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 The
Death of Decorum?
When It’s Not All About You...
[Carol
Platt Liebau] 2/6/06
The
big news of last week was, of course, the President’s State of
the Union Address. As always, several “satellite” stories
surrounded it; none received as much attention as the expulsion
of Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young
(R-Fla.), from the House chamber where the address was to be
given.
Both Sheehan
and Young were wearing legible shirts with political slogans;
Sheehan’s read "2,245 Dead. How many more?",
while Young's shirt bore the message: "Support the Troops--Defending
Our Freedom." Capitol Police ejected them both, believing
that the shirts were not allowed. Regrettably, the police apologized
the next day.
Contributor
Carol Platt Liebau - Senior
Columnist
Carol
Platt Liebau is editorial director and a senior
member of tOR and CRO editorial
boards. She is an attorney, political analyst
and commentator based in San Marino, CA, and
has appeared on the Fox News Channel, MSNBC,
CNN, Orange County News Channel, Cox Cable and
a variety of radio programs throughout the United
States. A graduate of Princeton University and
Harvard Law School, Carol Platt Liebau also served
as the first female managing editor of the Harvard
Law Review. Her web log can be found at CarolLiebau.blogspot.com [go
to Liebau index]
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Almost everyone in America agrees with the message worn by one
of the women and objects to the other. But what all Americans
should be able to agree upon is this: That the existence of the
First Amendment doesn’t secure the “right” to
speak without regard to the time, place or manner of the speech.
More than that, free speech rights shouldn’t become an
excuse for behavior that is inappropriate, churlish and selfish.
Shame on
Congressman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) – the person
who offered Cindy Sheehan a seat in the visitor’s gallery.
She had to have known that Sheehan’s presence would become
little more than a sideshow and a distraction to the serious
purpose at hand – the delivery of the constitutionally-mandated
State of the Union Address. Imagine the cutaway reaction shots
that the networks would have indulged in had Sheehan remained
for the speech. But Woolsey apparently didn’t care: The
possibility of upstaging, or maybe even rattling, the President
of the United States was simply too tempting. For Woolsey, her
own personal agenda was all that mattered.
It’s probably too much to expect Cindy Sheehan to know
better. She has become little more than a pitiful joke. Although
any American should sympathize with the death of her son, she
has exploited her status as a gold star mother, and her behavior
has descended to depths that wouldn’t be tolerated but
for her loss. A woman who will stand with American adversary
and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (where she agreed that President
George W. Bush was the world’s greatest terrorist) isn’t
someone with even a shred of decency, much less propriety.
Sheehan has
been able to exercise her free speech rights, and robustly – beginning with her media-saturated vigil outside
President Bush’s Texas ranch last summer. Given that she
has already had a meeting with the President and countless opportunities
to express her views to a gaggle of sympathetic reporters, is
it really too much to ask that she refrain, for just one evening,
from behavior that interferes with the rights of the rest of
us to hear the President’s address in a civilized and sober
atmosphere?
Even Beverly
Young should have realized that Tuesday night wasn’t
about her ability to make a statement – it was about the
President’s duty to give an address. Support the troops
by all means, but perhaps, for one night, give the legible clothing
a pass. There are plenty of times and places to wear her shirt
without detracting from the dignity of the State of the Union
Address.
It’s a great privilege to be present in person to hear
the President of the United States address the Congress about
the state of the union. There are weighty issues at stake in
today’s politics, from the progress of the war on terror
to how to preserve and extend America’s economic security,
and so much, much more. All of us deserve an opportunity to hear
what the President has to say about them without having the undertaking
reduced to a carnival.
Once upon
a time, it seems that Americans were mindful of decorum – of
the fact that occasionally, their views and opinions were irrelevant
and that they were expected to subordinate their own individual
egos and agendas to the legitimate claims of the majority.
Decorum – understanding when it’s appropriate to
try to make a statement, and when it’s best simply to show
up and behave – is a mark of modesty. It’s a lesson
that some Americans would do well to remember. -one-
Columnist
Carol Platt Liebau is a political analyst, commentator and tOR / CRO editorial
director based in San Marino, CA. Ms. Liebau also served
as the first female managing editor of the Harvard Law
Review. Her web log can be found at CarolLiebau.blogspot.com
copyright
2006 Carol Platt Liebau
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