State of the Union...

Missed it. Had a musical rehearsal with friends at the club - big show coming up in February. From what I heard on the late news and this morning's NPR reports, I didn't miss much. Same old, same old...

But, I was startled, truly startled and chilled this morning when I read that Cindy Sheehan was forceably removed from the House of Representatives Gallery by security guards and taken to jail for "unlawful conduct" because she wore a black t-shirt with 2242 DEAD emblazoned on the front. A guest of a Member of the House, she was removed from "the people's house" at the behest of a president who's adherance to the rule of law is at best suspect - truly chilling.

Sheehan said afterwards that she is considering filing a First Amendment lawsuit against the government because "I don't want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ulitmate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government."

Same old, same old? Well, maybe not quite.