Red Rover Red Rover Send Rove Right Over!

The folks over at the Charge respond to our "Rock the Vote" series below by again arguing that by attending Nader rallies en masse , Democrats in Oregon are equally as "bad" as Republicans who have plead guilty to criminal conduct for illegally and purposefully keeping citizens from actually voting for a candidate.

Here's how the Charge characterizes the actions of Democrats:
Democrats nefariously preventing Republicans from signing a petition in Oregon
Democrats, including party officials it would seem, tried to disrupt a gathering of citizens, including Republicans

Here's how the Charge characterizes the actions of Republicans
Exercising their right to assemble and petition
You don't get to question their motive - people vote for all kinds of reasons, some of which you might not like.

Now, I should clarify my position. If the Democrats are doing anything illegal, as the Republicans have admitted to doing in New Hampshire and have been formally accused of doing in Oregon, then of course I condemn it. However, so far the only "fact" the Charge is basing its wild accusations upon is a statement by Ralph Nader that

"Democrats crowded into a meeting hall, kept other people out and gave the false impression that they had signed petitions for him."

Now, Nader is obviously irritated that non-supporters would exercise their right to assemble right along with his fake supporters. However, we can't question the motive of the folks assembling. People assemble for all kinds of reasons, some of which Nader might not like.

So really, the basis of the Charge's charge is Nader's contention that the Democrats "kept other people out" of the Nader assembly.

How? Mace? Random street beatings? Firehoses? Unmuzzled dogs? Stink bombs? Meanspirited taunting? A large and intimidating red rover line across the doorway?

Or was it simply the fact that Nader is upset that the Democrats were there taking up space? No way. Couldn't be. In fact, the Charge calls that a "weak spin" of the "disruption" (the Charge's word, not Nader's). Understandably, the Charge ends this strange dissertation not with any actual facts to support their weird conclusion that the Democrats were illegally disrupting a lawful assembly of citizens, but with an exhortation condemning the consideration of context when making judgments. How appropriate.