I’ve seen this video several times and I have to admit that this student does not appear to be at this speech simply to listen and to ask a question — he was there to make a statement.  He was fired up with anger and passion and does not seem eager to yield the floor or actually allow time for his questions to be answered.  But we actually don’t know that.  He was never given a chance to finish his questions before his mic was cut.  He was not being abusive.  He was not being profane.  He was being insistent and persistent.  And they shut him up.  

Now, what the hell were the officials thinking?  From the looks of this, we have an overly reactive police force trying to deal — six on one — with an obviously distressed young man.  The background conversation is hard to understand, but Kerry at one point  says “…if we would all just calm down…,” “…(inaudible) unfortunately he’s not available to come up here and swear me in as president,” and later  ”(inaudible) …let me just (inaudible) because it’s a very important question…,” while the young man was screaming repeatedly “don’t taser me” and “why am I being arrested”. I for one would like to have responses for all of those comments. 

The three questions posed by this young man were:

• Why did Kerry concede the 2004 election so soon in light of the obivous discrepancies in voting standards and the claims of disenfranchisement already being made?
• Why does Kerry not now call for the impeachment of Bush?
• Did Kerry indeed belong to Skull and Bones.

I think they, regardless of the “truth” behind this series of videos now popping up all over the web, deserve to be addressed.  Perhaps they would have been.  Perhaps they still will be.  But I think we should keep asking them.  Especially the second question.  That one is the one most pertinent to the present.  Why isn’t Kerry, and the whole damned cowardly Congress, calling for the impeachment of Bush and Company?

I asked on this blog a long time ago where the college voices are.  Where are the young people who so fervently spoke out against the Vietnam War?  Well, here they are and they are being silenced.  In the noxious political climate in which we are now engaged we should expect the anger and passion and distress this young man evidenced.  We should encourge it.  In fact we should foster it.  We have a president who lies to get us into a war, lies to keep up in that war, and lies to retain his place in the White House.  We should all be at these speeches (and everywhere else) holding our politicians’ feet to the fire. Especially the Democrats’.