from the SF Guardian: http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=5384 Transit censors /Is the MTA infringing on the free speech rights/ By Steven T. Jones Is the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency infringing on the free speech rights of transit riders? That's the question raised by a pair of recent incidents in which a bus driver and a cable car operator ejected riders for carrying campaign signs. The most recent incident occurred New Year's Day, when more than a dozen sign-wielding supporters of Ron Paul for United States president boarded a cable car at Fisherman's Wharf, waving their signs and chanting their support as the number 12 car moved up the hill. Near the intersection of California and Powell streets, one Paul supporter who identified herself only as Terry told us, the operator stopped the car and said "we had to either relinquish our signs or the cable car couldn't move." Another MTA official showed up, and police were called to help carry out the order, as Terry told us and photos and video the Paul supporters shot seem to confirm. The group decided to debark rather than give up the signs because, Terry said, "This is a freedom of speech issue." A similar incident occurred on the evening of Nov. 6, 2007, Election Day, when Andy Blue boarded the 22 bus at 16th and Mission streets, where he had been campaigning for mayoral candidate Quintin Mecke and for the Yes on A--No on H campaign. "The bus driver refused to leave as long as I was there with the signs," Blue said, noting that he wasn't campaigning on the bus. "He told me he had been instructed not to allow people on the bus with political signs." Blue refused to back down, and after a tense five-minute standoff that agitated other passengers, the driver finally got permission from a supervisor to proceed. MTA officials did not respond by press time to our detailed requests for comment on the matter, but San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Steve Mannina said it was the MTA operator's decision and "Muni called the PD to assist, and they did." Terry and Blue say it's disturbing if those who rely on transit aren't allowed to participate in politics. Wednesday January 9, 2008 -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." -- Che Guevara