Speaking “Moonbat” to Power

Last night was President Bush’s State of the Union Address. Since, like Peggy Noonan, I find these speeches soulless and boring to the point of physical pain, counpounded by the Repetitive Wince Syndrome induced by the President’s repeated mangling of simple words – such as “nuclear,” “Congress” or “ranch” – I thought last night would be a perfect chance to catch up on my first-season DVD’s of Battlestar Galactica.

Apparently, I missed something much more exciting than the typical SOTU: Cindy Sheehan was arrested for unspecified “unlawful conduct” in the House Gallery before the speech began. The “unlawful conduct” apparently included wearing an anti-war t-shirt. Unless there’s a whole bunch more, she’s going to have a lot of civil rights lawyers wanting to help her pursue a claim for violation of Frist Amendment rights.

I’m glad I watched Starbuck learn how to fly a Cylon raider instead – it has much more application to my daily life.

UPDATE: Reuters reports she was trying to unfurl some sort of banner. This isn’t a football game, Cindy. That’s gonna get you arrested for sure, and rightfully so. Thanks to Hugh Hewitt for pointing it out.

UPDATE 2: Via Drudge, the wife of a C.W. “Bill” Young, a Florida Representative, was also ejected because she was wearing a “Support the Troops” t-shirt. She was not arrested, apparently because she cooperated with police by leaving. If true that Mrs. Young was ejected, then the t-shirt policy is content-neutral and would not run afoul of the First Amendment.

UPDATE 3: Redstate has some links, including one to the House Rules governing conduct in the Gallery. They appear to be extremely content-neutral.