Just in case anyone needed a reminder that if the government must “grant permission” for you to do something it can also deny that permission. If the state must license an activity, it can deny that license. A reminder comes to us courtesy of the People’s Republic of :
"“In China, as in other countries, applications for demonstrations must go through legal procedures,” the Foreign Ministry’s Qin said when asked about the two petitioners.
None of dozens of applications to protest has been approved.
“They wanted to see us stuck in jail so the Olympics would look better,” Dong said."
The conventions should be interesting this year. I suspect that it will not only be the “left” that gets their heads stepped on by the police for violating a permit but for the Ron Paul folks as well.
Unfortunately, in the minds of many people, it is “OK” if it is done here but “bad” when the same thing happens in the PRC. Because, you see, in our country it is “for the good of the people” but in the PRC they only claim it is “for the good of the people”. Many people will look at you oddly if you do not see the “difference” between the two.