State of deception

I watched a smug Bush tonight deliver a well-written speech designed to obfuscate his malfeasance and confuse the American public. I hope he does not get much of a PR blip from this. But I'm certain the trained monkeys of the right wing press will be throwing carefully designed talking points about like feces.

The address was minus one audience member, however. Cindy Sheehan was arrested by Capitol police for ( drum roll, please) the heinous crime of wearing an anti-war T-shirt. It must have been some T-shirt indeed, as she was charged with demonstrating in the Capitol Building. While W. was extolling freedom in Iraq, he was trampling it at home. An American was arrested for wearing a T-shirt that exercised her right to free speech.

Update The Capitol police dropped all charges against Cindy Sheehan, stating they were mistakenly working under an old interpretation of the rules of the House. They apologized to her and to Mrs. Roberts. One really does wonder whether if a Congressman's wife were not involved, the charges would have been dropped. Thanks to jade_woulf for the update.

Meanwhile, another of this administration's well-buried skeletons is being dug up by the bloggers. The Washington Post picked up on it yesterday - quoting Martin Garbus of The Huffington Post. The President is seeking to interfere with the Abramoff investigation by appointing the prosecutor, Noel L. Hillman, to the Federal bench. This is blatant bribery, as Garbus points out, of a kind not seen since the last Imperial President, Richard M. Nixon. One thing is different, though. Nixon didn't get away with it. Bush, no doubt will.