I sat breathless as I read your post. Thank you so much for bringing this outrage to our attention.

We are all Americans, regardless of political affiliation. I don't know much about which activists who are involved (other than the IVideo team specifically mentioned), but it doesn't matter. NO ONE in OUR country should be subjected to this treatment. It is not only illegal, it flies in the face of one of the most fundamental tenets of our Constitution.

Regardless of whether we believe in these people's opinions or respective causes we MUST respect their right to speak out. With all of the talk of patriotism in this election, this is a true test for all of us. Those who refuse to acknowledge this threat to one of our most basic freedoms is no patriot. We all must cry out for these people if we are to protect OUR values and OUR country.

How can you help?

- If you are a civil rights attorney in St. Paul or nearby offer your services to help those who are unlawfully detained.

- If you are a member of one of those groups perhaps you need to band together with other groups and collectively express your outrage at these profound violations. You may have to put aside your cause and focus together because once we lose the right to speak out your cause will be lost.

- If you live in or near St. Paul go to the convention and take your video and digital cameras. Film everything and get it to YouTube, Facebook or whatever online source will disseminate it most quickly.

- For the rest of us we must Digg, e-mail and spread the information as far and to as many as we can.

- Call the mayor of St. Paul - the number is in this article, and express your outrage and demand that this behavior stop immediately.

- E-mail the mayor, the local police department, the FBI, the Governor, MN Congressmen and demand that they condemn these practices.

- E-mail both presidential candidates and demand that they condemn this and ask that they do what they can to call for this to cease.

- Write letters to the editor of your local paper, national publications and most important to the St. Paul/Minneapolis papers.

- Call the local and national media, e-mail them and send faxes. Demand to know why these actions are not being reported.

- Blog this up.

The time to take action is NOW. These people who are being terrorized by our government cannot wait until tomorrow.

Even if we all just do one of these things we might help to prevent an injury or even a death. Remember that people died for us to have the right to speak out against our government when we don't agree. The biggest crime would be to lose this right by apathy.

The insight we can glean from this is that McCain is a maverick, but not a leader. McCain surrounded himself with people who didn't do their job well and and didn't push for a decision quickly enough to fully vet his choice and to create a strategy for the issues that would emerge. The bottom line: McCain and the people he selected to advise him exercised reckless and poor judgment. They exercised this poor judgment on the most "presidential" of decisions a candidate can make.

BUT, we need to move on. This election isn't about Palin or Biden. It is, contrary to Rick Davis' statement today "about the issues." The main issue is about which of the two candidates is the better choice to bring change to the messes of the past 8 years.

For those of us who support Obama we need to remember why we do. I went back and listened to his speech on race tonight and all of the Palin stupidity and the McCain/GOP fear-mongering spectacle drifted away. I remembered why I am so engaged in this election: because I have hope that we can rise above the dirty, mud-slinging of politics and focus on the possibilities that this country can be.

Barack Obama has been amazingly focused on what matters to all of us. I am sure, much to his advisers' initial chagrin he has had to pull everyone forward and out of the muck and back on point. He is disciplined, on a mission of change and has ignored the Palingates as he presses forward. Obama supporters have been trapped in the soap operah that is Sarah Palin. We are off track and need to focus on what it is that we are fighting for and not take the time to look back at what we are fighting against.