as far as I can tell both characterizations were reported honestly ... both are "true" ... I'm over 500 miles away ... I have to rely on other people's reports and impressions ...

So, the "anarchists" at the virtually the same hour on the same day in the same city (though quite possibly miles apart) are experienced as genuinely organized and possibly threatening or not-to-worry-about ...

you tell me -- what's the truth here.

imho, it is a mistake to underestimate how quickly and how badly things can get "out of control"

As a child and in the 1960s (my mother was politically active) I witnessed fellow protesters harassed, spit on, and name-called .. there were occasional fistfights ... the cops did nothing. The FBI was there with their cameras taking everyone's picture.

The cops did nothing but I suspect they did help keep our enemies subdued.

While an individual policeman in a squad car or on foot DOES have a lot of discretion, I doubt individual policemen in a the sort of cordon situation in which the Democracy Now members were arrested do.

It is my impression that all three were arrested summarily after being given an order to move and questioning that order -- in other words, in a strict sense, not obeying a direct order -- which then became interfering, resisting arrest (the usual progression).

This suggests to me a likely "zero tolerance" policy in place in that location. No, I don't think that's "okay" however, if those were the "rules" underwhich the cops were operating, the courts, etc. will have to be the ones to sort it out. From the Goodman arrest video (and no, I haven't studied this and/or watched every video) it appeared she was a some sort of either staging or arrest area where there was some sort of building or paddywagon in the background. Amy Goodman seemed to think she could intervene then and there. (I don't know if her colleagues were there or if they had already been transferred "downtown") while the police may have considered it a fixed site in need of defense and a potential target.

Yes, there were photos of other policemen in sky blue polo shirts on bicycles ... those police in a DIFFERENT venue with a different crowd probably had "discretion." The heavily armed front line cops in areas of conflict and those trying to maintain a cordon, not so much. They don't call it "paramilitary" for nothing.

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Two factoids I ran into that I cannot judge well ...

first, that many of those still in jail are there because they have refused to give their names ... and that many of these folks are from "out of town." Don't know if it's true .. but there are a lot of people (around 250) incarcerated and rumored to be facing felonies.

Second, that the police have likely been indoctrinated with anti-protestor propaganda over the last year, specifically claims that cops were killed and injured in Seattle, etc. Apparently, reports to M-SP police have been witnessed/documented saying really ugly anti-protestors things. It sounds like both "sides" have been incubating a pretty toxic brew of expectations.

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The "small group" of "self-proclaimed anarchists" have come off as attention-seeking wannabes with damn little politics attached.

However, two hundred black masked people assembled and on the move creates a rather different picture from that of innocently "parading" indidviduals with their police and press escort.

I don't think there is any one "truth" about the situation ... it's fluid across time and space, hard to generalize.

The convergence center was raided and padlocked ... then it reopened. The poverty encampment, I read, was raided/displaced, then it was back ... For my efforts, I'm finding reporting spotty and hard to follow.

As far as I am aware, no one has been killed or seriously injured. That may change, but it's something of a miracle.

cops are there because it is their job ... they don't set the rules of engagement ... they don't chose the "threat level" ... in special circumstances, they don't even get to opt out. They are also cogs in the wheel, pawns in the game ... and some even get to live in the communities they police.

yes, it's "above their paygrade" ... and, again, yes, the folks above them are more interested protecting the local Macys (employer, tax payer) and the rest of the monied status quo.

The cop on the street has little to no control ... he or she wants to do a "good job" and go home sooner rather than later.

Oh, and much of our civilian population is on the side of that status quo maintaining... even folks who aren't rich... they believe all those scare tactics (and they aren't impressed by folks telling them what sheep they are).

Yeah, it feels great to demonize the cops ...

I am, quite seriously, very concerned about vigilantism... Those militia types didn't "eat shit and die" 10 years ago... They are prepared. Are you?

If domestic security deteriorates, we'll move beyond soccer moms with concealed weapons in the glove compartment... actually we already have, see Blackwater and all the other independent security companies.

It's already here. Read Thomas Frank's latest ... and weep

(good except at Common Dreams a few weeks back)

yeah, your lips to god's ear.

pretty please with sugar?

they don't set the "rules of engagement" ... There are many levels of supervisory hierarchy. Their job is to make their boss happy, even pleased by how effective they are at carrying out the mission.

They are there to do a "good job," not jeopardize their career (if they can help it) and go home whenever they are allowed to.

They fear losing control -- their JOB is to keep order and control over the situation. I would guess they have more experience with things "going wrong" than most of us.

This sort of assignment is not a lark or an adventure -- it's a genuine challenge and an ordeal.

They aren't the big bad wolf ... at least in their own mind. They're just doing their job.