So Much for Freedom of Speech?

The charges have already been dropped, but the damage has been done over anti-war activist and Gold Star Mom Cindy Sheehan's arrest (today's top news story) for "unlawful conduct." Her crime? As a ticketed audience member, she wore an T-shirt to President Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday night that read: "2,245 Dead. How Many More?" Cindy's version of the events appears several times among today's top blog entries and most-shared links, at Daily Kos and on Michael Moore's web site.

You gotta wonder: would charges have been dropped if another woman, a certain Beverly Young, a Congressman's WIFE, hadn't been removed (but not arrested) as well for wearing a "Support Our Troops" T-shirt? Young is today's burstiest person; Sheehan is nipping at the President's heels again, literally and figuratively. Blogger Glenn Greenwald calls it like he sees it: "completely disgraceful." Says another blogger: "tactical mistake."

Let's just hope they don't start dancing in iPod commercials
Sen. Ted Stevens, 82, bragging about his iPod? Weirder things have happened on Capitol Hill, I'm sure, but some bloggers think it's time all Senators who are called to vote on issues such as copyright laws and new technologies at least understand what the heck they're talking about. Hence, iPac Action (today's No. 30 most-shared link) is asking bloggers to donate cash to buy iPods for Congress.

Oscar Buzz
Over the next few weeks, BlogPulse will deploy its trend graphs to track buzz about the 2005 Oscar nominations. Today, a look at the men nominated for best supporting actor...



...and the women nominated for best supporting actress.