Those were the arresting officer's words, not mine. nm

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Arresting Deputy Didn�t Want To �Defame� Gibson

�I don�t take pride in hurting Mr. Gibson� says officer, who is Jewish

MSNBC
The Associated Press
Updated: 7:56 p.m. PT July 31, 2006

Excerpt:

CALABASAS, Calif. - The deputy who arrested Mel Gibson on suspicion of drunken driving said Monday that he feels bad for damage to the star�s reputation but hopes Gibson thinks twice before drinking and getting behind the wheel.

James Mee, a Los Angeles County sheriff�s deputy, told the Associated Press that he considered it a routine arrest and didn�t take seriously any comments that Gibson made.

Gibson reportedly unleashed an anti-Semitic tirade and made other offensive comments when he was pulled over, initially for speeding, early Friday along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. He was then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Gibson has issued a public apology for his conduct without specifying what he said or did.

�I don�t take pride in hurting Mr. Gibson,� said Mee, a 17-year deputy who is Jewish. �What I had hoped out of this is that he would think twice before he gets behind the wheel of a car and was drinking. ... I don�t want to ruin his career. I don�t want to defame him in any way or hurt him.�

*snip*

TMZ reported that Gibson said, �The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,� and asked the arresting officer, �Are you a Jew?�

In the interview outside his home, Mee would not comment specifically on what Gibson said.

�That stuff is booze talking,� the deputy said. �There�s two things that booze does. It amplifies your basic personality. If you are a laid-back kind of person, just an easygoing kind of person, booze is going to amplify that and you�ll be just sitting around going how it�s a wonderful day.

Sam, you give closed-minded people way too much of your time! Oh well. It's your call.

NBC: Charges against Sheehan to be dropped
Antiwar mom removed from State of the Union for wearing protest shirt

WASHINGTON - Charges against antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan, who was arrested after an incident involving a T-shirt she wore to the State of the Union address, will be dropped, officials told NBC News Wednesday.

U.S. Capitol Police took Sheehan away in handcuffs and charged her with unlawful conduct, a misdemeanor, when she showed up to President Bush�s address Tuesday night wearing a shirt that read, �2245 Dead. How many more?� � a reference to the number of soldiers killed in Iraq.

But Capitol Police will ask the U.S. attorney's office to drop the charges, NBC News� Mike Viqueira reported Wednesday.

�We screwed up,� a top Capitol Police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said Sheehan didn't violate any rules or laws.

Sheehan, whose son Casey died in Iraq, was not the only one ejected from the House gallery. The wife of a powerful Republican congressman was also asked to leave, but she was not arrested.

Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida � chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee � was removed from the gallery because she was wearing a T-shirt that read, �Support the Troops � Defending Our Freedom.�

The Capitol Police official said officers never should have approached Young.

Criticism from Rep. Young
Holding up the shirt his wife wore, Rep. Young said on the House floor Wednesday morning: �Because she had on a shirt that someone didn�t like that said support our troops, she was kicked out of this gallery.�

�Shame, shame,� he scolded.

Beverly Young was sitting about six rows from first lady Laura Bush and was asked to leave. She argued with police in the hallway outside the House chamber.

�They said I was protesting,� she told the St. Petersburg Times. �I said, �Read my shirt, it is not a protest.� They said, �We consider that a protest.� I said, �Then you are an idiot.��

They told her she was being treated the same as Sheehan, who was ejected before the speech. Sheehan wrote in her blog Wednesday that she intended to file a First Amendment lawsuit.

She did not issue an immediate response to the charges being dropped.

�I don�t want to live in a country that prohibits any person, whether he/she has paid the ultimate price for that country, from wearing, saying, writing, or telephoning any negative statements about the government,� Sheehan wrote in her blog.

Sheehan was invited as a guest of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif. She later was released on her own recognizance.

Told she could not wear shirt?
Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said police warned Sheehan that such displays were not allowed in the House chamber, but Sheehan did not respond, she said.

Sheehan, however, told a different story in her blog.

�I was never told that I couldn�t wear that shirt into the Congress,� Sheehan wrote. �I was never asked to take it off or zip my jacket back up. If I had been asked to do any of those things, ... I would have, and written about the suppression of my freedom of speech later.�

She said she felt uncomfortable about attending the speech.

�I knew George Bush would say things that would hurt me and anger me and I knew that I couldn�t disrupt the address because Lynn had given me the ticket,� Sheehan wrote. �I didn�t want to be disruptive out of respect for her.�

She said she had one arm out of her coat when an officer yelled, �Protester.�

�He then ran over to me, hauled me out of my seat and roughly (with my hands behind my back) shoved me up the stairs,� she wrote in her blog. She was then cuffed and driven to police headquarters a few blocks away.

Sheehan was arrested in September with about 300 other anti-war activists in front of the White House after a weekend of protests against the war in Iraq. In August, she spent 26 days camped near Bush�s ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he was spending a working vacation.

We've heard a lot about this story, and I think Cynthia was in the wrong. She should have gone through the check point and not around it, and explained who she was, and most importantly had her ID on. Maybe she thought since she had been in congress since 1992 they would recognize her by now. Maybe it was a reflex hit. Who knows? Either way she should not have swung on the officer.

Surely republicans with their forgiving hearts and *everyone makes mistakes* attitude will accept her apology and move on. NOT. See link.

So if something is amiss in the word you don't try to fix it at all you just hope that it goes away?

Would you rather deal with Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas before they get nukes or after? Should we have let Saddam get nukes too?

This whole *Bush was too preoccupied with Iraq to deal with this situation* the Dems are crying is bull. Just like everything else they say in fact. This situation has been ongoing for years. The cease fires so touted by Madeline Albright and Clinton have never been true cease fires. This is a conflict that has been going on ever since there were Jews and Arabs. This is one situation you cannot historically place the blame on Bush. Doesn't hold water. So, if you are so concerned about our President supposedly not knowing history or geographics then I suggest you do some studying of your own, because your history and your perception of it is a little skewed itself.

few nieces who are biracial and they are absolutely beautiful kids. I think some of the cutest kids are "oreos."

"If there is an open door in 2012 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I'll plough through that door," Mrs Palin said.

All indictations, from what I see, are that Palin is going to run for Prez in 2012. I would guess that this means the pubs are going even farther to the right.

What exactly is your problem? Why did you think it necessary to make a comment like that? Tell me, did it make you feel more superior? Or are you just so pathetic that you cannot even come up with something more grown-up sounding? Were you the bully or the bullied in school? Which was it -- something you never grew out of or something (or someone) you're trying to get back at?

I have 3 CCrane radios, which are designed for AM radio, durability, etc. At least you can catch many podcasts. The thing I like about them (the free ones, of course, which basically all are), have the commercials extracted from them. The only problem is that there literally aren't enough hours in the day for all of it. The best part is that it's free--no cable, etc.

You may have already signed up for Glenn's things being sent to your inbox. I get those and many more...

Trying to figure out exactly what a community organizer does (besides having dinner with terrorists, listening to - but never actually hearing - hate speech in church, rallying fraudulent votes, etc.).

If we are reading stories to our 5 year old about a same-sex couple who raises a baby together....to me that suggests more than tolerance. That is teaching acceptance that that lifestyle is okay and that is something I cannot condone.

I believe in God but others don't. I would appreciate it if people would tolerate my religion as it is a part of me but they don't have to accept my religion. That is their decision. My faith and religion cannot be taught in schools or even on school property because it is a controversial subject nowadays and I have tolerated that and continue to keep my "preachings" out of public schools. I would appreciate it as well if public schools would keep the teaching and acceptance of homosexuality out of public schools as well.