Please write me if I disappear

Once upon a time there was a group of rebels that decided their country was headed in the wrong direction. Now their opinion wasn't held by all or even a majority of the country but, these rebels were well educated and pretty darn good community organizers. When they staged protests and committed acts of vandalism, the governing body, some of the media, and even their own neighbors condemned their actions calling them dis-loyal traitors and terrorists. Long story short most of their names are written on The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

Last week at the RNC in St. Paul, Minneapolis - USA. Hundreds of anti-war protesters and those covering the event were arrested. While a fraction of those arrested were anarchists or supporters of communist movements (groups who seem to infiltrate and subvert any anti-war protest), the majority were peaceful law abiding citizens that merely wanted to end the occupation or at the very least have their voices heard. The sliver of public land they were allotted by permit could barely hold their vast numbers. Several of those arrested were media credentialed journalists including a couple of AP photographers trying to cover the story. They were detained, arrested, and incarcerated with charges filed against them. You may remember the RNC of 2004 when hundreds were arrested and charged with federal crimes only to have the charges dismissed and the City of New York is still paying out millions in wrongful arrest law suits. I guess the RNC just considers that a business expense.
Add to this travesty the fact that St. Paul executed several preemptive raids on private residences in the area. One of those raids turned up an alleged Anarchists meeting and staging house where they found buckets of urine, tire spikes, and other paraphernalia that would be disruptive to a convention. Other homes raided were simply left leaning tax paying American citizens who opened their homes to visiting independent media reporters and crews who were there covering the convention. When the police broke in, guns were drawn, people were handcuffed and made to sit outside (in the back yard as not to draw too much attention) while illegal search and seizures of computers and recording equipment took place . . . all in the name of national security.

If it wasn't so scary because it demonstrates how much of our civil liberties have been taken away it would be humorous because, for all the riot police and preemptive Storm Trooper type raids they did not prevent a few protesters from getting inside the convention hall and making a scene. What if those uninvited party crashers had been the anarchists instead of the non-violent civil disobedient types. They might have released some sort of sleeping gas, taken out a sharpie and wrote,"I suck dick" on Lindsey Graham's fore head.
I wish Gov. Palin was allowed to face reporters so we could get her take on that apparent abuse of power.

DaG Out