Typical liberals denying anyone that disagrees with them from either speaking or listening. Ironically these protesters are so illiberal in behavior. And ineffective. Obnoxious behavior just steels those opposed to vote all the more. Liberals yell. Conservatives vote.

The restaurant was not responsible for the music. The music was set up by the Bachmann campaign. We asked them to turn it off, as well as asked everyone to keep their voices down.

As a member of the Occupy Iowa City group involved, I would like to clear up an misunderstanding about the management of the Hamburg Inn. Their comment on our Facebook page reads as follows: "The music was set up by the Bachmann crew. We asked them to turn it off completely before she came. It was turned back on after she arrived. We asked them to turn it off again and they actually refused. They refused until we had the police step in."

We had planned to do a more respectful "whisper check" until the Bachmann crew started cranking the music in an obvious attempt to drown us out...

Hamburg, thanks for pointing this out. Please note the correction in the article.

so, anthemlaw, who were 53,000,000 that voted for the current president, conservatives? if so, then the next election can and will be a slam dunk.

What I want to know is, where are the riot cops?
I mean if there was peace to be kept, surely pepper spray and tear gas was warranted.
That was too close for comfort.
Iowa City, take notice!!!

Once again liberal protesters can't rely on their message - they have to disrupt anything or anyone they disagree with. It's unfortunate that such ignorant behavior even permeates an educated town like Iowa City.

Welcome to free speech America, Dave!

Obama can't rely on his previous "white gilt" vote this go round. Too many relized they were sucker punched :)

Obama can't depend on the "white Guilt" vote this go round. Too many realize they were sucker punched.
:)

Comment deleted for profanity.

The homosexual robot shows what Iowa City's homosexual racket is all about-- power grabs at someone else's expense, stepping on other people's rights, and censorship in particular. That a tenured professor would do this shows up the fact we citizens have an interest in ending the tenure system so that our tax dollars may be used for some other more sober purpose. And the quicker he's off the public payroll, the better. The guy is more suited literally and figuratively for a job at Disneyland.

This article uses the word "ruckus" when the correct word is "raucous." The first is a noun; the second is an adjective.

randy crawford--even professors have a right to do what they want on their own time. The state pays them; it doesn't own them, silly.

Sounds like you'd like some censorship.

Anthemlaw you live in an alternate universe. It is the occupy movement being peppersprayed, tear gassed, tasered, billy clubbed and being shot with bean bags FOR EXERCISING THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS! You have scum like Ted Nugent and all of the Faux Noise idiots characterizing these folks as "dirty hippies" or "domestic terrorists"!

The Occupy bowel movement is just that. Only a cheap diversion tatic away from Obama destroying the country. It was such a boondoggle the DNC shut it down thank goodness :)

greetings from shorewood.patch.com in milwaukee, wi's east side. great story and kudos on national feed (and for midrun corrections-hamburg's comment is most interesting!)

Thanks Jenny. It's always lively here during caucus season.

Wow randy- whats it like to be bachmanns only fan?! Bring your kindle!! Its going to be lonely over there!

Hey Randy if it like almost any other school in the country classes are out and the teachers are off. But I guess Public servants should work 365 days a year. You hate homosexuals which is sad but whatever can't change you just like can't change your skewed view of first amendment rights.....so if someone is exercising their rights but is not what everyone else is wanting to say then they should not be able to speak....love the hypocrisy in that.

If gay people are to blame for all the problems in this country then why do we have any problems at all? We have never had a gay president. That's something to think about. Also why so the conservatives want to deny gay people freedom of speech, that's censorship

Poor bigots. Nobody loves them.

Wow! What a bunch of idiots the Occupy "movement" turned out to be. I'm not a Bachmann fan, but I've come to loathe the slimy Union members masquerading as a “movement”.

To Randy Crawford:

Commentary such as your's is the reason that tenure exists. The idea that (because an individual pays taxes) and (university salaries are subsidized through taxes) therefore (an individual should be able to control what an employee of the university can say) is outrageous. Employment by a public institution is not equal to slavery. The fundamental power of tenure is to protect faculty from reprisals based on their opinions/actions/beliefs OUTSIDE the classroom. If someone were espousing ending tenure so all the (insert group other than liberals here, for example Catholics or Hispanics or African Americans) could be fired, I'd bet this topic would be dead in the water.

www.BogusHocusPocus.com

There is no scientific evidence to prove any of the cross related bogus elements of christianity and other religions. Our early human ancestors; on this earth … go back more than 6 million years … 5,996,000 years before the Greeks, Romans and the Jews. Christianity is basically a 2012 year old fictional cult.
In the year 300 AD when Emperor Constantine, who to some was the first pope; went on to fabricate & market Christianity - a fantasy - which turned out to be one of the most hateful & evil concoctions ever perpetrated on the world.

The evil writings in Leviticus 18:22 … against gays – depict: “P” … “priestly rules” & expanded by the pope; homophobes and religious frauds … to attack the gay community and never meant to apply to the public -- but to priests. Leviticus was written long after Moses -- 600BC.

The pope and churches fully aware that Leviticus 18:22 applies to priests only … refuse to remove this stigma … maliciously persecuting gays. Kids bullied into suicide …! Being black or left-handed or being gay is just as natural.

Greetings from Mill Valley (CA) Patch. Just want to say thank you to Occupy Iowa City. You are the true Patriots, fighting for this 'our' country. Namaste

Bunch of "librals" denying us our "freedumbs". Gay homosexuils are tererists -

Now off to Walmart !

First, I would like to point out that tanto (or "Tonto" as it is usually misspelled) means stupid. Funny how appropriate that is although you probably mistakenly presume to be the Lone Ranger's right hand man.
Addressing Randy's comment about the prof's abuse of public payroll, school is not in session on 12/22. No one, not even a public servant, no matter if you disagree with them, owes you the silent obedience you seem to think comes with a paycheck.
It is amusing that you guys don't see how the prof has lowered himself to your robotic level on his form of protest. I read all of the posts and couldn't find ONE original thought in the "conservative" posts. I have no idea what you claim to conserve, but your rhetoric smacks more of the nazism you accuse the the "Liberals" of than protection of free speech.
Face it, Bachman is a fringe candidate who endorses views supported by 7.4% of a very polarized party. Perhaps her message has no support. Gay bashing and rumor mongering aside, that is nothing to your argument.

3-foot small Michele Bachmann is polling in the single digits. Her only possible excuse for continuing on with her Christian campaign of hatred for mankind is that she is 100% delusional.

Grammar, please!

"... but the lack of Republican visits is understandable given Iowa City is heavily Democrat."

I think you mean 'Democratic.' That is an _adjective_. The "Democrat" mis-use is a republican attempt to be demeaning. (I'm not sure it works.)

Mis-using the "Democrat" noun for the appropriate "Democratic" adjective shows that this article is either biased or written by someone who lacks basic grammar.

Please fix.

I'm so sick of the gays too. They're not this country's moral backbone, being against gays does not make you a biggot or intolerant. It shows that you have basic values. Homosexuality is a disgusting and immoral sexual choice. They're not born a certain way and they're not oppressed. I applaud Bachman and Santorum for speaking out, I wish more political leaders would do the same. For the youth especially this is sad, they think this is they're great moral calling. It's sick and sad.

www.BogusHocusPocus.com

It is written; so therefore it shall be? We are the chosen people -- such a wicked fantasy. To see the religious lunatics manipulate government and our lives is shameful.

No doubt one or both of the posters using the names Randy Crawford and brea cairo are "god fearing" Christians. How else to explain their hatred of fellow humans? They label them "homosexuals", rather than fellow humans, because it's easier to objectify and hate -- and even injure or kill -- them in that regard. Even worse, they're certain the historical figure known to them as Jesus Christ would approve of their intolerance and hate, all because of the sexuality of another human (I'm sure he also would've approved of racial intolerance, or the "final solution" used in by Nazis in WWII -- right?).

I'm not going to be around to moderate so I'm shutting comments down on this article until Monday. If you still have something to say, come back then.

When is the DNC going to open its replacement diversion for Occupoo?

Here are some videos from this event including of the robot, Bachmann filming a campaign ad and wishing everyone a merry Christmas, Occupy Iowa protesters chanting 'you're not wanted here, so go just go." http://patch.com/A-pHBY

Tenured university faculty professor RoboHomo was on vacation? What did he do to earn one? He is evidence the University goof-offs are getting way too many days off, as well as needing to have their featherbedding called "tenure" eliminated. With his space robot get-up, we have to wonder whether his interest was in relation to Occupy Iowa City, or more probably Occupy Uranus. Then again, there isn't much difference between Iowa City and Uranus. The shouters at the Hamburg Inn event who were dumping on Michele Bachmann come from a long, long lineage. And these sorts have been recognized for what they are over the centuries. Even for people with rhetorical skills (which obviously weren’t even achieved by these chanting yahoos), Cicero observed as to demagoguery in “De Oratore“ (55 B.C.): “The stronger this faculty is, the more necessary it is for it to be combined with integrity and supreme wisdom, and if we bestow fluency of speech on persons devoid of those virtues, we shall not have made orators of them, but shall have put weapons into the hands of madmen.”

@Randy Crawford: School's out at the University of Iowa. It has been for a couple weeks now. Even assuming that this campaign event took place during time when classes were in action, so what? It took place in town in the early evening. Why would he need to take vacation? That makes no sense to me. And assuming that this particular "gay robot" is McLeod, so what? He has the right to participate in political events.

@Jose Carlos: There is no "GOP Majority", The Dems control the Senate AND the Presidency with only the House controlled by the GOP..ie....no way the GOP "forced" any bill without the Democrats going along with it, in fact the Dems completely controlled all of Congress from 2006-2010 (all branches including the white house 2008-2010)with the GOP taking the house in 2011. The people are realizing it's time to hold the party in control for the past 5 years accountable for thier bad polices and rightly so.

@Jon Trouten- Prof. HomoRobo illustrates the fact that faculty shouldn't be given vast amounts of time off on the taxpayer's dime. He also illustrates why it is foolish to grant tenure. When university "professors" (professing what, other than ludicrous pranks?) have nothing better to do, it shows how our money is being wasted as to whom we are hiring and giving cushy time-off packages. We might as well be hiring the town drunk to roll around in the gutter. Of course he has the right to participate in political events, and we the taxpayers have the right to hire somebody else who will do something else that is less selfish, less immature, and more productive for society. Does he (or you) hire me to participate in poltical events? Why not? That's the same reason why I shouldn't be funding either HomoRobo's job or his time off harassment antics. And this wasn't a legitimate political event. It was an organized premeditated ambush of mass shouting for the purposes of political censorship. Don't understand? Let's see if you like the same thing to be done to you, or to your candidate. Try group shouting like that in a courtroom sometime and see whether the judge rates it as 'freedom of speech.'

Iowans are not chained to the care and feeding of irresponsible wacko University employees who have nothing better to do than impersonate a robot clown, or aspire to be one. If we are paying vacation time for nut jobs to do this kind of thing, we can find a better use for our money. He is free to act cuckoo, and we are free to not pay him to do so. This guy was just one more example of why there need to be large cutbacks on university frivolities including the vast ill-advised 'vacation' time, as well as tenure for nonproductive antics, endless trips and wine and cheese parties, etc. etc. Just spend some time on campus looking at the universities to see how bad the situation is. Our job isn't to serve the universities. Their job is to serve us. If they don't understand, why pay them to be idiots? They are perfectly capable of doing that for free.

@Randy: Why do you keep saying that he took off time to go to that one event? Like anyone else, he has free time away from work. What do you or I care about how he spends his personal time or money?

Like anyone else, we all have 'free time away from work.' 'What do you or I care about how' anyone spends their personal time or money trying to shout down and censor you or your candidate as HomoRobo and Occupy did? This isn't about how people chose their leisure time. Nice try attempting to change the subject to your substitute effort version of a fraudulent red herring. It's about clowns getting together to step on the free speech of, in this case, a presidential candidate. Ready to learn a little civility, or would you prefer a dose of your own medicine? Or maybe you can learn honest discourse instead of trying to cover up censorship with a lame attempt to change the subject.

Look at the videos which Occupy themselves made. Occupy came hours in advance, lay in wait ambush-style, and taped their own censorship which went on and on for 10-15 minutes of yelling, screaming, and chanting. Are you conveniently forgetting the facts again, or just trying to continue your denial process about the harassment campaign that HomoRobo participated in at the same time and place as Occupy? Perhaps you conveniently have no memory, or perhaps you are fabricating creative deafness and creative blindness. When you or HomoRobo or your candidate have an event that is torn up and stepped on the way this one was, it will be interesting to see how much you think your overridden message is somehow someone else's allowable 'free speech.' That's what is serious-- not your ongoing denials and lame attempts at changing the subject.

Both were doing opposition tactics at the same place and time, while using different tactics to do so. The Occupy people were egregiously shouting down Bachmann [as they did in a similar uncivilized way with Gingrich], while HomoRobo/McCleod was putting on a clownish farce and was much more civilized about his hijinks. While Occupy was literally to borderline criminal in its censorship tactics and while HomoRobo/McCleod was more restrained, I hardly think that Harkin or Loebsack for instance would want their parade rained on by similar tactics. Ditto for John Trouten. Bottom line is (1) Occupy was way out of bounds as to censorship, and (2) the public has a right to demand certain standards from public employees such as university employees. If we don't want this or that to be done (including on time off) we can demand other people be hired in their place as in other standards be set. HomoRobo is free to do all the clowning he wishes, and I am free to look for someone else to be on my public payroll. When university employees do the kind of con jobs that lead to spreading around crop disease (like soybean cyst nematodes, damaging millions of dollars of Iowans' incomes) or extortion like what Anne Cleary did to Lu Gang (setting off his murder spree) or when Ellen Lewin wants to let incautions comments reveal her agenda, citizens have a right to hold the universities to higher standards. If anything goes and the university is a personal playground for arbitrary whims,

(2) then what is the university worth beyond functioning (sort of) at the level of passing irrelevant fancy? Why aren't they then paying me to goof off and do as I please on the public dime, or give me a cozy job so I can do that type of thing on my abundant free time? Trouten is trying to dismiss the shouting and censorship of Occupy under the euphemism of 'mic check' as if, in an obviouis extreme analogy, 'ethnic cleansing' can be using as the verbiage in place of genocide. Calling censorship by some other contrived name in order to step on a candidate's speech doesn't make it OK. It just means that somebody is working to keep reality covered up with the manipulation of sematic games. Trouten is recently previously lauding the disrupting of politicians and candidate during speeches and events as 'free speech rights.' If that malevolence were true, does Trouten or anyone else want to make a habit of shouting down and drowning out Obama or Harkin or Loebsack or anyone else, or sanction the same? It becomes a serious deficit of plain civility when that inconsiderate approach is accepted as standard policy particularly when the censorship tactics boomerang on those who advocate them.