On my local Chicago TV news last night, the anchors reported that Cindy Sheehan was ejected from the State of the Union Address for wearing an anti-war T-shirt. They didn’t say what the words on the T-shirt actually were, but I assumed from their failure to mention them that they must be crude or unsuitable for repeating to a general audience.
Then I read today that her T-shirt simply read: “2,245 – How many more?” That certainly seems like a sensible question to raise: the serious human cost in US lives lost in the Iraqi War and whether that cost (along with many others) is worth the expected benefits. (Whether any time, place, and manner restrictions that Congress might have are Constitutional is, of course, another question.)
Interestingly, most news stories omitted quoting the words on the shirt. A search of Google News yielded 579 hits for the search ‘Sheehan t-shirt state union’ and only 131 for the search with the phrase “how many more” added to the search.
Also most of the 579 Google News stories about Sheehan’s T-shirt omitted a mention that Beverly Young, the wife of Congressman Bill Young, was ejected for wearing a pro-war shirt. It read: “Support the Troops – Defending Our Freedom!” Only 167 of the 579 Sheehan t-shirt stories mentioned ‘Beverly Young.’
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).
Just to be clear, my purpose in pointing out this comparison is not to make a pro-war or an anti-war argument. I would think that both sides should care about the size of the human cost in US lives lost, in US troops maimed, in coalition forces killed or maimed, and in Iraqis killed or maimed.
UPDATE: Not only have police recommended dropping the charges against Cindy Sheehan, but they have apologized. It seems that there was not even a rule against wearing t-shirts (or t-shirts with political messages) in the first place. Go figure!:
Capitol Police did not explain why Sheehan was arrested and Young was not. However, Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer was asking the U.S. attorney’s office to drop the charge against Sheehan, according to Deputy House Sergeant of Arms Kerri Hanley.
“They were operating under the misguided impression that the T-shirt was not allowed,” Hanley said Wednesday. “The fact that she (Sheehan) was wearing a T-shirt is not enough reason to be asked to leave the gallery or be removed from the gallery or be arrested.”
And in a private meeting Wednesday, Gainer apologized and said he planned to issue a statement, Rep. Young told reporters.
“They apologized,” Young said. “They made a serious mistake. What they did had no basis.”
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