# Cindy Sheehan is a toolbag. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454 "2006-02-01T02:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/101 "2006-02-01T15:11:05Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Hey folks: Cindy Sheehan was not the only protestor ejected from the speech for wearing a t-shirt. > > The wife of Congressman Bill Young was ejected for wearing a t-shirt that said, “Support the Troops - Defending Our Freedom.” > > [Redirecting...](http://stpetetimes.com/2006/02/01/Worldandnation/T_shirt_earns_exit_fr.shtml) > > It seems to me that the rules were being enforced fairly. Thanks for the link. This at least answers my earlier question about whether the policy is being enforced in an even-handed manner. I’d be interested to hear whether **Airman Doors** et al. believe that the wife of Bill Young is a “toolbag” and a “grandstanding showboat” for wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/102 "2006-02-01T15:13:48Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Thanks for the link. > > This at least answers my earlier question about whether the policy is being enforced in an even-handed manner. > > I’d be interested to hear whether **Airman Doors** et al. believe that the wife of Bill Young is a “toolbag” and a “grandstanding showboat” for wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it. Absolutely. There is a time and a place for everything, and that is not the time or the place for any of that nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/103 "2006-02-01T15:14:19Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Bah. If she had worn a shirt saying “God Bless President Bush” she would have been left alone. It isn’t that she was expressing her opinion, it was that she was expressing _that_ opinion. Goog God Almighty. She did not create a disturbance. She was wearing a fucking T shirt expressing her political views-no more and no less. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/104 "2006-02-01T15:16:36Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > No matter how much they hate each other, the Democrats at least allow the President to speak without much interruption or ado. They are respectful of the significance of the Address. The SOTU has no special significance. It’s just another presidential address that happens to be under a title which, while drawn from the Constitution, has no specific constitutional meaning. The president is not required to stand before Congress and give a speech. He can transmit a written report to the same effect. It’s a PR piece for the President, not some sacred writ. The only thing significant about it is that Bush didn’t have absolute control over the makeup of the audience like he usually does. I guess Rove couldn’t figure out a way to keep the duly elected Democratic members of Congress out. Anyone else remember back when the Democrats had some balls and they’d applaud on non-applause lines of the speeches? > [@ADUSAF](#): > > She is not part of the show. She was invited, probably to force Bush to look at her, but that wasn’t good enough. No, she had to try to grandstand and disrupt an important part of our government. An important part of the government? Horseshit. And wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it is no more disruptive than all those douchebags in the Reagan years who wore red ties or wearing ADS or breast cancer ribbons. None of them were arrested or detained as I recall. This is just one more case of the Bushies showing that they are unable to tolerate dissent in any form and demanding that the president be shielded from any opposition viewpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/105 "2006-02-01T15:17:29Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Just curious, Airman, what _should_ someone like Cindy be doing, in your opinion, to try to bring this war to an end? What she’s been doing, rallies and the like. Doing TV interviews. Whatever. But last night was bullshit. > [@](#): > > And how effective might such tactics be? How effective are any protests? How much less effective are they in the future when you do stupid stuff like she did last night? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/106 "2006-02-01T15:17:49Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Yes, I do want to continue this. Since you have the power to see into the future and you know exactly how she was going to disrupt the speech, tell me-- what number should be on her shirt by the time this war for the Freedom to have Our President Spy on us is over? How quietly should I and Nancy and every one else sit by and let blow-hard syncophant like you run roughshod over our apparently less deserved liberty? With all due respect, I think you’re conflating two issues here. The first is thewar, and the second is the appropriateness/legality of protesting in the House of Representatives. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/107 "2006-02-01T15:22:50Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > With all due respect, I think you’re conflating two issues here. The first is thewar, and the second is the appropriateness/legality of protesting in the House of Representatives. Since I’m talking about protesting the war in the House of Representatives, they kinda mesh. And if wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it is cause to be described as a hosebag, then shit has definitely got out of hand in this country. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/108 "2006-02-01T15:26:46Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Since I’m talking about protesting the war in the House of Representatives, they kinda mesh. And if wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it is cause to be described as a hosebag, then shit has definitely got out of hand in this country. To be fair, the epithet was “toolbag.” Quite a different animal from a hosebag, if i remember my bags correctly. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/109 "2006-02-01T15:32:19Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Absolutely. There is a time and a place for everything, and that is not the time or the place for any of that nonsense. A nationally televised political event is not the time or place for political protest?! Horseshit!! ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/110 "2006-02-01T15:33:15Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Since I’m talking about protesting the war in the House of Representatives, they kinda mesh. And if wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it is cause to be described as a hosebag, then shit has definitely got out of hand in this country. It was “toolbag”. > [@](#): > > Since you have the power to see into the future and you know exactly how she was going to disrupt the speech, tell me-- what number should be on her shirt by the time this war for the Freedom to have Our President Spy on us is over? And she was there to quietly sit on he hands, right? She was invited to the speech by someone who loathes the President, and I have no problem with that. My problem is that she decided to showboat, which I suspect is what she was invited there to do anyway. There is no place for that, any more than there’s a place for me to go to the SotU Address and hang my nuts out. As for your opinion of the President, I share it. This “syncophant” nonsense is unwarranted. > [@](#): > > You are a fool. Perhaps I am. Then again, I’m not the one that thinks that disrupting a national address that’s intended to tell the people how the country is doing and to lay out upcoming policy ideas is OK. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/111 "2006-02-01T15:35:52Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > Is this a joke? I’ve never seen either politician in a t-shirt. Yep. The “[big johnson](http://cgi.ebay.com/BIG-JOHNSON-SHUCK-HOUSE-5XL-XXXXXL-T-SHIRT-NEW-GIFT_W0QQitemZ8379000771QQcategoryZ15687QQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting)” shirt was the giveaway there. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/112 "2006-02-01T15:36:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > A nationally televised political event is not the time or place for political protest?! Horseshit!! Any antics she did or may have done last night would have been just as effective at changing the minds of Bush supporters as all the “Bush is teh suxxor!!!111” threads on this board have been. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/113 "2006-02-01T15:42:44Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > It was “toolbag”. > > And she was there to quietly sit on he hands, right? She was invited to the speech by someone who loathes the President, and I have no problem with that. My problem is that she decided to showboat, which I suspect is what she was invited there to do anyway. There is no place for that, any more than there’s a place for me to go to the SotU Address and hang my nuts out. > > As for your opinion of the President, I share it. This “syncophant” nonsense is unwarranted. You have no idea what she was going to do. No matter what delusions my be playing in your head right now, you cannot look into the future. We do not have “pre-crime” in this nation (not officially, anyway. Sure looks like it’s our unofficial policy) so your pit of her disrupting the president’s speech is stupid and that is what makes you a fool. Well, that and how you like to bring up how you’ve fought in this war for freedom and liberty yet would deny a woman the right to wear a dissenting t-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/114 "2006-02-01T15:43:57Z")
> [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > The State of the Union Address makes the leader of the country accountable to the people in a way that I do not see in other democracies. Horseshit. The State of the Union Address is not a fair and honest self-evaluation of an administration, it’s an unabashed rah-rah speech in which the president tells you what a great job he’s done and only admits to problems that are not his fault but that he claims to have a solution for. Just the same, he gets to make that speech, and gets to have it be a big deal. It’s not kosher for somebody to come along and be a wet smack about it except through the nuance of polite audience response. The people present get to decide when to clap, when to stand and when to snub the president with faint enthusiasm for the network cameras. Sheehan was given that opportunity and she blew it. However, getting arrested is status for a protestor, so all was not lost. Me, I would rather have had TV cameras showing me with my best “Oh, bitch, please!” face during crucial moments. There’s not a lot of actual power in this form of protest, but in this way she probably would have been the dominant angle of coverage for this boiler-plate speech. Instead she played the clown. ---
**Author:** ![jlzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jlzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlzania)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/115 "2006-02-01T15:44:21Z")
Cindy was not asked to cover up her shirt: > [@](#): > > I had just sat down and I was warm from climbing 3 flights of stairs back up from the bathroom so I unzipped my jacket. I turned to the right to take my left arm out, when the same officer saw my shirt and yelled; “Protester.” He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs. I said something like “I’m going, do you have to be so rough?” By the way, his name is Mike Weight… > > I was never told that I couldn’t wear that shirt into the Congress. I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things…I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later. I was immediately, and roughly (I have the bruises and muscle spasms to prove it) hauled off and arrested for “unlawful conduct.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/116 "2006-02-01T15:44:21Z")
Please note **Ravenman** ’s post #92 above. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/117 "2006-02-01T15:57:32Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Since I’m talking about protesting the war in the House of Representatives, they kinda mesh. And if wearing a t-shirt with a slogan on it is cause to be described as a hosebag, then shit has definitely got out of hand in this country. Right, but you’re not supposed to protest anything in the House of Representatives. That she was protesting the war was just incidental, and you can, for example, think the war is a good thing while at the same time saying her actions should have been allowed, or think the war is a bad thing while at the same time saying she was acting inappropriately. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/118 "2006-02-01T16:04:21Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The SOTU has no special significance. It’s just another presidential address that happens to be under a title which, while drawn from the Constitution, has no specific constitutional meaning. I don’t know if I’d agree with you there. I mean, it’s true that the State of the Union doesn’t have any special significance under the Constitution, and that the president isn’t required by law to stand up there and make a speech, but there’s a long tradition of the president doing just that. The SOTU has special significance because tradition has endowed it with such significance, and protocol and unwritten rules have developed surrounding it. Just because these aren’t statutory or Constitutional doesn’t make them any less real. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/119 "2006-02-01T16:34:06Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > The SOTU has special significance because tradition has endowed it with such significance, and protocol and unwritten rules have developed surrounding it. Just because these aren’t statutory or Constitutional doesn’t make them any less real. [SOTU Drinking Games](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=356635). Congress really should make the day after the president’s speech a national holiday. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454/120 "2006-02-01T17:07:06Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > I don’t know if I’d agree with you there. I mean, it’s true that the State of the Union doesn’t have any special significance under the Constitution, and that the president isn’t required by law to stand up there and make a speech, but there’s a long tradition of the president doing just that. The SOTU has special significance because tradition has endowed it with such significance, and protocol and unwritten rules have developed surrounding it. Just because these aren’t statutory or Constitutional doesn’t make them any less real. I would agree with you if, at any time during my life, any president of either party had ever used the SOTU as anything other than a jingoism session in front of a largely captive audience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-sheehan-is-a-toolbag/342454.md?page=7)