Posted 5:58 PM by Floyd

The last time libertarian/Republican Ron Paul was in the news, he was protesting the (soon to be) war in Iraq. He made some bullshit passive-aggressive arguments like "Isn't it a problem that some people have estimated the cost of the war to be $200 billion," and I criticized him in VodkaPundit's comment section.

Now Paul is in the news again and this time I agree with him. Paul is protesting the scandalous treatment of protesters by the president's Praetorian Guard:
(Link via Drudge.)

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A group of Congressmen have written Attorney General John Ashcroft urging him to drop prosecution of a South Carolina man arrested for trespassing while protesting an appearance by President Bush in October.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said 11 House members - 10 Democrats and Texas Republican Ron Paul - wrote to Ashcroft that charging Brett Bursey was a mistake "and is in fact a threat to the freedom of expression we should all be defending."

Bursey, a longtime activist, was arrested at Columbia Metropolitan Airport before a speech by Bush on Oct. 24. Bursey was asked to leave a restricted area moments before the president arrived.

Bursey says he was told to go to a designated protest site that was at least a half-mile away from the speech.

Although local charges were dropped, federal authorities are still pursuing charges against Bursey under a statute that allows the Secret Service to restrict access to areas during the president's travels.

"As we read the First Amendment to the Constitution, the United States is a 'free speech zone,'" Frank said.

Frank said a citizen's right to express themselves does not depend "on their doing it in a way the President finds politically amenable."

...

So ten Democrats protested this shameful abrogation of free speech, and one of them got the money quotes. The only Republican to speak up is pretty much a RINO (Republican In Name Only). Way to go, party of smaller government!