What happens when The Dear Leader comes to town

York Staters blog has a first hand account of how she experienced President Bush's visit to Canandaigua, in western New York.

Protesters were herded about a mile away from where the president was speaking to his hand-picked audience. This is actually quite typical for the administration to insist protesters be so far away from the president that they can't be heard.

(Warning: her account uses some fairly harsh language.)

Apparently, liberties are suspended when The Dear Leader Who's On A Sacred Crusade to Spread Freedom and Democracy comes to town. Or least restricted to "free speech zones."

The First Amendment guarantees the right of the people 'to petition the government for a redress of grievances.'

It doesn't restrict this right to "free spech zones." It doesn't restrict this right to supporters of the president or undecided voters. It doesn't restrict this right to people hand-picked by the president's staff.

I wonder if this blog will be considered a "free speech zone" if my town is ever subjected to hosting this president.

It's telling that this administration tries to restrict free speech to small, distant zones ANY TIME it thinks it can. It's revealing that the president's underlings want to make sure the president is subjected as rarely as possible to free speech not pre-selected by them.

Contrast this to the presidency of another conservative, Ronald Reagan. Reagan was not only not afraid of hecklers, but he was often able to use his wit and charm to make political hay out of them. When he remained cool and witty in the face of intemperate critics, he benefited politically. He presented the image of someone comfortable with himself, calm when faced with the unexpected. If he were in good control of himself, people thought he was in good control of the country. President Bush presents the opposite image.

It seems this president is under the delusion that he's commander-in-chief of the entire country, instead of just the armed forces. A delusion no one has bothered to disabuse him or his staff of.

For years, there has been heavy security around any presidential visit, but as with so many other things, this administration has taken it to unprecedented new levels.