Bush signed a bill into law today to prohibit protests at military funerals. Everyone knows that this was done to block the hateful Fred Phelps from protesting that America's pro-gay stance is causing God to kill our boys in Iraq. (As a gay person, let me note that I am not familiar with America's pro-gay stance -- maybe the text of it is hidden in the latest marriage ammendment. ;-)
The Phelps folks showed up at Arlington today to protest Memorial Day. (These people have no shame.) Opposing them was a group from the DC chapter of FreeRepublic.com. This leads me to wonder if the enemy of my enemy is ... on the flip...
MSNBC.com reports:
Monday's observance at Arlington National Cemetery was not a funeral, so demonstrators were free to speak their minds at the site.
And several did.
Approximately 10 people from the Washington, D.C., chapter of FreeRepublic.com, a self-styled grass roots conservative group, held signs at the entrance of the cemetery supporting U.S. troops. A large sign held by several people said, "God bless our troops, defenders of freedom, American heroes."
They were faced off against a handful of anti-gay protesters who stood across a four-lane highway as people headed toward the national burial grounds.
The FreeRepublic.com group was trying to counter demonstrations by the Kansas-based group, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps.
There's so much wrong with this to story that I don't know where to begin: the law may be unconstitutional (not that such a thing would stop this administration); Fred Phelps is a misguided, hateful man; FreeRepublic has "local chapters" (that God they all stayed home from Iraq so that someone could counter-protest Phelps).