Convening diplomats will be able to talk about democracy, but they won't get to see it practiced," said Carol Sobel, an attorney for activist groups suing over security efforts.

Personally, wherever the protestors are there are bound to be live video feeds and reporters. I don't think anyone's first ammendment rights are being forsaken here. After all, they don't let picketers into the Oval Office...

This is where the business is being conducted. They deserve enough privacy to conduct it.

Give it a rest.

UPDATE: (6/11/05) Here's a little something for the scrapbook. I was responsible for some server equipment that was located inside of the OAS Inner Perimeter, so I got one of these neat passes. :)

I never used it, but it's still a nice addition to the scrapbook, eh?

Posted by Michael at June 3, 2005 07:23 PM