State officialdom caved yesterday to the Occupy Nashville protest group in their legal claim (which is correct) that they have a right to gather for protest on Legislative Plaza, and that the curfew which the State suddenly and unceremoniously attempted to impose upon them was and is unconstitutional-which it is-because it was an attempt aimed solely at getting the protesters to leave the Capitol. Meanwhile, Public Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons attempted to defend the disgraceful arrest of a reporter Friday night, saying that he wasn't wearing press credentials and because State Troopers "smelled alcohol" they didn't ask him to produce press credentials. How easy is it for a police officer simply to say "I smelled alcohol" and use that as a justification to do whatever on God's green earth that they please? Nowhere in his official reply did Commissioner Gibbons address the apparent accounts of eyewitnesses that the officers present were told that Jonathan Meador was a member of the press by other media who were present, and those officers were said to have then threatened other members of the press.
This entire episode has been a pox on Governor Bill Haslam's administration, which began with record goodwill and high approval ratings. Because of the apparent decisions of the Governor and the Public Safety Commissioner this past Friday and Saturday night, Occupy Nashville went from being a Left-leaning protest movement that had little in common with their fellow-citizens across the State, to a movement about the meaning of free speech, freedom of assembly, and even a free press in our State. It is well-known that this writer does not agree with the politics being espoused by the Occupy Nashville people on the Plaza, but he will fight to the death for their right to express those views in freedom. That is why some people from the conservative side of the political spectrum have been supporting the right of the protesters to be on the Plaza even while they oppose the ideas those protestors are espousing. "I do not think they should be banned from protesting at the capitol," Senator Stacey Campfield (R-Knoxville) said, "they should have the right to assemble as long as it is it is peaceful and they are not hurting anyone. If you cant protest at the State Capitol where can you protest?" Former State GOP Communications Director Bill Hobbs, who served under former State Chairman Robin Smith in one of the most conservative State party organizations in modern Tennessee history, called the situation "embarrassing" in several tweets over the weekend.
The big question for Occupy Nashville is this: The Governor's political miscalculation has backfired and garnered you some goodwill you did not previously have. Will you use that wisely and make your protest more legitimate, or will you just continue to sit there without a clear, resonating message and squander the biggest opportunity you have to build your political brand in Tennessee?
Comments