"Rally squads"

Republican stormtroopers are GO!!!

Portions of the Presidential Advance Memo have been released (pdf from ACLU):

Inside the event space, the manual advises, White House advance personnel should preposition “rally squads” that can swarm any protesters at the event and “use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform.” The rally squads can be formed using “college/young republican organizations, local athletic teams, and fraternities/sororities,” the manual notes.

Young aggressive jocks blocking political opponents from displaying their allegiance. Just how the SA got its start.

(In fairness, ABC article notes that the Kerry campaign blocked opposing t-shirts with its own cheerleaders too. But that's different than rooting through the crowd for silent opponents and having them arrested by the police. I the use of the word "swarm" here...)

(A second point in fairness is that the manual does mention that you can ignore protesters who are not disrupting the event. And that you should avoid physical confrontation, because that is what they want. But this was the case in SA policy as well. And also in both cases, your stormtroopers are never likely to be deliberative in their swarming given the pressures on them to protect The Leader from anything embarrassing - including the knowledge that not everyone agrees with him.)

(ABC reports available here)
(hat tip Pandagon)