Posted by  Rex English, Chicago, IL on 02/08  at  07:01 PM

News reports implying that Sheehan & Young had the same treatment are misleading.
Cindy Sheehan was grabbed by the Capitol Police, forced up the stairs and into an elevator, handcuffed, arrested, taken to a police station, and charged.
Was the same treatment afforded Beverly Young?

Posted by  john traas, Mulberry on 02/08  at  01:19 PM

whatever happpened to freedom of speech
everytime we disagree, we are told to be quiet.
talking about a dictatorship in the making
at least Bush nominees do it right
they answer questions, but say nothing
T-shirts in the halls of congress? big deal!
better things can be worried about

Posted by  natalie d. preston, temple terrace on 02/07  at  10:28 PM

freedom of speech.

big brother is out of control! this is particularly true given the two women received apologies on the following day and had charges dropped.

what happened to the land of the free?

Posted by  Joseph Richter, dover, fl on 02/07  at  06:57 PM

You don’t wear T-shirts and jeans to “black tie” affairs.  You don’t wear sneakers to ball-room dances.  It would’t be appropriate.  The State Of The Union address is a formal affair, and proper attire should be worn.  That event is not the proper place to have your gripe heard.  It is the proper place for the president to give us the update on the state of the union.  Sheehan isn’t stupid, she knows it (just as the other lady knew it) but this type of person will do anything to get attention -regardless of the disgrace they bring to the event in question.

Posted by  Ruth D'Eredita, Westchase on 02/06  at  04:25 PM

Certainly they should not have been ejected.  The building and the event are public ones, open to the public, and the t-shirts did not present a danger.  This is another instance of our President trying to silence those who disagree with his dishonest, wrongheaded, and harmful policies.

Posted by  Doug, Largo on 02/05  at  04:00 PM

Protesting is a demonstration against an action or ones particular view against an idea. The shirts may not have been offensive but it stated their point of view and in the House this is inappropriate. Especially since it was the State of the Union speach. This was not a time for making statements towards the President.

Moreover, our government offices are not maintained so citizens can protest inside them. They are paid for by me and all the other tax payers in this great country. the two ladies in question need to understand that not everyone thinks alike, so keep the protesting to the public street, which is their right. They should also follow their own advice and think of others before they act.

Posted by  Elba Matthies, Tampa on 02/05  at  01:58 PM

I think Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Johnson should have been ejected.  The fact of the matter, is we expect all these other countries to respect Americans, however,  it’s ok for us to show disrespect to our president. I don’t think so.  I agree with Mr. Spiegler, take it outside.

Posted by  John Richter, Tampa on 02/05  at  12:33 PM

I suspect that if Beverly Young was the only person wearing a “free speech” T-shirt, nothing would have been done. She was asked to leave only to maintain consistency with the previous removal of Cindy Sheehan.

The crackdown on any opposition to this Administration through free speech zones, surveillance and other heavy-handed tactics is eroding democracy in this country, We are moving towards a theocratic plutocracy, The fall of Rome seems to be our model.

Posted by  Robert Gilliam, Sr., Odessa, FL on 02/05  at  03:54 AM

Doesn’t the fact that two Americans were expelled from a federal building for expressing their thoughts speak more to the State of the Union than anything that may have come out of the President’s mouth?

Posted by  John Vincent Valenti, Tampa on 02/05  at  02:04 AM

Sad to say , it has come to this ejecting people for expressing their right to free speech. Unfortunately, free speech is being hampered by radicals leftists such as Mrs. Sheehan. If one could sit in the halls of congress in a civilzed manner. Then these shirts would be tolerable ,regardless of their opinion.

Civil Disobedience has gone awry over the Bush Administration. And, beware if a Democrat takes the White House, Republicans will remember the relentless tirade of Dems. Until we as a society refrain from such negative tactics episodes like this issue will continue to occur. Civil Disobedience must be reigned in.

Posted by  Lou, Brazil on 02/05  at  01:49 AM

Protests have been the firearm and weapon by which this great Nation was molded. That cannot be changed. Lest we go back to the age of the stone.

Posted by  Thomas Garrett, Temple Terrace on 02/04  at  01:48 PM

I think it is wrong to eject a person due to what they are wearing unless a dress code is posted clearly. They should have been allowed to stay and a dress code decided upon to prevent a likely reoccurance. It probably is “understood” that persons attending a function in the capital adhere to a dress-up attire. Some people have to be told everything.

Posted by  Norma Killebrew, southeastern Hillsborough County on 02/04  at  11:14 AM

I agree with Mr. Sterling of St. Petersburg, “...before we spread freedom and democracy throughout the world,we’d better restore a little here at home.” If clothes equal one’s respect for Mr. Bush’s State of the Union address, I would have worn tattered drawers….decorum, ha!

Posted by  Richard Smith, Sebring on 02/04  at  06:46 AM

While I believe that they should have been allowed both T-Shirts to be represented, the T-Shirts are a distraction. There could have been a protest area outside for those who wish to make a statement.

The use of the police to remove these folks is just more of Bush’s police power to mandate to U.S. citizens that they have no free speech.

I would not attend Bush’s State of the Union, and believe that G.W. Bush is the worst U.S. President to take the helm since the peanut farmer during the 1970s.

Posted by  Oren M. Spiegler, Upper Saint Clair PA on 02/04  at  06:17 AM

Perhaps the ouster of Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Young should be looked upon as the enforcement of a dress code.  Anyone who is so lacking in a sense of decorum and respect as to attend such a formal occasion as the State of the Union Address dressed as if they are preparing to wash their car is not deserving of admittance.