Please learn to read.

CNN's Joe Johns is reporting that Angry Leftists attempted to invade the convention with aborted fetuses and pictures of Ahmadinejad, and were repelled by Patriotic Tear Gas and Country First Concussion Grenades.

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.

So they have a hive mentality then? They can't distinguish between right and wrong? And more importantly it's not their job or place to?? They just can't help themselves. Oh the poor street cop.

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).

Yes they do. Agree completely. There have been more than a few commenting here the past few days and I apologize for counting you among them. But just because they aren't impressed by being called sheep doesn't mean it isn't true. And we shouldn't point it out?

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

No, it feels good to demonize the demons. And it is right and proper to do so. Giving them an out that many of them don't deserve by dismissing their actions as beyond their control, certainly isn't helping anyone.

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?

As it happens I am but you are going way over the top in a effort to defend a proposition that just doesn't exist. Things just aren't as dire as you need them to be for your position to hold water. And even if they were, the fact is those nuts are entitled to the same freedoms and protections that you and I are. I mean think about what you are proposing. You have moved right passed innocent until proven guilty and into Minority Report territory. (if you havn't seen the film, give it a look)

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. -- susan sunflower

I am not sure what you are saying here. Are you implying that it is the American people's fault that the government has farmed out security? Again it isn't because the people are bad actors... that is not the reason we have moved in that direction. The fear mongering is still nipping at your heels.

http://aeconomics.blogspot.com/2008/09/police-raid-and-detainment-of-i-witness.html

Wrong warrant? No problem. Just draw your guns and break and enter.

Apologies if this was already posted here, but I don't think it has been.

You may have seen the posts I made and omooex made referring to the April 2003 assault by police on dispersing demonstrators at the Port of Oakland. In that incident, the Authorities fired all sorts of "non-lethal" weapons as protesters, ordered to disperse, were dispersing, hitting many in the back -- a few in the face -- and causing painful and very ugly injuries, though no one was disabled or killed.

Jerry Brown, Democrat, former Governor of California, former Democratic candidate for president, and current California Attorney General, was Mayor of Oakland at the time, and he defended his police force's actions taken in defense of the Port, which of course was shipping desperately needed war materiel to Battlefront Iraq. He was quite outspoken in his defense, and in condemning the protesters -- he may have even said they got what they deserved.

People in Oakland and throughout the Bay Area were outraged, literally fuming at the brutality of the cops (which in Oakland is saying something), and at the stupidity of the Mayor in defending this action by his police.

I'm not sure all the steps that were taken, omooex may be able to more fully describe what happened, but I do know that the City Council was swarmed by outraged citizens, the Mayor's office and the police chief's office were swamped with calls and letters and faxes and emails, and there was no let up on the demands for accountability. Lawsuits were filed on behalf of those injured, including port workers who were fired upon. The settlements eventually totaled more than a million dollars, and police crowd control procedures were significantly modified.

I'd like to think the police chief was forced out because of this incident, but that's not what happened. There was (and is) a lot of other shit on the Oakland police plate, much of it worse by far than this incident (and I understand why omooex is not all that sympathetic with the poor, pitiful protesters when so many innocent people were set up by the Oakland police, set up or worse, and it went on for years...).

But it was the People who forced the changes. The civic bodies, the electeds and the courts played catch up.

YouTube of the incident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GdzuzQKs8M

Some commentary about the problems with the Oakland Police:

http://tinyurl.com/68h5qx

Eyewitness reports:

http://tinyurl.com/59lsxv

I smell troll-pooh.

That preface is always indicative of subterfuge:

'I'm a democrat but....'

Crawl back in your hole.

There is no doubt in my mind that "Homeland Security" is nothing but the Gestapo and the central gathering agency now for info on the american people.

-- maotsetung

Precisely. It is literally surreal. Who ever thought we would have such a thing? It's too ironic for words. Has no one read 1984? WTF are we doing (allowing to happen)!?

Mao... you and I are on the EXACT same page.

E

So, what news did we get out of Goodman and her two producers?

-- Elephantman

Try not to fool yourself into pretending that we're having a conversation. We're not.

-- Kitt

Well done Kitt. Well done.

What am I missing?

What am I missing?

Only the black parts.

Asking Jebbie: What am I missing?

First, that Glenn did viedeotape and post about a police confrontation at the DNC -- of which he was a part. Second, that what is going on in the Twin Cities of Minnesota vis-a-vis the RNC appears to be by many magnitudes more egregious.