People may recall protesters forced in fenced off cages where they could not be seen.

I was never in one of them, but their existence pissed me off.

I showed up for a demo when Shrub was speaking at a fundraiser in midtown Manhattan. I still remember being told by a cop that I couldn't stand where I was. I knew he was just following orders, but I couldn't resist being a little bit of a smartass. After all, it was a public sidewalk on Seventh Avenue, on the other side of the avenue and the other side of the cross street from the hotel hosting the event. I said to the cop, "You mean where I am now is not a free speech zone?" He said, "That's right."

If I'd been a thoroughgoing smartass, I would've said what I was thinking: "I remember when the whole country used to be a free speech zone." I wasn't that bold, though.

I moved on down the block to where we were allowed to stand -- in an area cordoned off by metal barricades. One of the other demonstrators said, "I've never been treated like livestock before."

I googled "law suits over 'free speech zones'" and got number of different ones. Didn't look specifically f/ ones against Bush but wouldn't be surprised if there's at least one among those listed.