Freedom is on the March – Right Out of the Capitol Building

Everyone knows by now that Cindy Sheehan was arrested for exercising her freedom of speech in the Capitol building, as was Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Young (R-FL). Oh, wait, Beverly Young simply left on her own accord – the mother whose son was killed in the war Bush was about to promote in his speech was handcuffed.

I must admit – I don’t agree with every single point Sheehan has made, but agree with the vast majority of the issues she raises. I also must admit, uncomfortably so, that when I sat down to watch the SOTU address with my girlfriend Tuesday, I heard that Sheehan had been arrested and thought to myself, “come on Cindy, this is just going to get negative publicity.”

In fact, my local nightly news (part of the “liberal media”) said Sheehan was, “a protestor trying to ‘get in’ to the State of the Union address (as if she was a ticketless lunatic trying to scale the capital wall to get in and raise hell).

After I heard what really happened, I felt embarrassed for my earlier thoughts.

From the SF Chronicle:

The rare ejections prompted Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer to apologize
late Wednesday to both women and said charges would be dropped against Sheehan.

"The U.S. Capitol is not private property that belongs to the president, or even the speaker of the House, it belongs to the people," said Jamin Raskin, a constitutional law professor at American University in Washington who has discussed legal options with Sheehan.

"The great irony was that Bush was extolling the virtue of freedom and civility in America, at the same time the police were dragging Cindy Sheehan out of the chamber.

"Neither guest should have been confronted about the expressive T-shirts," (Capitol Police Chief) Gainer's statement said...

Read on here.

Those on the Right are painting a picture of Sheehan walking into the Capitol building with a huge banner and a megaphone, and perhaps a sniper rifle.

I understand they’re upset with Sheehan’s criticism of the war that their sons and daughters aren’t fighting (by and large), but if the smaller government Republicans are supposed to have a monopoly on supporting the troops, then

Why are they so hateful toward this military mother who lost her son and,
Why are they OK with people getting unconstitutionally arrested for things like Freedom of speech?

If Democrats were giving a military mother who lost her son a hard time, the Republicans would lose it. Totally fucking lose it.