Dear Glenn,

I read your "Scenes from St. Paul" posts, and it reminded me of when clinton ordered the heavily armed border patrol to smash in the door of the home where Elian Gonzalez was living, tear him away from his relatives (while pointing an MP5 sub-machine gun towards him), and did their best to prevent the press from taking pictures of the event.

All of this was done under a dubious search warrant.

I was wondering glenn, did you write about? I couldn't find a link.

Pullitzer Prize Winning Photo:

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/yip2000/yip_apr_1.html

Don't you think that the police might have a different story? I accept, arguendo, that you hate policemen the way that I hate Democarcy Now! That's okay. But that's what trials are for. Pick a jury of persons who might not harbor such intense hatreds, and let them hear the evidence. Both sides.

-- Elephantman

Speak for yourself about hatred. Some of the police on the scene acted despicably. The overall approach to this event by law enforcement was despicable. But I don't hold a wholesale "hate" against policemen as you hold a wholesale hatred toward Amy Goodman and everyone affiliated with Democracy Now!

There won't be a jury because there won't be a trial. The charges will be dropped.

It doesn't appear that they were doing anything wrong and that they were, in fact, trying to follow law enforcement instructions and get out of the way, but were prevented from doing so due to the circumstances.

I saw the videotape (better if they hadn't taped it) and if I were her attorney that's exactly what I'd be telling Amy her story was and to stick to it.

NYTimes with pictures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/us/politics/02protest.html?em

CargoCult: ...Amy Goodman refuses to cover the Iraq Veterans Against the War march at the Republican National Convention...

As RNC Opens, Iraq Veterans Against the War March in St. Paul

(video/transcript: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/2/as_rnc_opens_iraq_veterans_against)

We return to the streets of St. Paul where more than one hundred members of Iraq Veterans Against the War held a rally on Monday. The anti-war vets marched to the site of the Republican National Convention. Jaquie Soohen of Big Noise Films filed this report.

A Debate: Iraq Veterans Against the War vs. Vets For Freedom

(video: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/2/a_debate_iraq_veterans_against_the)

Democracy Now! speaks with Geoffrey Millard, chapter president of the IVAW in Washington, D.C., David Bellavia, Vice-Chair of Vets for Freedom and Steve Russell, founder and chair of the group Vets for Victory.

What I do is called analysis, and it involves collecting information from a very wide variety of primary sources on topics - from the broad to the very specific. There are various other well-known practitioners of this, and it has some economic value in the right situation - such as in the free democracy, open flow of information, competetive free market model.

The worst thing for an analyst is bad information or sloppy information or bad coverage, especially if it is pretending to be "honest, independent journalism."

This is an across-the-board problem with the private foundation media, not with any one person in particular. Over and over we have heard comments on "the corporate media" or "the mainstream media" - and yet, here we find that the left-wing media is doing a very poor job of covering the protests at the republican convention - while focusing much energy into attacking Democrats at the same time.

Odd - and for some reason, the private foundation press has dropped most coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan as well.

Even stranger, the alternative press has dropped all discussion of energy policy, free trade policy, agricultural policy, environmental policy - things that most people want to know about.

Finally - no science journalism. None. Why is that? Ever read that book, "The Dumbing Down of America" or something like that?

Here it is:

Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, or Add: Charles J. Sykes

The time is now folks.

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson saw this day coming 232 years ago.

Mine are oiled up and ready to rock.

What a sad situation.

Ugh

Don't you think that the police might have a different story?I accept, arguendo, that you hate policemen the way that I hate Democracy Now! That's okay. But that's what trials are for. Pick a jury of persons who might not harbor such intense hatreds, and let them hear the evidence. Both sides.

-- Elephantman

Speak for yourself about hatred. Some of the police on the scene acted despicably. The overall approach to this event by law enforcement was despicable. But I don't hold a wholesale "hate" against policemen as you hold a wholesale hatred toward Amy Goodman and everyone affiliated with Democracy Now!

There won't be a jury because there won't be a trial. The charges will be dropped.

-- Kitt

The charges often are dropped in such cases. And then the former defendants hold a large cocktail party/fundraiser to celebrate.

Meanwhile, the county prosecutors' office counts its blessings that it didn't have to spend a half-million dollars of their budget to prosecute a celebrity on a common misdemeanor charge.

But then, where does that leave Amy Goodman's righteous outrage? If the charges are dropped, and she just missed two hours of the convention (and gained inavluable publicity, including mention of Drudge), how badly has she been harmed?

You think the charge will be dropped. You're probably right. And I think Amy Goodman will never get a civil case off the ground. And on that, I think I'm right.

But "Don't Arrest Me!"

Sounds like "Don't Tase Me, Bro!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida_Taser_incident#Legal_action

I'm in full agreement with the woman at FDL in most cases. Cops could be better trained in these interactions with civilians. Some are in larger cities with community policing programs but when you throw in the large crowds and political conventions and protests and media hovering all about and other security concerns there just isn't time for any nonsense. Strictly business.