Letters to the Editor
rollotomasi
Published Letters: 187
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A bad day for the right-wing
[Read the article: Scenes from St. Paul -- Democracy Now's Amy Goodman arrested]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think elephantman and all the right-wing authoritarian lovers of the police state are over here because Governor Soul Mate is rapidly becoming a very presumptive VP nominee and they needed to see an old liberal evildoer get kicked around to make them feel superior again. I never thought I’d see the day that Alaska would decide a presidential election.
It’s pretty clear that the raids over the weekend, the 50,000-strong presence and their obvious roughing up of veteran reporters and other innocents demonstrate a government reaction not anywhere near commensurate with the threat. I think BillG raised some pretty good points about contriving an atmosphere of left-wing threat in a state where a couple percentage points may make a difference. The Silent Majority was built on this. Saturday’s raids as a means to stir things up makes more sense under that scenario, which is actually more palatable than contemplating some of the alternatives. It’s not like this government has never used fear and over-reacted to over-hyped threats for political advantage before.
From a local columnist’s perspective, @
http://www.startribune.com/featuredColumns/27749349.html?elr=KArksDyycyUtyycyUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
There were not a lot of delegates among the marchers Monday. But there were thousands of ordinary Americans, carrying a message that two-thirds of America agrees with. Those kids and bluehairs may be annoying, but they are right: The war was a mistake, the country is in deep doo-doo.
So it's too bad the spotlight was hijacked by small bands of Ninja-clad street punks who enjoy getting thumped.
And it may be tough to argue that we don't have enough cops in these towns for a while. Yesterday, there was enough firepower on the street - including roving fleets of mini-vans that disgorged clown-car loads of riot-ready police - to annex Manitoba. The cops I saw behaved well (obviously the columnist did not see Goodman and the others - rollo) on a hot day even if their sheer numbers and shiny new gear - the riot larders look to be well-stocked for years to come - were intimidating.
There might not have been enough cops if there had been 50,000 protesters, as predicted. Luckily, the protest was as miniaturized as the convention. And all but the chowderheads who played guerrilla street tag with the police were as well behaved as any St. Patrick's Day parade. Or better.
Note: No feces were flung during the siege of St. Paul. But there was horse flop, lots of it, as posses of cop horses chased the tricksters and left hazards for Republican wingtips.
It’s obvious the few trouble-makers were separate from the protest as a whole. When your goal is shock and awe, you tend to not worry about distinguishing 51-year old journalists from teenaged ninjas. Go, Amy!
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Prime time protesters
[Read the article: Protesters disrupt McCain speech]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Palin had them last night, too. Set up. Human Power Point presentation of left-wing radicals for propaganda purposes.