CAFE BANS SINGER FOR PRESIDENTIAL INSULT

A Fredricksburg, Va. Borders bookstore and coffehouse banned singer-songwriter Julia Rose last week from performing there after she mocked Pres. Bush's physique, noting that he has "chicken legs," say the Associated Press. "I never said anything about Bush being a bad president or anything," she said. "I was just poking fun at his scrawny frame." Shallow? Perhaps. Constitutionally protected free speech? Definitely. But Borders bookstore has never been known as a right-wing bastion, so it's mystifying that the establishment would overreact to such an innocuous criticism of a public figure who has come under much harsher fire in recent weeks.