Tea Bagger Rhodes Would Have Been Arrested for Doing the Same to Bush

Following up from the post below, it's apparent that Republican tea baggers are going to try and disrupt any and all public appearances by President Obama from here on out. What happened in Iowa yesterday with tea bagger leader Ryan Rhodes and the president was minor and only the beginning.  The events will get rowdier and maybe violent, mark my word.

As a believer in democracy, I'm all for it-- not the violent part. Let people who disagree with President Obama question him. Let them show up at his events with their rattle snake shirts and their crazy signs lamenting government. That's a healthy practice of democracy, and I hope the president and his campaign do not try and cut down on such behavior either.

Now why would someone who supports President Obama, who plans on voting for him again, encourage such disruptions and rude behavior? Because the alternative is what George Bush and the Republicans did when he tried to squash disobedience.

• 2004- husband and wife in WV were arrested for attending a "public" George Bush event. Their crime: disrupting the event by yelling and screaming? Nope. They were simply wearing anti-Bush t-shirts (to a public event mind you).
• 2005- three people were forcibly removed from a so-called George Bush public town hall meeting. Did they disrupt? Yep. But remember these people are un-patriotic for opposing the most unpopular president in American history.
• 2004- two 55 year old school teachers were arrested in Iowa for attending a Bush campaign rally while wearing John Kerry shirts and buttons. Did they yell, shout, scream and disrupt? Nope. Their crime was not supporting the President of the United States.
• 2008- a 61 year old librarian forcefully removed and arrested at a John McCain rally in Denver for holding a sign that read McCain=Bush. Did she yell, scream, shout and disrupt? Nope. Her crime was she didn't support another four years of George W. Bush.

So remember, what this nut job in Iowa did yesterday it would have landed him in jail had he done it to George Bush or a Republican.  When people cry about Obama not changing things, it's better to remember just how much things have really changed.