I recall having called someone a "sack of shit" in the midst of a thread discussing, of all things, the collection, by protesters, of urine and feces, presumably for bagging and tossing at delegates to the convention, police, or both.

But of course, there is that theory re: ordinary citizens of the Twin Cities using buckets as "chamber pots." Huh? Is that like part of the local Renaissance Festival? I thought that risible notion deserved a salty reference to the subject at hand. Sacks of shit.

Not to mention a few of the names that are tossed my way, eh? Is there a single page of this long, long letters thread that doesn't contain some scatalogical reference to me? Are the Salonistas suddenly getting sensitive about name-calling?

Shheeeesh!

The reason St Paul was chosen by the Republicans (Pawlenty played a lead role) was because it was in an area not close to other large cities, hence, would reduce the protest numbers.

The second thing was that Bush/Cheney did not appear. This was not all of Gustav's doing, although the Repugnants will spin it that way. They wanted to avoid the protests too, and hence, partly diffused them by not appearing.

The third thing going on here is that Obama is supposedly going to save us from militarism and economic theft, so why bother getting out of your chair on a nice warm Labor Day? The local AFL CIO Trades and Labor Assembly, instead of protesting McCain, marched around the State Fair. I assume the Minnesota SEIU was at the protest, but I did not see their contigent. They were hosting a picnic across the river with the muscians at the time too. I did not see other union contingents from Minnesota, but then I was not at the march site the whole time.

The 'Obama' factor is the main thing that reduced turnout. Not that a march through a tiny opening around an 8 foot fenced walk is appealing to anyone. To all those people who think a relatively passive population, content to vote once every 4 years, can change this country. It cannot.

@Chad Bagley (September 1, 2008 11:02 PM )

"Obviously some of you also didn't notice that she was armed with a pencil and a pad of paper. Glock 9mm's are no match for a maniac weilding a #2 pencil--and don't even get me started on how awful paper cuts can be.

"So to you officers who brought this quasi-terrorist down, I salute you. Thank you for protecting and serving!"

I'm 110% with you lawn ordure champs on this one. Only a closet terrorist could disagree that the fully-armed and dangerous Goodman posed an even greater threat to public safety than the psychopathic DFH who held out the flower to the highly vulnerable phalanx of semi-naked constables. One whiff of her without their gas masks could have been fatal, but fortunately for Western Civilization, pepper spray still trumps patchouli oil!

Am I wrong, Elephantmanly?

It's a fraud. We've all been taken for a ride for years.

-- CargoCult

Yep. And they are not the only one. The CIA (or whoever, these days, Homeland Security?) has deeply infiltrated the 'progressive media'.

For example, there are good people on Kos. Lots of them are patriot progressives. But the stories that hit the front page often are fluff and seldom, if ever, 'outside of acceptable dialog'. On Kos this became most clear when I even mentioned the constitution loving Ron Paul - at every turn I was beat down by the lynch-men there (top level posters, most interestingly). RP is the most progresssive out there if you consider his position on wars and liberties. They'll show you their hand if you ask the right questions.

"The best way to defeat the opposition is to lead it". Lenin

I agree with you, the name calling here is despicable and I denounce it vigorously, no matter who does it.

However, you have done some name calling yourself, so your complaining about it somewhat hypocritical. I myself have engaged in name calling also, although of a rather mild nature, so that makes me a hypocrite too. Perfection is something we should strive for but never expect to reach.

It's interesting to note that the sin Jesus the Christ most often and vociferously denounced was that of hypocrisy.

Ever wonder why that might be?

Goodman's Take-Down

@Chad Bagley (September 1, 2008 11:02 PM )

"Obviously some of you also didn't notice that she was armed with a pencil and a pad of paper. Glock 9mm's are no match for a maniac weilding a #2 pencil--and don't even get me started on how awful paper cuts can be.

"So to you officers who brought this quasi-terrorist down, I salute you. Thank you for protecting and serving!"

I'm 110% with you lawn ordure champs on this one. Only a closet terrorist could disagree that the fully-armed and dangerous Goodman posed an even greater threat to public safety than the psychopathic DFH who held out the flower to the highly vulnerable phalanx of semi-naked constables. One whiff of her without their gas masks could have been fatal, but fortunately for Western Civilization, pepper spray still trumps patchouli oil!

Am I wrong, Elephantmanly?

-- Associative Individualist

Nobody pulled their gun on Amy Goodman. They led her away from where I presume she was obstructing police officers who were in the process of arresting others. That is what Amy Goodman is now charged with, a misdemeanor. They led her away, by her arm. She resisted, physically, and (I'd be the first to admit) mildly. The force applied was equally mild.

Amy Goodman then said that she had been pushed to the ground when she was arrested. But it appears to me, so far, that that was a lie. The video all of us have seen shows her NOT being pushed to the ground. So I ask whether Amy Goodman lied about being pushed to the ground, and whether she is lying about other aspects of this incident.

Is that clear enough for you?

But that aside, what are you getting at here? I'm not very smart and my reading comprehension is terrible, so please bear with me. As far as I can tell, your message is basically that a bunch of apathetic, short-sighted blunderbrains are too oppressed to be concerned about oppression, and resent the inconvenience of having to see the evidence before their very eyes every time one of these unfortunate little incidents comes up.

More or less dude. Check again, you'll find those 'short-sighted blunderbrains" have been outvoting you these last two elections. Treating those people as your enemy, isn't going to make them vote your way. If you want to know why people don't listen to the 'left', reading the comments page herein may be the quickest way to learn. As I said in another post, most poor people have had worse experiences with the police than the one Goodman had. Its the hallmark of being poor. Look at it from their perspective, they see the video, they hear your commentary, and they say to themselves, 'you mean she got out in three hours? That's great'

Fail to learn this lesson at your own peril. These complaints sound like those of a bunch of pampered elites who stepped out beyond the gates to discover that there was suffering in the world. They are not taken seriously by anyone but the converted.