Singing is Not Allowed?
By Bruce Allison
I remember Safety Service Security Officer Keith Troy, Badge Number #4810 saying: " You need a permit to sing inside of the capital. "You are supposed to be seen, but not heard." Now, we got details about the September 20th HAT (Healthcare Action Team) and CARA (California Alliance of Retired Americans) to go to Sacramento to see the overnator? On the bus journey to Sacramento, we stopped off twice to pick up two more CARA members at the El Cerrito del Norte and Richmond BART stations. Then, we continued on to Sacramento. On the bus, Jodi Reed, Director of CARA, read us the bills that we wanted the Governator to sign, because we were supposed to meet with him. We got into the State Capitol at 10:00 a.m. and went to the Eureka Room to have some breakfast. There, we heard good news that he signed one of our bills. As we left the Eureka Room, we began singing chants for senior healthcare as Jodi walked into the Governator
office to confirm our scheduled appointment with the Governator. Everything was fine, until two TV stations showed up and began filming us singing. That is when we got fined by a Highway Patrol officer for singing in the hallway near the Governator
office. He told us that we needed a permit. I remember the day earlier that Jodi called the State Capitol to get the permit to sing in the State Capital hallway, but they just laughed at her and told her that she didn
need one. Yet, we were charged with making noise near the Governator
office, because we were interfering with government business. When this had happened, our leaders were taken away to a back hallway area, where they were berated like children by several Highway Patrol officers, telling us that we were not allowed to draw attention to ourselves, saying: "We can take you outside to do your
reedom of Speech?" After Jodi came out of the Governator office, she told us that even though we were booked for an in-person meeting with the Governator, they arbitrarily decided, that we would not be seen, because we were too noisy out in the hallway. When did the United States become a dictatorship? As a Veteran, I am now embarrassed that I am a U.S. Citizen and I feel that I am in an enslaved society.
