A Riot of My Own

The lovely and peaceful city of St. Paul has basically turned into Tiananmen Square. And I'm not talking about during the Olympics. This is not getting a lot of play right now, what with all the vagina talk. And I'm sure the MSM don't want to rain on the GOP's parade any more than Gustav has. (Although Gustav did give them a great excuse to not have the two most unpopular incumbent executives speak at the convention. Gracias, Gustav.)

Not only has St. Paul become militarized in an effort to intimidate existing protesters, but the stormtroopers have actually invaded people's houses, held them at gunpoint, and searched and confiscated laptops and posters from people WHO HADN'T EVEN PROTESTED YET. Not only had they not committed any unlawful acts, but in most cases they weren't even planning anything other than blocking traffic. And sometimes, not even that. Welcome to Minority Report. How did they do it? Spying, of course. They planted feds in protest groups so they'd know which houses to bust. First Amendment, my peaceably assembling butt.

I won't get into it too deeply because Glenn Greenwald has it covered with lots of reports, commentary and links, including video and audio here, here and here. Check it out. Really. This is more important than Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter. It's horrifying to see this happen in the Land of the Free (TM).

There were arrests made in Denver at the DNC, but nothing like this. The city was not turned into a pre-emptive combat zone. The level of aggression in Minnesota, one of the nicest places I've ever been to, is astounding. Watch this woman with a flower get blasted with pepper spray. And here's journalist Amy Goodman getting arrested. She was charged with "conspiracy to riot". (They'll be going after Sly Stone next.) This is like the RNC in NYC four years ago when protesters could be held, and were held, for 72 hours without being charged. 72 hours. Convention over by then. How convenient. Off you go then. Buh-bye. That's happening here too. But this is much much worse. Nobody's home was broken into in New York. This is not freedom. This is a disgrace.