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Campaign trail: Spy center backs off Trump sign ban
C-Ville Weekly ^ | October 18, 2016 | Lisa Provence

Posted on 10/18/2016 8:23:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Mike Sienda already felt aggrieved when his boss at the National Ground Intelligence Center’s Rivanna Station told him in early September to not show up on grounds with his giant Trump-Pence signs on the side of his box truck.

When he was told he couldn’t park on the federal property with a smaller Trump 2016: Make America Great Again sign in the back window of his Jeep, Sienda contacted the Rutherford Institute, a local civil rights org. And within two days of its attorneys writing NGIC October 12, he was told, uh, never mind, the smaller sign is just fine.

“I think they realized it’s protected speech,” says Sienda.

The spy center had cited the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in on-the-job campaigning, when it first banned Sienda’s box truck. However, the Rutherford Institute argues that the act says workers can exercise their rights “unless expressly prohibited by law,” and the regs allow bumper stickers on personal vehicles, and do not “expressly prohibit” signs over a certain size.

Sienda still hasn’t gotten the okay to bring back the bigger signs on his truck, which the Rivanna Station called a “campaign vehicle.”

“We’re going to ask them to clarify that,” says Rutherford founder John Whitehead. “If the government uses these terms, they have to define them.”

NGIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sienda is happy with his partial victory. “I’m glad to be able to participate in the political process and not worry about doing anything wrong,” he says.


TOPICS: Government; Military/Veterans; Politics
KEYWORDS: intelligence; trump; virginia
He'll lose his job soon.
1 posted on 10/18/2016 8:23:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Even if Trump wins, does anyone really think that even if we keep the house and senate that the GOP will work with him?

How will he even get anything done with a microscope on him 24/7/365 and the media spinning everything he says and does in a negative light?

How can an already rotten to the core government cure a rotten to the core government? It simply can’t.


2 posted on 10/18/2016 8:26:36 PM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: FreedomStar3028

How did we stop immigration reform twice?


3 posted on 10/18/2016 8:29:37 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Didn’t the house stop it both times?

The GOP is rabidly anti-Trump. If they keep singing the same tune they won’t help Trump accomplish anything, in fact they will be an obstacle for 4 or 8 years.


4 posted on 10/18/2016 8:36:40 PM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: FreedomStar3028

If we can elect a GOPe house, we can elect a pro-Trump GOP house.

Same goes for the Senate. The Senate, by its nature, should be *more* conservative than the House.

The only reason the Senate is more “progressive” is the corrupt media, which can concentrate on Senate races much more easily than on House races.


5 posted on 10/18/2016 8:50:42 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: FreedomStar3028

Also heard on Lou Dobbs tonight, that Trump is espousing term limits. Congress is quaking in its boots.


6 posted on 10/18/2016 9:09:31 PM PDT by kiltie65
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To: FreedomStar3028
This is why Trump's margin of victory is crucial. If it's a squeaker, especially if we have another re-run of 2000 where the courts get involved, Trump will have a hard time his first term as half the country will consider the election "stolen". An undeniable win of landslide proportions will give him the political capital he needs to push his agenda forward.

Even with this, the first two years are going to be rough as so many houses of cards that have been propped up for years/decades are allowed to fall on his watch so the media and pundits can blame it all on him. Phase II of operation cleanup will be the 2018 midterms, where the dead wood in Congress will have to be cleaned out.

People should be under no illusions. Electing Trump means we have a hope of digging out from the mess we're in, but the early years of the recovery are not going to be pleasant. We've played "kick the can" for a very long time and the task ahead is daunting. This will be as much a moral test as a test of leadership. President Trump will need support and prayer even more than candidate Trump.

7 posted on 10/19/2016 3:07:12 AM PDT by AustinBill (consequence is what makes our choices real)
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To: FreedomStar3028
Even if Trump wins, does anyone really think that even if we keep the house and senate that the GOP will work with him?
How will he even get anything done with a microscope on him 24/7/365 and the media spinning everything he says and does in a negative light?
How can an already rotten to the core government cure a rotten to the core government? It simply can’t.

Are you always this optimistic?

Miss your morning coffee?

Need more sleep?

8 posted on 10/19/2016 3:33:57 AM PDT by USS Alaska (Exterminate the terrorist savages, everywhere.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

+1. Just made the top of the $hitlist.


9 posted on 10/19/2016 3:36:13 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ ( "Hokahey, today is a good day to die!" Crazy Horse prior to the Battle of Little Big Horn)
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