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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

They wanted Chicago '68, but not at their own convention
Posted by Jill | 6:10 AM
Amy Goodman is a journalist who was covering protests at the Republican National Convention. But you are not permitted to be a left-of-center journalist at the Republican National Convention, and you certainly are not permitted to try to protect your producers, who are being arrested for the crime of showing something the RNC doesn't want yo to see. If you do, then in Republican America, you are subject to arrest for thoughtcrime:





They call it "conspiracy to riot", but I don't see any riot going on here. This comes on the heels of the pre-convention raids designed to "prevent" disruptive protests at the Republican National Convention. Once again, this is reminiscent of the old Franken/Davis "Pete Tagliani" sketch, in which one candidate shows how tough he is on crime by saying he'll execute criminals before they can commit a crime. Of course he never says how he'll know they're criminals. Now we know -- anyone who disagrees with Republican policies and wants to exercise his or her first amendment rights to petition the government for redress of grievances, is a criminal. This shouldn't be surprising, given that this Administration has pissed all over the Constitution for nearly eight years.

Goodman talked about the arrest later:





Glenn Greenwald reports on what St. Paul looks like this week. It almost seems like a dry run of the police state to come in every city and town in the country under continued Republican governance:
Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 -- with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured. I'll have video of the day's events posted shortly.


In an update, Greenwald notes that an AP photographer was also arrested yesterday, which takes away any excuse about Goodman being "a leftist." The AP has been sycophantically dutiful in carrying the Republicans' water, and even their photographer is not permitted to show protests.

It certainly seems that it's the police who are fostering riots this week, not the protesters.

Welcome to Republican America, folks. Mission accomplished.

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7 Comments:
Blogger casey said...
Hello Jill,

What is the difference between this government and any other fascist government? The short and simple answer: NOTHING!!!
9/2/08, 8:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I heard about this on Morning Edition earlier. It's insane.
9/2/08, 9:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
The irony of commenting on the internet about fascism is lost on the half witted.
9/2/08, 11:25 AM  
Blogger D. said...
"Though your brother's bound and gagged/And they've chained him to a chair/Won't you please come to Chicago/Just to sing."

But of course if they wanted to radicalize people, they did a great job.

Next up: Repudiation of conservatives and their ideology and tactics. Because they are evil and contagious. And because they leave slime trails.
9/2/08, 12:55 PM  
Blogger Fran said...
Very very very effed up and proof of what is already gone.
9/2/08, 12:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Uh, Bandit? I don't get the irony.

And I'm, like, 3/4ths witted.

Okay, fine. 60% tops. Still, maybe you could flesh that out a little.

BTW, Jill, it's me, the guy that did "Camp Butch." K's comment just reminded me--I STILL mourn that friggin' show.

If MS were a girl I would TOTALLY freak her out.
9/2/08, 8:34 PM  
Blogger Jill said...
I miss it too...and so do many of us. And yes, we freak Maron out. He doesn't want to be part of any club that would have him as a member.
9/2/08, 9:08 PM  
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