[The Shadow]

Gov. Rick Scott came to The Villages recently to sign his budget in what was more like a campaign whistle-stop with crowds and banners and speeches than a traditional, low-key signing event.

One little problem: When an elected official invites more than 80,000 people in a community — even the adoring Villages — to cheer him on, there are bound to be a few folks in the crowd who think he's an idiot. They may even wish to express that notion.

Oh, horror of horrors! We can't have that, can we?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...4998003.column

[Whalen]

Originally Posted by The Shadow

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...4998003.column

Thanks Shadow, interesting article.

Anyone want to start a pool to guess how long it takes for this thread to go into political?

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by Whalen

Thanks Shadow, interesting article.

Anyone want to start a pool to guess how long it takes for this thread to go into political?

It already has. I win the pool!

[Larry Wilson]

This story has been in newspapers in Florida for over a week. I read some from Polk county and Tallahassee. Reporters from other places were here for the event and they did not write favorably of what they saw.

[Taj44]

It was disgraceful. I was embarrased that something like that would happen in The Villages.

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by Taj44

It was disgraceful. I was embarrased that something like that would happen in The Villages.

It is standard operating procedure here in TV as all serve at the behest of his ....................

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Taj44

It was disgraceful. I was embarrased that something like that would happen in The Villages.

or even in Florida.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by rubicon

It is standard operating procedure here in TV as all serve at the behest of his ....................

I have not seen anywhere that what you are implying has been reported. Could you help me understand?

[tony]

Keep it non-political and the post will stay where it is. There is no reason to make it political.

[CMANN]

Artical by TV hater!

C

[nitakk]

This story was also on Rachel Maddow on MSNBC - I got a call from my brother in Arizona who saw it. Proud to live in TV? Not so much. When the freedom to dissent at a political event is denied (and this was a political event), we are all the losers.
I guess I better get permission from the developer before I walk through town square since it is his "private" property.

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by rubicon

It is standard operating procedure here in TV as all serve at the behest of his ....................

Originally Posted by nitakk

This story was also on Rachel Maddow on MSNBC - I got a call from my brother in Arizona who saw it. Proud to live in TV? Not so much. When the freedom to dissent at a political event is denied (and this was a political event), we are all the losers.
I guess I better get permission from the developer before I walk through town square since it is his "private" property.

Rubicon and Nitakk,
Many things in TV, like it or not, are controlled by the developer. However, in this case, the linked editorial does not allege that the developer was responsible for having the anti-governor attendees moved.

News items and first-person accounts have stated that the governor's staff and Lake Sumter deputies ordered the unwanted guests moved. Lt. Bobby Caruthers was quoted as saying it was unclear to the deputies involved who gave the orders; but no one involved has implicated the developer as being responsible. In this case, some evidence points to the governor's staff, but not to the developer.

It would not surprise me if person(s) who were ordered to move file a civil suit. Don't know whether they would prevail. However, it is embarrassing that this happened in TV because I fear that others will also rush to judgement against TV when in this instance, there is no evidence that TV played a role in moving any of the attendees.

[Taj44]

Besides being embarrasing for The Villages, the incident really made the Sheriff's office look like a bunch of dopes. Sounds like some guy in a suit, probably a PR man for the Guv, ordered the protesters thrown out, and the deputies just followed along like a couple of nitwits.

[Tbugs]

Oh, come on now - People were not "thrown out". Some were asked to move across the street about 100 feet away. That is standard procedure for political ceremonies. There was no goon squad with clubs and water cannons and German Shepherd dogs like the civil rights marchers faced in the 1960's. All the security and deputies were very polite to everyone. No arrests were made.

Unless you were there, you only get a second-hand story and we all know how those go. You can read about it in different newspapers and get completely different accounts.

[NJblue]

I'm not sure what the embarrassment is about. As others have noted, it is standard operating procedure to segregate protesters. It happens on both sides of the political fence. Here is a Youtube showing protesters at an Obama event - notice the barricades keeping the protesters away from the rest of the population who are allowed to go freely? What is different about the Scott rally that protesters think that they should be allowed to go where ever they wanted to?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mczeoc5XBGw[/ame]