I'm no fan of Cindy Sheehan but

it was absolutely wrong but you're still comparing apples to oranges.

Then who is to blame for her being arrested?

I smell a textbook strawman argument.

Mysteryman--

If the "Support the Troops" t-shirt got a Republican woman arrested and this arrest bothers you, why don't you start a thread about it?

the reactionary dickheads who had her arrested and who did the actual job of course. What other answer were you looking for?

She wore the shirt to be derisive. No other reason. There is a time and place for protest and derision and the SOTU is not one of them. If she wanted to protest, she should have been outside banging the pots and pans together with the other loons.

sez you . what's that mean?

Next year I expect to see bvt at the SOTU wearing his "Bush Sucks" t-shirt, holding a guitar at an odd angle, while beling fellatiated by squinney.

don't hold your breath

Wait, that doesn't look like squinney....no... it couldn't be... it is ! It's Cindy Sheehan!

This is indeed a worrying trend.

From some of the page 1 posts, it would seem that you in the USA, show far more inappropriate deference to your ordinary human being that has been elected to look after the people's interests than we do over here.

Or so I thought.........and then I remembered the case of Walter Wolfgang, at last years Labour party conference.

The foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, was giving a speech about Iraq, when Walter, an 82 year ols escapee from the Nazis and a fully paid up member of the Labour party, shouted "nonsense" once.

A burly young bouncer leaned over from behind Walter, and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, as a second bouncer rushed in from the side and between them, they violently manhandled him out of the building.



From a BBC news web page.....

"Headlines about an 82-year old Jewish escapee from the Nazis being manhandled out of Labour conference for daring to yell "nonsense" at the foreign secretary is probably not the way Tony Blair wanted to end this rally.
But, for many regular conference visitors, this was far from a surprise.

Ever-tightening security and a distinctly intolerant attitude towards "interruptions", as the prime minister called them, meant this was a headline waiting to happen."............




and ......." Meanwhile, some delegates were expressing their fury at the man's treatment, claiming it was just the latest example of the control freakery and stage management that has characterised these events for many years now.
Previous leaders of all parties once believed dealing with hecklers was all part of the job and having the skill to do so with some panache was seen as a distinct personal plus.
No-one liked it, but all accepted it was one of the downsides of free speech.
Those days are long gone and everything is now about control and eliminating every opportunity for the rogue heckler or unscripted and unvetted member of the public getting through to the leader."........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4293502.stm



and then, there were the headlines from the newspapers.....

The ugly face of New Labour
08:33am 29th September 2005


"An 82-year-old Jewish fugitive from Nazi Germany who lost family in the Holocaust, Walter Wolfgang knows a thing or two about how freedom of speech is suppressed.
He learned a little more yesterday when he was manhandled by Labour goons at the party conference for daring to shout 'nonsense' at Jack Straw's used car salesman's weasel words on Iraq.

Time was when heckling was the lifeblood of politics in Britain but yesterday's scenes would not have been out of place in North Korea, with Mr Wolfgang even being detained briefly under anti-terror laws.

Will New Labour - whose conference this week has been ruthlessly orchestrated right down to cheerleaders controlling the applause - feel any shame at such unedifying scenes? We doubt it.".......

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/newscomment.html?in_article_id=363795&in_page_id=1787



I wonder.....did (or will) the American press also come down on this like a ton of bricks?


Politics are now all about stage management and the absolute refusal to tolerate any form of dissent.

I would like to think that it is only a MAJOR problem in the USA, but alas it is fast becoming the norm over here as well.

Shame on them.

Hah! America....the land of the free, eh?

Thats just it,it doesnt bother me.
There is a time and place to make a statement,and the SOTU is not one of them.
My parents always taught me to show some respect and be polite.
Apparently yours didnt,if you have no problem with the actions of either woman.

what your parents taught you about being polite is obvious by your dragging Noddys upbringing into the discussion. Why not just back off that kind of thing?

I think he's right BVT. Nobody should show any disrespect or dissent, or even give a slight hint that they may do so at some point in the future....ever!

It would be impolite.

I am disappointed in your attitude LE, shocked and dismayed, unless, unless, but no, sarcasm is beneath a Lord is it not? :wink:

I think some evenings the Lord lets Sarcasm take the above position instead of just the beneath.

I think it depends on which scanty thing she is wearing.

BVT,
Do you believe that a funeral is a good place for a political protest?

Do you believe that a wedding is a good place to chant hate slogans?

Do you believe that a childs birthday is a good place to demand that the parents die?

Today, the groundhog saw its shadow.

The SOTU is the perfect place to protest a rogue CIC who lied the world into war. The highest crime Bushie could have committed. This aint a game of pattycake here. Cindy's question how many more is what matters more than anything Bushie had to say.