China heckler at White House prompts Bush apology.
Okay, someone managed to get into the press stands and shout at Chinese President Hu Jintao. Isn’t this normal behavior in the United States of America? Isn’t this, in fact, constitutionally protected behavior? Maybe not:
The Secret Service charged Wang with disorderly conduct under local statutes. The U.S. Attorney’s office was weighing federal charges of “willing intimidation or disruption of a foreign official,” said Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren.
Oh, and get this:
A U.S. official said Hu’s team was probably offended by the incident. “The hardliners on Hu’s team are going to ask, why did it take so long for us to pick her up. It is not a good thing,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Uh, when did “U.S. officials” start worrying about the sensitivities of communist hardliners?
As for Bush’s apology to Hu, I’m embarrassed but not at all surprised – Smirky’s been protected from hecklers and protestors for so long now, he’s probably forgotten that we’re allowed to heckle and protest!
Or did they slip something into the Patriot Act when we weren’t looking? Oh, right . . . they did!