Bouncing Cindy

So Sheehan got bounced for wearing an anti-war t-shirt to the State of the Union Address. She wasn't alone though. But she did get arrested.

Anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan wore a shirt with the message, "2,245 Dead. How many more?" -- a reference to the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.

Beverly Young, the wife of 18-term Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Young of Florida, wore a shirt that read, "Support the Troops."

Both women's shirts resulted in their owners being ejected from the House chamber before President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Sheehan, an invited guest of Democrat Lynn Woolsey, was arrested around 8:30 p.m. ET on charges of unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail, U.S. Capitol Police said.

"She was asked to cover it up. She did not," said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman.

Young was asked to leave, but was not arrested.

House rules bar demonstrations in the galleries.

Of course, they don't have any information on why there was a difference between the two. If they were treated differently for no reason at all, then shame on the police. But I just don't see it being that simple.

So let's list the conspiracy theories for both sides. Just for a giggle.

• Bush had his storm troopers arrest Sheehan to ensure she couldn't get her protests out.
• The liberal left get Sheehan arrested to ensure they get the most press coverage to make the president look bad.

Neither sound very interesting do they?

You can get Sheehan's side of the story at the Flatulent Fakir From Flint's website.

The Volokh Conspiracy makes note of this story as well and has an interesting point.

I was also struck by the number on Sheehan's t-shirt: 2,245. Whether the then current number was 2,245 or 2,243 (as shown on the icasualties.org website), it is likely that in the next few weeks, the total US military deaths in Iraq in the nearly three years since March 21, 2003 is likely to finally surpass each of the worst two months of the Vietnam War: Feb. 1968 (2,293 US military lives lost in that month) and May 1968 (2,316 US military lives lost in that month).

Good point.

UPDATE:
The police have at least apologized to Sheehan.