By now you’re all painfully aware of the sights from the protests of some of Terri Schiavo’s self-appointed defenders. There’s the bloody sheet borrowed from an anti-war rally…

…the kid whose asshole parents got him arrested…



…the standard “I own a big-ass crucifix, so Jesus likes me better” guys…



…and the woman using her first amendment rights to complain about her lack of first amendment rights.



We’ve been seeing this crap all week, but this report from one of CNN’s correspondents outside the hospice really puts all of this political theater in perspective :

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Getting back to the Terri Schiavo story. Protesters are gathering outside of Terri Schiavo’s hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. Bob Franken is live there with the very latest — Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Daryn, this is probably one of most choreographed protests you will ever see. This is something that has been planed and negotiated between the police and those who are going to protest. What we can expect is a small group from among those who have been holding a vigil here in support of connecting the tube of — the nutrition tube of Terri Schiavo — are going to try and bring water in. Now, this has been done by various individuals and once they get on the property, the hospice — the people who own the hospice here do not want them on the property and they have been arrested for trespassing. And we expect that to happen today.

Now, all of this has occurred with leaders of the group having extensive negotiations with the police to discuss the parameters. One of the things that we can expect is a brief demonstration. And let’s not forget much of this is for the news cameras. And then they will be handcuffed, those who disobey the order to leave the property, handcuffed. And they do it in a certain way, they have decided, so they don’t cause too much discomfort. They, the police. They handcuff them with metal handcuffs, but double ones. In other words, they link two together. That way they’re not pulling so much on the arms of those who they arrest.
[. . .]
And to make sure you understand that this is not exactly considered some sort of high tension confrontation, the police are just in their normal uniforms, no sort of protective gear. They’ve gone through this the last couple of days with people and it’s very polite. The man who is going to be meeting the demonstrators is the person who runs the detail here, and that Lieutenant Kevin Riley (ph), who is somebody who is very adept at keeping things low-key.
[. . .]
FRANKEN: OK, what we have here now, Daryn, is that today some of the people planning to bring the water, are holding styrofoam cups with water. That is their intention, their announced intention, to try and take that water to Terri Schiavo, who has had her nutrition tube removed as of last Friday. Which, of course, means in the medical term, that she is not being hydrated. That is to say, not only is she not been given any nutrition, but has not been given any water.

What will happen, and everybody knows this, is that the police will ask them to leave. They will not leave, they will stay a foot or so on the property. The facility here has insisted that nobody can get on the property. And that’s sort of a line of demarcation. The police will ask them once or try twice to depart, and when they do not, and when they do not, they will be arrested, something they all expect to have happen.

Man, they really put the obedience back in civil disobedience, huh? Choreographed dissent really takes all the fun out of breaking the law.