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by Diane Carman
It was the teensiest bit unnerving to be a spectator at the Republican National Convention last summer in those moments when the massive security at Madison Square Garden was breached.
It happened every night. Usually a nonbeliever who had infiltrated the party's volunteer corps would erupt in a full-throated "No more lies" protest in one of the aisles.
At the first peep of dissent, a throng of burly guards would swarm the dastardly demonstrator. Thousands of delegates would immediately begin chanting, "Four more years! Four more years!" in thunderous unison.
The heretic would be removed and the delegates would smile, return to their seats and resume blissfully waving the signs for the night's carefully choreographed theme.
It rarely even made the papers.
It was no big deal. This was a party gig, after all. The Republicans paid for the convention and they had every right to screen the audience, control the message and silence anyone who strayed from the script.
But once the party faithful get used to that kind of, well, efficiency, upholding the Bill of Rights after the election can be such a drag.
Which brings us to March 21 at the president's town hall meeting on Social Security privatization. (Note: This was not a party function.)
Karen Bauer, Alex Young and Leslie Weise were removed from the event because they dared to arrive in a car with a bumper sticker that said, "No More Blood for Oil." They also admit to wearing Democratic underwear.
The identity of the bouncer, dressed to look like a Secret Service agent, has remained a stubborn secret despite demands from congressmen, senators and lawyers for the three ejected audience members.
Last week in an interview with Fox News reporter Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, White House spokesman Trent Duffy came perilously close to saying the guy was a federal employee.
He said that White House advance teams handled logistics for these events. "From what I was told, it was fairly obvious to them that they had plans to disrupt the event. ... It was a judgment call," he said.
Wait a minute, did he just admit it was White House policy?
At Wednesday's press gaggle, White House spokesman Scott McClellan was asked to clarify.
He denied that the bouncer was paid staff. "My understanding is it was a volunteer and that that volunteer was concerned that these people were coming to the event to disrupt the event, and that's why he asked them to leave," he said.
When asked if the volunteer was acting on the instruction of the White House, McClellan responded, "Not that I'm aware of."
Hmmm. So who might be aware?
I asked two other White House spokesmen that question Wednesday. They declined to answer.
Dan Recht, attorney for the so-called Denver Three, says interest in the story of ideological cleansing at an official government-sponsored event just keeps gathering steam.
Reporters call every day, begging to be the first to know when the bouncer's name is released.
Pressure is mounting.
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