The King of Pointland

Roll Over Voltaire

You may have heard that Cindy Sheehan, invited to the State of the Union Address by Democratic Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, was arrested, led away in handcuffs, booked, and fingerprinted for wearing an anti-war t-shirt. The charges were later dropped. (Oops!) About forty-five minutes into the speech, Beverly Young, the wife of Republican Congressman C.W. Bill Young, was also asked to leave (though not arrested), in this case because of her "Support the Troops" t-shirt. The Capitol Police apparently thought "it was kind of only fair" to do so after having removed Sheehan.

Congressman Young was outraged, naturally. One might think it was the flagrant violation of free speech rights that so angered him. Well, not quite:

"When your wife is insulted and embarrassed, you do tend to get a little offended," Young said yesterday, explaining his upbraiding of [Capitol Police Chief Terrance] Gainer that night and his fervent speech on the House floor yesterday morning, when he waved the shirt and bellowed about his wife's ejection: "Shame! Shame!"

Young said he wouldn't be so mad if it were just Sheehan. "I totally disagree with everything she stands for," he said. But by removing his wife, Gainer's officers clearly "acted precipitously," Young said.

Sadly, I suspect that when it comes to the public's attitude toward the First Amendment's speech protections, the Representative's views may be representative.