Individuals don't have to treat these things "the same." But the First Amendment requires our government to be "content neutral" in the way it regulates and li

Individuals don't have to treat these things "the same." But the First Amendment requires our government to be "content neutral" in the way it regulates and limits expressive conduct. Similar lawful, expressive conduct should be treated the same, regardless of content. Similar unlawful expressive conduct should be punished the same, regardless of content. (And illegal conduct should be punished the same, regardless of party or contact with the government -- which is why Americans complain about crony pardons). Many people will say the Capitol building is a special symbol of American democracy, and it is. But the White House and the (Portland) Federal courthouse are also symbols of the democracy. And they were targeted this summer for weeks with fires, some explosives, and physical destruction. They were egged on by groups who say American capital is "fascist," and the New York Times, which published articles characterizing American democracy as really being a slaveocracy founded in the 1600s -- a theme roughly as defensible as American democracy falling to election fraud. And in response, left-wing politicians and groups opposed the use of federal troops to arrest "their" protestors, claiming a usurpation of local authority, and an overreaction by "facists." The Biden campaign paid bail for some protestors "wrongly" arrested. So, yes, the nuance is that Americans are sensitive to whether our politicians treat similar expression and misconduct the same, without regard to content or partisanship. Neither the incoming group or the outgoing group is upholding this bedrock principle very well.