What First Amendment: At roughly the same time that Cindy Sheehan was being arrested for wearing an anti-war T-shirt to the State of the Union speech last night, the wife of a prominent Republican congressman, was escorted out of the House gallery because she was wearing a pro-war T-shirt.

It is outrageous that if you wear an anti-war T-shirt you get arrested, but if you wear a pro-war T-shirt you’re escorted out but free to go.

Unlike Sheehan, Beverly Young, wife of Rep. Bill Young of Florida was not arrested. It is unclear whether it was Beverly’s elite status or her pro-Bush message that save her from the hoosegow.

Still, her husband, who has Duke Cunningham’s recently vacated chairmanship in defense appropriations, is hopping mad:

“Shame, shame,” Rep. Bill Young of Florida said on the House floor on Wednesday, condemning the treatment of his wife Beverly by the U.S. Capitol Police.

“She was ordered to leave the gallery, because she was doing … what the president said we should all do,” Young said. “She had on this shirt. A very conservative shirt, long sleeves, high neck, but it says support our troops.”

…Young said a guard at the House chamber called her “a demonstrator and a protester.”

Leaving aside the fact that anyone who wears clothes as casual as T-shirts (especially shirts with slogans printed on them) to official functions like the State of the Union ought to be asked to leave — can’t we have to have some standards? — it is outrageous that if you wear an anti-war T-shirt you get arrested, but if you wear a pro-war T-shirt you’re escorted out but free to go.

UPDATE: The Capitol Police have disputed Beverly Young’s version of events, according to Gainesville.com.:

“She was not ejected from the gallery. She did leave on her own,” said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, who said she could not provide further information.

A quote from Rep. Young in the same article says just about everything we need to know about him:

“I just called for the chief of police and asked him to get his little tail over here,” Young said. “This is not acceptable.”

Tip o’ the hat to CC

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One thought on “Unlike Cindy Sheehan, Pro-War Protester at SOTU Was Not Arrested”

i wish she had burned a flag there that would tell those sick fucks

Unlike Cindy Sheehan, Pro-War Protester at SOTU Was Not Arrested

Tip o’ the hat to CC

One thought on “Unlike Cindy Sheehan, Pro-War Protester at SOTU Was Not Arrested”

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Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”