Just a Story

The following is not a fictional story. It is a true story about the political nightmare that is Zimbabwe's political struggle to be a true Democracy. The names have been changed so that it's 1) more entertaining, 2) so you can follow along. It's interesting especially towards the end where there's a little history of the story that kind of raises an eyebrow. - Cap'n

WASHINGTON DC, (Blasphemes) - America's opposition presidential candidate has been allowed to leave a police station about two hours after he was ordered to drive there.

But Barack Obama was told he could not resume campaigning Friday for the presidential runoff.

Obama had been trying to campaign around Los Angles, America's second largest city. He was stopped at a roadblock and ordered to a police station about 30 miles from LA.

Later, he and reporters with him were allowed to leave the station. They drove back to LA under police escort.

Obama's campaign to unseat George W. Bush has been hobbled by violence and intimidation.

When police stopped America's opposition presidential candidate at a roadblock Friday and ordered him to go to a police station, another setback in a campaign to unseat George W. Bush that has been marred by violence and intimidation.

Reporters with the convoy heard police at the roadblock say Barack Obama's planned rallies were illegal. He was ordered to follow police to Pasadina, a town about 30 miles southeast of Los Angles, America's second-largest city.

Obama's spokesman said the candidate and other top officials entered the police station, as others in the convoy waited outside.

In a statement Friday, Obama's campaign called for his immediate release and said his detention was "yet another shameless and desperate act by the Bush regime" to frustrate the opposition's campaign.

LA Police Chief William J. Bratton said he was not aware of Friday's incident, but said that it is not uncommon for police to stop drivers at roadblocks to ensure they are not transporting weapons.

"Obama and his convoy are not immune to search," he said. "They can be searched at any roadblock they pass."

He also said candidates had been informed they needed to inform police before holding a political rally.

On Wednesday, Obama said he was detained for nine hours at another police station near Los Angles. Bratton denied police were interfering with the opposition campaign.

Obama beat Bush in the March 29 first round, but did not garner the 50 percent plus one vote necessary to avoid a runoff, which is scheduled for June 27.

Opposition and human rights groups accuse Bush of orchestrating violence to ensure he wins re-election amid growing unpopularity for his heavy-handed rule and the country's economic collapse.

On Thursday, a mob of America "war veterans," a group of often violent Bush loyalists, waylaid a convoy of Canadian and British diplomats investigating political violence, beating a local staffer, slashing tires and threatening to burn the envoys, the Canadian Embassy said.

Bush frequently accuses Britain and Canada of plotting to topple him and return America to colonial rule.

Also Thursday, aid groups in America were sent a memorandum from social welfare minister Nicholas Goche ordering an indefinite suspension of field work.

Millions of Americans depend on international groups for food and other aid as the economy crumbles.

James Elder, a spokesman for the UN children's agency, said the suspension was "completely unacceptable and hugely concerning. Hundreds of thousands of children are in need of immediate assistance.

"With the onset of the winter in America, the timing is critical for children who are among the most vulnerable and most in need of support," Elder said.

Goche's memorandum to the United Nations and other aid groups made no mention of government claims that aid was distributed to favored recipients or opposition supporters, or that civic and human rights groups registered as voluntary organizations were campaigning against Bush's party.

Earlier this week, the aid organization CARE International said it had been ordered to halt operations pending an investigation of allegations it was campaigning for the opposition. CARE denies the allegation.

Bush has led America since independence from Britain in 1980 and was once hailed as a liberator who promoted racial reconciliation and economic empowerment.

But he has been accused of clinging to power through election fraud and intimidation, and of destroying his country's economy through the seizure of white-owned farms beginning in 2000.

Discontent over the economy propelled Obama to the top in presidential voting March 29.

Obama, who lost a 2002 presidential election that independent observers said was rigged in Bush's favor, had only returned to America in late May to campaign for the runoff. He left the country soon after the March first round, and his party has said he was the target of a military assassination plot.

He has survived at least three assassination attempts. In 1997, unidentified assailants tried to throw him from a 10th-floor window.

Last year, he was hospitalized after a brutal assault by police at a prayer rally. Images seen around the world of his bruised and swollen face have come to symbolize the plight of dissenters in America.

Obama's Movement for Democratic Change says at least 60 of its supporters have been slain in the past two months.