Well, not exactly a “code red” story but it did not get much press this week. It looks like the most, should we say “outspoken”, or radical bunch at the inaugural speech were given tickets by their congressmen and women. According to FrontPageMag and the San Fransisco Chronicle:
The most effective — and disruptive — protest may have come from the anti-war group Code Pink, which obtained 16 tickets to the inauguration from their members of Congress. Eight female activists, including Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin of San Francisco, obtained seats in the VIP section.
They took their cue during Bush’s speech — when he spoke about the rights of people living under dictatorships to “free dissent” — and unfurled banners reading “No War” and “Bush Mandate: Bring the Troops Home.” Police confiscated the banners but did not remove the women.
A few moments later, the women stood up again, but this time they shouted, “Champagne is flying while soldiers are dying” and “Out of Iraq now.” The pro- Bush crowd began chanting, and Bush momentarily paused. Police pulled the women off their chairs and escorted them out of area.
Two of the women were still being held late Thursday — Benjamin and Diane Wilson of Texas — but the others were released after the speech was over.
Wonder which members of Congress supplied the tickets? Jim Angle of FOX News reported that it was congressional Democrats from New York and California. Shame on them for the utter disrespect and immaturity.
