'Peace On Earth' Shirt Sparks Arrest

Authors Arrested in Protest at White House

These stories are fairly old news by now, of course, but I got to thinking about them yesterday and they reminded me of an old joke, one that I heard twenty-odd years ago. It was a favorite of Ronald Reagan's, and it went like this:

An American and a Soviet were arguing about whose country was better. "Our country is better because we have freedeom of speech," said the American. "Why, I can stand in front of the White House with a sign that says 'Down With Reagan!' and no one will arrest me."

"That's nothing," said the Soviet. "I can stand in front of the Kremlin with a sign that says 'Down With Reagan!' and no one will arrest me, either."

Those were the days, eh?