Yay, the Republican convention is starting – sort of…
I simply cannot believe the GOParty Out of Bounds with an event entitled "Hookers and Blow" sponsored by the NRA on the evening that McCain calls for restraint.
Speaking of restraint – here’s a video of a massive police crackdown that stopped an Earth Justice bus heading for the Republican convention to protest in which they confiscated the bus and put all the people onto the streets. The Minn-St. Paul Tribune says raids against suspected protestors have been going on since Friday – crazy stuff!
According to Salon: "Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff’s department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff’s department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying." Pretty intense video of the Patriot Act in action (note this is being done WITHOUT a warrant)!
Here’s Amy Goodman, 12-year veteran reporter for DemocracyNow! being hauled away by the police with her camera crew. I mean WOW people! Here’s Amy on film when she’s not being handcuffed… This is the kind of stuff you read about or see happening in Russia or China or some facist regime but to have police point rifles at people with cameras breaking into a home from the house next door because they don’t have a proper warrant for their targets in the United States of America??? Wow!
