grassgrunt said:
ponezone said:
...And yes, she was handcuffed because she wasn't cooperative....
Ponezone, would you mind listing your reference link. Thanks.
It doesn't matter who the person was, they (she) was forceably removed for breaking what law, None. The Master-at-Arms new this, was present, yet did nothing (to my knowledge). Bad taste/poor manners aren't against the law. If it were, few if any would be walking the streets.
For me at least, it's really quite unnerving to see how willing many Americans are to embrace constitutional rights violations.
Technically speaking, Sheehan has the right to protest away. Probably even in the Capitol Blldg, if the courts ever tested. Ironically, the Republicans probably would have benefitted greatly if she'd been allowed to protest on inside there.
All that said, I sat in the House balcony once, and the guards were very persnickety about things. no talking, etc. And when I pulled out a pad and pencil to take some notes, they trotted right over to warn me to knock it off, for reasons I never quite understood. They probably are even touchier today, in the wake of 9/11....
As for constitutional rights violations, FDR was one of the champs of that a few years back. And of course Lincoln and other presidents during wartime were much more willing to restrict rights than anything we see today. In fact,
does anyone here really know anyone personally who has had their rights violated in recent years? If so, what and where? Just curious....