So Much for the First Amendment

I grew up reading the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  In its earliest incarnation, The Gazette, it was the first newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains.

The Alleghenies in the 19th Century

 In 1786, the Gazette published its leadoff article - the then-newly-adopted Constitution of the United States.  To me, that says a lot.  I think such a history is part of why politics in Western Pennsylvania have always been essentially progressive.

For that reason and another I'm about to offer, don't be misled  by the events of this past Tuesday.  At a rally at a Royal Dutch Shell petrochemical plant in Beaver County, what looked like a Trump-supporting crowd turned out not necessarily to be that.  The gathering, quite large, was so in part because union members had been instructed  to stand in the giant hall waiting for Trump to speak, or to take the day off without pay.  Here's a look at the actual memo.

According to the PG, a number of union leaders said they weren't consulted about the arrangement.  That's understandable, considering one of the talking points  preparing workers for the event read:

No yelling, shouting, protesting or anything viewed as resistance will be tolerated ...

Yelling and shouting I understand opposing, if only in an attempt to preserve courtesy.  But Mr. Trump's ego should not be pampered with First Amendment protection.  That cornerstone of our democracy provides citizens the right:

peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances

Sounds to me that makes it okay to protest  ...