The San Francisco Chronicle was the designated media outlet covering a high-dollar Obama fundraiser this morning, and the paper managed to catch the awkwardness that ensued as half a dozen people stood up and started singing a protest song over the harsh captivity of Bradley Manning, the Army private who sent a mess of classified documents over to WikiLeaks.

It was a great stunt, polite but pointed. But it wasn't cheap. It cost them some $76,000 to buy their way into the breakfast. (One of the protesters said she footed the bill for the rest.) They finished with the mocking refrain "We paid our dues, where's our change?"—and although the president tried to be gracious, he mostly came off as lame.