That First Amendment of the Constitution and its freedom to assemble. What a load! Thankfully, George W. Bush and the State Department's Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy get it. They've banned all state department officials from attending Democratic candidate Barack Obama's speech tonight in Berlin.
You know, wouldn't want the citizens of Germany to think American officials are engaged in partisan political activities. Just THINK of what that would do to the reputation of the U.S.
Now, in fairness, "partisan political activity" is prohibited under the department's regulations for overseas service. But a columnist at HuffPo points out this is a rather strict interpretation of this regulation. Even Kennedy would agree with that.
From the Washington Post:
In the interview, Kennedy described the regulation as "a standing
policy," although he acknowledged that "I don't believe we've ever had
to interpret this before. None of us thinking about this could come up
with a precedent" for the Obama campaign rally.
What do you think? Expected? Fair? Giving you that creepy "this is what it must have felt like in East Germany in the 70s"?
Photo: salon.com
