Pat gets a wire-tapped no-prize for bringing us this article detailing the government's ham-fisted attempts to get information about a recent war protest rally.

While all reports are universally spinning it as another example of the Bush administration's attempts to stifle free speech, there is another side to the story:

According to a story in the Des Moines Register, Nov. 17, 2003, the rally also apparently involved criminal trespass by about a dozen of the 70-odd people who attended; and, according to Capt. Doug Phillips of the Polk County Sheriff's Department, the woman being prosecuted for assault, Chris Gaunt, "became limp and kicked a deputy in the knee as they were putting her in the (police) wagon."

The political implications of federal subpoenas being served on people who participated in a political rally makes me think this is all coming bottom-up from an eager prosecutor trying to make a name for themself. If that is in fact what is happening, expect this one to get buried very deeply very quickly.

If not, well, I've got my tinfoil hat on. Do you?