The following was reported an hour ago on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Facebook page:
Clearwater was removed from the Sail4th 250 Parade of Sail by the USCG and escorted out of the Exclusion Zone by the US Coast Guard, US Navy, and NYPD.
Captain Rory Kane inquired why, and was informed the removal was due to the presence of banners reading: "Save the Clean Water Act" and "Indigenous Rights, Racial Justice, Climate Solutions."
A representative from Sail4th 250 informed the Captain the decision was "above them."
The sloop has a long and storied history of using the mains'l to share messages of hope and advocacy.
The Clearwater will continue sailing south of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge until 3 p.m. and has 29 passengers and 19 crew aboard. . . .
Addendum: By comparison, Newsweek and other sources are reporting that a large group of masked members of Patriot Front, a white nationalist organization, marched through Washington, D.C., today, reportedly calling for the expulsion of immigrants.
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| Photo: Occupy Demorcrats | Facebook |
Update: You can read a fuller account of what happened to Clearwater in the Highlands Current: "Coast Guard Expels Clearwater from July 4th Flotilla."
Welcome To Russia. Or China. Or North Korea. Or Nazi Germany. Goodbye America.
ReplyDeleteTrump tries, but he can't defeat us.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting that the Clearwater crew doesn't feel the need to cover their faces the way the right wing cowards always do.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see the Right continue to fight their battles on such low terrain. The negative publicity surrounding this incident will vastly outweigh any benefit ti their cause.
ReplyDeleteI just sent $500 to Clearwater. Hopefully this turns into a $10 million fundraising bonanza for those folks.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Vietnam veteran (Americal Division, 1970.) Our government told us that we were sent abroad to defend "freedom." But apparently it's not OK for some folks to go sailing on the river while advocating for clean water. But at the same time we have Nazis parading thru the streets of Washington, DC. WTF???
ReplyDeleteThis case is messier than the headlines suggest: an temporary exclusion zone, a signed contract, and both sides admit some miscommunication.
ReplyDeleteBut set that aside. Left or right, government eventually overreaches. Obama's IRS targeted conservative nonprofits for their views; the government settled and apologized. Now the Coast Guard tows a sloop over banners about clean water. If Clearwater was wronged, it should call FIRE, sue for viewpoint discrimination, and if it wins, use the funds to project more speech up and down the Hudson.
Whether a small-town mayor stretching his authority or a federal agency policing banners/speech, overreach lives at every level of government, and it is very hard to pare back once it grows.
Blue or Red, Hudsonian or Kinderhooker, we should all be skeptical of government power. That is the American way.
Hudson is about to learn this as we try to reform the Hudson City Charter. And that is why our Hudson Common Sense manifesto starts with this 1776 Thomas Paine quote:
"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil."
p.s. Thank you for your service, peter j.