Rats' Alley/ Where the Dead Men Lost Their Bones

Dolores Umbridge moves to Arkansas.

Money quote: “You couldn’t just come in here and get with four people and decide you want to start an organization. You would go through your city council, with legal documentation, the right paperwork and get it in approval.”

Words fail.

conservativebrew:

Arkansas Town Bans Free Speech and Freedom of Assembly

From NYT article:

The City Council adopted an ordinance last week making it illegal to form any kind of group without its permission.

That is a clear violation of the Constitution, legal scholars agree. But it is also a sign of just how nasty politics has gotten in Gould, a farming town of 1,100 some 70 miles southeast of Little Rock, where members of the Council have struggled with a local political group that seeks to influence how the town is governed. The mayor, Earnest Nash Jr., also happens to be a member of the political group, the Gould Citizens Advisory Council…

…Last week, the Council overrode the mayor’s veto of two other controversial measures. One required that the citizens advisory council cease to exist. The other made it illegal for the mayor to meet with “any organization in any location” either “inside or outside Gould city limits” without the Council’s permission.

The advisory council, which calls itself a nonpartisan group that educates voters and raises money for public causes, says it will continue its work. But the Council, in one ordinance, accused the group of “causing confusion and discourse among the citizens” by harshly criticizing local officials at public meetings.

As a result, the City Council said, “No new organizations shall be allowed to exist in the City of Gould without approval from a majority of the City Council.”

“If freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” - George Washingtion