WTF Is It Now?!?

"The Secret Service is being used as a palace guard ... to make sure there are no protesters against him near him.''

Springtime for Hitler: Bush protester faces charges in S.C.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A lawyer for a local activist charged with refusing to leave a restricted area during a visit by President Bush last fall says the Bush administration is trying to make criticizing the president a crime.

In a motion filed Friday, Brett Bursey's attorney included testimony from a Michigan case to boost his argument that the U.S. Secret Service unfairly pushes protesters hundreds of yards away from the president while allowing supporters to line Bush's route.
Bursey, 54, faces a seldom-used federal charge of entering a restricted area around the president of the United States. He faces up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted.

Bursey originally was arrested by local police for trespassing during Bush's visit to Columbia in October, but those charges were dropped.

In the transcript, a police captain said the Secret Service told him to move anyone protesting the president away from areas near where Bush would speak.

The issue isn't security, said Bursey, pointing out that the Michigan arrest happened before the 2001 terrorist attacks. "They want no photo opportunity that would show the president in a bad light,'' he said.