Photographed by Alexander Chi

by Glenn Averoigne

I read an article in the Dallas Morning News last Tuesday about the ground breaking ceremony for the George W. Bush Presidential Library being built on the Southern Methodist University (SMU) campus. This in and of itself hardly sparked my interest, being less than pleased with the eight years under the Bush administration; however, I found the photograph that accompanied the article somewhat striking.

There was a photo, hidden in the back page of the article of several protesters in black cloaks and white masks carrying signs with the names, I read, of individuals killed during the Wars on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The striking thing about this picture wasn’t the protesters though; it was the two lines of Sheriff’s officials, with SHERRIF printed clearly on the front of their riot gear.

And, yes, you read that right, riot gear.

The last time I checked, which was a while ago, mind, the government telling people they were not allowed to protest was unconstitutional. I also vaguely recall something in the first amendment about the right for citizens to peacefully protest when they are less than pleased with things. Many conservatives are taking full advantage of their right to protest with regard to the choices of president Obama. As much as I may dislike George Bush, I respect the right of the individuals involved and SMU to bar protesters from what was a private, by invitation only event.

What really irks me about the whole thing is not so much that these peaceful protesters were barred from close proximity to former president Bush and his supporters, but that the same restrictions are not placed on those protesting speeches given by our current, in-office-right-now-at-this-very-moment president.

I was appalled to find that when president Obama gave a speech at the University of Wisconsin in September, protesters refused to use the designated “Free-Speech Zone” for their protests and at no point, according to the Isthmus paper out of Madison, WI, were they asked to return to the designated zone.

Why is it perfectly acceptable to defy public policy to protest our current president, but peaceful protest within earshot of the politicians responsible for sending American troops into Afghanistan and Iraq is somehow prevented by my tax dollars?

My other slightly less important rage with regard to this story boiled over when reading through the comments people had with regard to the demonstrators. Instead of responding with sensible comments about the right to free speech and peaceful protest, many remarked that wearing masks and covering their faces was cowardly. Never mind the intent of the protest: to represent the many nameless, faceless individuals who have lost their lives since the Wars on Terror began in 2001.

Nameless, faceless individuals like Sa’adiya Saddam, an eight year-old child who died in February of 2009, caught in the crossfire of two nations at war.