Republicans Scared of Democracy!

Film at eleven! The Bush GOP's puling cowardice in the face of any dissent no matter how timid isn't really news, but the linked article from Orcinus is a very good rundown of Dubya's long history of maintaining a hermetically-sealed anti-First Amendment bubble around him at all times and how the current crop of Bush wannabes are dutifully following in his footsteps. Considering that the "Republican base" objectively hates poor people and illegal immigrants (and, of course, gay generals) and loves torture, maybe their desire not to answer unscripted questions makes a little more sense.

A Crack In the Wall

One of the more Orwellian provisions of the foul-smelling and repulsively mis-named "Patriot Act" (preventing those being investigated by the FBI from revealing that fact) has been struck down by a Federal judge.

Land of the Free?

Buncombe County (North Carolina) Sheriff's deputies arrest a couple for violating an unconstitutional law against "flag desecration." Then, they kick their door down, chase the man around his house, and threaten him and his wife with a taser. Welcome to America...better watch your ass...

Fortunately, the Sheriff sends his regrets.

From Our "Irony Is Dead" Department...

...State Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Gitmo) tries to eliminate debate on a "Free Speech" bill. Fortunately, grownups prevailed, albeit barely.

The Mouse That Sued

And speaking of frivolous lawsuits, when a self-described "fifth tier blogger" began a letter-writing campaign to the sponsors of San Francisco talk radio KSFO, informing them of the violent, threatening, racist, eliminationist rhetoric being spewed on the airways, the Enchanted Lawyers of the Magic Kingdom were deployed to smack him with a happy "cease & desist" letter. This type of legal thuggery is known as a SLAP, or strategic lawsuit against the public interest, where giant corporations threaten uppity citizens with financial ruin, even though the threatened lawsuits clearly have no merit. This is a relatively small incident in the grand scheme of things, but it represents a growing threat: the ability of the wealthy and powerful to grind into paste any free speech they find annoying.

The People's House? Part II

Apparently, Capitol Police are at least bi-partisan in their fear of t-shirt slogans, though it's interesting to note that (unlike Cindy Sheehan) they didn't arrest Beverly Young, wife of Republican Congressman Bill Young of Florida, for wearing one that said "Support the troops defending our freedom"; they just accused her of "protesting" and escorted her out of the chamber. She called the officer an "idiot," which just goes to show that if a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged, then a liberal is a conservative who's been arrested (or, uh, escorted from the chamber).

The People's House?

Am I the only one bothered by the notion that you can be arrested for wearing a political t-shirt in the Capitol Building? As far as the news reports seem to indicate, Cindy Sheehan wasn't causing a disruption, wasn't screaming obscenities at the podium or anything like that, and she was an invited guest of a Member of Congress. Yet she's arrested and charged with "unlawful conduct" for exercising her First Amendment rights to free speech in what is arguably the temple of American democracy? Now, granted, she may have planned this. Certainly, she's been involved in some strange actions lately, particularly her eye-roll-inducing decision to appear with that socialist blowhard and military coup-leader Hugo Chavez. Actions like that don't help her cause at all. But, frankly, even if this was a completely calculated and cynical plan to generate publicity, you still have to ask: if you can't dissent in the Capitol Building, where can you? Are our politicians really so weak-kneed, such slaves to the photo-op they can't bear the thought of a contrary opinion on a t-shirt? Wait, don't answer that...