This certainly fits in with the Republican approach to their events of the past eight years. Before you could get booted and arrested just for a T-shirt or bumper sticker. Now it’s being a member of the librul media.

Welcome to the new and improved Amerika.

How did the police know who these people were? I feel sure they didn’t have a sign on their car saying “liberal media.”

As a Minneapolitan, I’d like a link to the story that the excerpt comes from, I can’t find it. I’ll draft a letter to the local paper immediately.

In case anyone is interested, Bag News has an aerial shot of the protest cage. It was posted yesterday and is the second topic from the top of the page.

When is Wilford Brimley going to step up to the podium at the RNC and address McSame’s key constituency: the Constipated-Americans?

excellent link. thanks. in addition to the pics, i also like this explanation:

You see, the reason the scale of this photo is so manipulative to the folks at home — along with the explanation for why there’s a sense of an armed camp and why the Secret Service and the roof is so far away — is not because of the protest threat, real or imagined, but because of the way the branded “Pepsi” Center — just like the Olympic Stadium in Beijing — is so walled off from the city, and so controlled by layers and layers of check points and access layers that the image above, and the slide show overall, really demonstrates the overwhelming power of the (corporate) police state.

A friend of mine in Wisconsin won several thousand dollars from the police in a lawsuit after they confiscated his video camera during a mine protest near Ladysmith WI, back in the 90s. The police were screwed because another friend caught the whole thing on tape. Unless the Patriot Act etc has taken the right to film away, this could be a huge self-imposed black eye for the bad guys. Can’t find a reference online offhand, but Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette defended my friend, so he should be able to supply details.

At the border they claim to be able to swipe your laptop, cellphone, mp3 player, etc, and steal/copy the data without a warrant. Since when can they also do this anywhere, anytime?

No warrant, not laptop.

Unfortunately the “bad guys” don’t care about the eventual black eye. Suppressing protest NOW is more important than the ultimate consequences of their actions. Just look at the 2004 protest results in New York to see the planned tactics for 2008:

Seven months after the convention, criminal charges had fallen against all but a handful of the people arrested, the Times said. “Of the 1,670 cases that have run their full course, 91 percent ended with the charges dismissed or with a verdict of not guilty after trial,” it said.

The point right now is to bust heads and dissuade dissent, without regard to civil rights or the eventual outcome of these actions.

This is the first time I have seen the Time cover (farther down the page at Bag News). Apparently, calling Obama 2-faced, wouldn’t be insulting enough, Time has to suggest that he is 5-faced. No wonder Halperin calls it home.

Yes, this story is a great demonstration of the blank check that the GOP has in law enforcement.

“all i have to do is call you a terrorist and I can do anything I want”

They are really getting desperate now. You can almost feel the panic in the air. Their internal polling must have terrible numbers for them.

every once in a while, I look at something or hear about something and it just seems like an incomplete story;

journalists also have a video with more than a million views on YouTube showing an NYPD officer assaulting a Critical Mass bicyclist.

I am watching that time and again and it looks like that cop is after that specific guy

we cannot see what that guy just did, he could have swiped a pocketbook, he could have hit someone over the head, he could have done something illegal and we would have no idea

I usually have tons of respect for the men in blue but I know there are always those who are overzealous, while this youtube looks like we have a renegade cop, I would like to hear his explanation

They were swarmed by three police cars, detained and had all of their electronic gear, including laptop computers, videocameras and personal items were taken from them by Minneapolis police. No one was arrested

I can’t view the video, but based on the text: Holy Crap. How could they possibly justify this with no one being arrested…as in someone was doing something, you know, *illegal* …?

As far as I know, the Fourth Amendment still protects against illegal search and seizure…but perhaps not.

I’m so worried about Thursday.

Oh yeah, and we are living in a police state already. One of these days, I hope the People rise up and stop allowing these thugs free rein. Outlaw Homeland Security and return to National Security….arrest the fascist perpetrators known as the “Administration” and hold them accountable for their countless crimes against humanity.

Goddess, I love my country, and that’s why I want it back…maybe “back” isn’t the right word…maybe just established or something…these people are out of control. A nation brainwashed that violence solves everything. It starts early in the education of the children.

We’ve been hijacked, abused, tortured, humiliated, and robbed. We’ve experienced a coup that is not yet complete…but it is getting there unless we adamantly put a stop to it.

1968 was violent, but where we are as a country, quite truthfully, is worse than we are now. The criminals have honed their skills, and we must reverse this trend. It started before 2000, and it was enabled by the events of 2001, and it has gotten worse and worse. America needs to wake up. Now.

God Save the United States of America.

As far as I know, the Fourth Amendment still protects against illegal search and seizure…but perhaps not.

it definatley does not, thanx to this president, his justice department refusing to prosecute criminals who violate our law, anything and everything goes when it pits authority against people, the authority will win the day

edit: “quite truthfully, is worse now.

Wouldn’t you love to live in a country where they had something like this:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

sorry Laura, goin’ o/t

Randy Scheunemann: the Git That Keeps On Giving

seems his lobbying firm worked on behalf of a ’sports shooting’ group trying to keep open a loophole that allows folks on watchlists to buy guns.

even Mukassey wants the loophole closed

gonna be rich

Or as some have noted above this:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

If anyone is looking for their fourth amendment, it has gone by-by. These are tests to see just how far they can go before there is resistance. No resistance, no anger, the sky’s the limit. Kiss all law that does not protect the government and its powers good-by. Why be bothered at this point, nothing will be done, can be done. Just what makes you think, once this happens, that you can vote your way back into power. Enjoy the dreams though. /s

P.S. Those folks in blue, just in case you are interested, are NOT your friends. That is a myth, a story told to toddlers in a bygone age. Start thinking of them as gestapo, that is what they are now, you will be doing yourself a favor in the long run.

It is antithetical to democracy that at the focal point of it, the choice of the Presidential candidates, democratic values are so willfully and casually ignored.

A curiosity in Spain, there is NO national history, history there is partisan, if not, history does not exist. Perhaps, just perhaps, it would be worth the effort to look into the period from the Spanish Civil War until about a decade after Generalissimo Franco’s death, even up to the time of Spanish ascension to the European Union. Pay particular attention how the opposition was deleted, their survivors terrorized, and order imposed upon the population.

Do not think that the same will not be visited upon America. It is starting as you nattering nabobs blather away with the trivial. All the best, and good luck.

There’s not a video posted with this one, nor is it from a news link. This is an excerpt from an email we received at GRIT early this morning from a very reliable source.

There will be plenty more on this one . . .

I have family and friends in blue, I have to dissagree

sorry

Noted and acknowledged, the statement was not intended personally. Agree to disagree

All the best….

This is the problem today:

The authorities abuse their power when they need to. Most people don’t take action because of intimidation, or lack of funds or whatever. Those who do take action against the authorities win in court and the authorities then pay a settlement with the victim’s own tax dollars.

This won’t stop unless those in command can be found personally liable for abusing police power. We must put a stop to this rampant purchasing of civil rights abuses with taxpayer money. Legal settlements by the city/state/feds using tax dollars are not a deterrent. They repeat the offenses again and again because there is nothing to loose but someone else’s money.

November has never been the time of reckoning. It’s always been January.

Who doesn’t know that a cornered dog is a dangerous animal?

from democracy now!

Denver Police Arrest 91, Fire Pepper Spray & Pepper Balls at Protesters
As the Democrats celebrated inside the Pepsi Center on the opening day of the convention, outside on the streets police pepper-sprayed protesters and rounded up dozens of them in mass arrests near Civic Center Park.

just like any group of people – some are my friends and some are not. some are my allies and some are not. gotta look beyond the clothes to see the person.

Despite perris’ knee-jerk, subjective defense at your comment, I couldn’t agree with you more. I rue the day Klein and Perkins opened my eyes. We are on the road to feudalism.

As long as misprision of authority happens under shield of badge, once one does it, all become tainted. That is the purpose of the uniform (alike all over). In a small community, this rarely happens. Not so in larger populations. I have experienced such misprision. It exists. It is real. It is how the authoritarian personality expresses itself. It is the venue for authoritarian personality, these organizations expressing the authority of the state upon the populace. I was just saying you there are in trouble, a grave danger exists. This does not diminish your experience with these people. Your experience may be what is needed to avoid exposure, but then, the law will not be equally applied. Another horns of dilemma.

Nice to see you here, sorry about the brusk last time, no wish to offend.

t-bear, i’m not offended. i have seen cops beat kids bloody, i have been tear gassed and pepper sprayed (i know this is not much compared to what many here have seen and experienced). and i’ve seen cops who helped me break rules they thought were stupid and then flash me the peace sign. i’ve received encouragement (while protesting) and been told by one cop that he wished he was on the street with me and next time he planned to be on the other side.

i just don’t think one size fits all – good or bad.

the law will not be equally applied

very true. i am a middle aged white woman. i have it comparatively easy.

I had long hair 1969 on, my vintage is retired. The ‘68 Chicago Police Riots are still fresh. The point is, relying on proper behavior when police are under orders to do otherwise is risky at best, foolhardy most the rest of the time. Yes there will be those who agree with you, just saying, that uniform when worn makes caution the object. I do not rely on anecdotal evidence for my caution, YMMV

i don’t think we’re that far apart – i don’t rely on good behavior. caution is definitely called for. but neither do i condemn solely on the basis of the uniform. that is all – trying to be open to the possibilities….

to fill in a little – the bicyclist that was hit was also arrested. In the paperwork, the officer involved said that *he* had been attacked by this biker, a statement contradicted by the tourist video that surfaced the next day.
Here’s a NYT story about it, from Jim Dwyer’s About New York column
When Official Truth Collides With Cheap Digital Technology

update – press conference in MPLS with National Lawyers Guild

A little hometown update: the MPD has known all about Critical Mass (see these links: and ) The last is particularly illustrative of the MPD’s kinder/gentler treatment of bicyclists! Perhaps, knowing that Glass Bead Collective has filmed the NYPD doing similar things in the Big Apple, our own finest thought a little pre-emptive action in the wee hours of the morning might save them some grief. BTW, just so everyone out there knows what a serious threat these biker gangs pose to our fair city read our local rag’s answer to Ann Coulter LOL and her take on the cops’ necessary response to the evil menace here:

Whoops! First time I did this. I’ll try the link thing again. First one Second Third There, sorry about that.

OK Can we spell Learning Curve children? After an email tutorial let’s see if I can get this to work. The first link is a video from August 2007 Critical Mass Minneapolis police arrest cyclists. The second, also from August ‘07. And the third, the neo-con commentary. I think I’ve got it! Hope these links have been worth the trouble.