In today's Washington Post, Dan Froomkin has an item in his White House Watch column about the Denver Three (who were thrown out of a 2004 Bush campaign event in Denver because of their anti-Bush bumper sticker). The item includes a link, courtesy the ACLU, to the White House's official "Presidential Advance Manual." This is the document that lays out all the steps in preparing for a presidential visit. The manual became available through a deposition in a separate court case in West Virginia.
As Froomkin notes, the manual has been heavily redacted -- whole pages and sections are excised -- but it still offers a remarkable view behind the scenes. Much of the remaining text discusses how to handle "protestors" and "demonstrators."
Always be prepared for demonstrators, even if the local organization tells you that there will not be any. It is the responsibility of the Lead Advance to have in place an effective plan for dealing with demonstrators.
And what does our White House recommend as a healthy part of preparing for dastardly demonstrators?
The formation of "rally squads" is a common way to prepare for demonstrators by countering their message. The tactic involves using small groups of volunteers to spread favorable messages using large hand held signs, placards, or perhaps a long sheet banner and placing them in strategic areas around the site.
These squads should be instructed always to look for demonstrators. The rally squad's task is to use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform. If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protestors (USA! USA! USA!). As a last resort, security should remove the demonstrators from the event site. The rally squads can include, but are not limited to, college/young republican organizations, local athletic teams, and fraternities/sororities.
That last sentence just plain freaks me out. There it is, available for anyone who has ever doubted that this administration's fascist tendencies are real, and hardly subliminal... for any college Republican, high school athlete, or fraternity/sorority member who has ever wondered whether they are regarded as anything more than willing props and tools... for anyone who ever wonders what has kept Karl Rove up at night ever since his own days as a young, controlling, insecure college Republican.
I'm actually a little mystified. Why release what they did? Was the White House worried that if they didn't give the court the minimum -- just what it wanted -- they'd have to open up the whole thing? The manual is apparently 103 pages long, and maybe 6 or 7 pages are actually made available here. One can only imagine what the rest of the it has to offer. What do you think?