Republican National Convention Demonstrations / Anti-war group ...

They are so cute in their self-righteousness.

Big G wrote:

They are so cute in their self-righteousness.

True. But it's kind of a sad waste as well. Just think of the good that could be done if such energy were put into worthwhile efforts that would actually improve the country.

A little creativity could inspire our civic leaders and boost our local economy. These folks will be showing what a true democracy we are and help this great newspaper sell more copies.

Let's go, St. Paul. The sky is the limit.

Sadly enough this is the kind of demonstration it takes to get any attention drawn to a cause. No one is listening locally, statewide or nationally that people are not happy with the way the country is heading. The beauracrats are so busy trying to save their own behinds that what the people have to say doesn't even get noticed. In case you missed this one:

"Lame-Duck Attorney General Wants New Declaration of War — and Takes Aim at the Constitution"

On another note: in use at airports around the country,
The naked machine is a full-body, virtual strip-search that shows TSA officials what can only be described as too much information. The Indianapolis airport has the millimeter-wave machine that reveals images like these.(I was disconcerted to see that the Delta terminal at JFK has the backscatter machines on my way to Netroots.) Must security really entail TSA officials seeing your colostomy bag, evidence of a mastectomy, or the size of your breasts or genitals?

"They create a very graphic picture of the naked body," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s technology and liberty project. "I don’t believe Americans should be subjected to a virtual strip-search for the privilege to board a plane."
Now, to be fair, you don’t have to subject yourself to these super-invasive machines. You can opt for a grope, pat-down instead.

At least in Indianapolis and Baltimore, Enya will play in the background to soothe your frazzled, exposed nerves.

And this:
More than one million names are now on the terrorist watch list. This is truly mind-boggling. Only the United States government bureaucracy could create a terrorist watch list that affects nuns, war heroes, members of Congress, and persons holding top secret security clearances.

"Bush’s approval ratings are so low they would have given King George pause, yet Congress keeps granting him all the power he wants. Their latest capitulation on FISA granted the President even more power to spy on Americans without a warrant. Count the Fourth Amendment among the many Bush has trampled on."

And we spend our time debating who is the lesser of two evils, the Democrats or the Republicans. I say eliminate both parties and start from scratch, neither can be trusted at this point.

Great. It will make good news when they hose them down in the street.

One more bit of info not widely known at this point:

"Way back in 2003, the Pentagon proposed a super-invasive, super-scary program called Total Information Awareness (TIA). TIA would’ve been a massive government database of highly personal information, including your medical and financial records, political beliefs, buying habits, school records, and records of your communications (like phone calls, emails, and web surfing)."

Congress stopped TIA in its tracks by refusing to fund it with the Wyden Amendment, which prohibited TIA from going into effect back then, and also forbids any iteration of it from going into effect in the future.

Well, the future is now. As the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, a close-to-the-original version of TIA is in full force, operating out of the Pentagon’s black budget, and housed at the NSA. We’ve suspected as much all along, but were never able to confirm it until Monday’s article appeared. The article states:

According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records. The NSA receives this so-called “transactional” data from other agencies or private companies, and its sophisticated software programs analyze the various transactions for suspicious patterns.

Even those of us who have got nothing to hide have something to fear from TIA, because such mass data collection has never proved effective as a counterterrorism tool. It doesn’t focus law enforcement efforts; it only increases the likelihood that they’re collecting irrelevant data on innocent Americans. What it does do is find patterns in what might otherwise be totally innocuous behavior, so anyone could get caught up in it. Also, data mining is of relatively little use for terrorism investigations, because terrorists stay active by constantly changing their behavior and not conforming to patterns.

This isn’t the first time the Bush administration has thumbed its nose at Congress’s oversight role. And it surely isn’t the last.

And these lunatic wackos wonder why Police show up in rito gear. Misty Rowan (whose parents must be real proud of their little hippie) should be cited for inciting a riot, and forced to watch the convention from start to finish from the comfort of a jail cell.

These people should get front row seats to Pres. Bush's speech.....they should be handcuffed to their seats and gagged for the duration of it.

As a strong anti-war person, I sincerely hope that "militant" is not the proper description for a protest. Anyone who plans on representing the anti-war position should do so respectfully, intelligently, thoughtfully, and even emotionally. Militantly? One of the definitions for militant is "engaged in warfare, fighting." I thought that was what we were opposed to. Please give the world a positive view of the anti-war movement.

tjwillie wrote:

These people should get front row seats to Pres. Bush's speech.....they should be handcuffed to their seats and gagged for the duration of it.

I vote that they be left alone in a room with King george and the big Dick C.

better than UFC!

please, please !! be "disobedient", so we can beat the crap out of you losers !

no protest... no matter how big or how violent... will stop the war... protestors are just wasting their time, jepordizing their own safety and making Minnesota look bad... This is St. Paul's/Minnesota's time to shine and the protestors are going to ruin it all... thanks.

""We don't have any plans for violence," Katrina Plotz, a member of the group, said when pressed on her use of the word "militant.""

Someone should tell the darling little ditz, that "militant" is a synonym for "terrorist" in newspaper speak.

I would imagine there could be a group of protesters who have issues with the local anti-war. This anti-war group protest may get a bit spirited and more creative as well.

The First Amendment allows the "right of the people peaceably to assemble." Over in Iraq, we are supposedly "fighting for our freedom", here in America exercising that freedom is defined as self-righteousness and deemed unworthy. Apparently and thankfully, our forefathers deemed the right to assemble worthy. A more spirited and creative march does not mean a violent one; assumptions are being drawn here. Participation is for each individual to decide for themselves, but use caution when mocking the right to do so. Support for the cause is not required, support and respect for the First Amendment is.

You're right, spirited and creative doesn't mean violent. However, when statements are made about the possibility of arrests being made, and people willing to get arrested, that does lead one to believe some sort of violent or disorderly acts will be committed. The only way to get arrested is to break the law, and when you have people willing to get arrested, you have peope willing to break the law...

Protests have their time and place. The RNC is not the time for this. It's not going to change anything... and using violence to stop violence most certainly will not help.

Willing to break the law? What law? One that has been made in the last 3-5 years to try to curb the right to protest something that isn't considerded in the best interest of society. I don't support violent protests, however the violence I have seen of late has not been all instigated by the protestors. More in response to aggression from the other side.

uptheriver wrote:

The First Amendment allows the "right of the people peaceably to assemble." Over in Iraq, we are supposedly "fighting for our freedom", here in America exercising that freedom is defined as self-righteousness and deemed unworthy. Apparently and thankfully, our forefathers deemed the right to assemble worthy. A more spirited and creative march does not mean a violent one; assumptions are being drawn here. Participation is for each individual to decide for themselves, but use caution when mocking the right to do so. Support for the cause is not required, support and respect for the First Amendment is.

Wait a minute. Yes, the constitution does provide the right of the people to peaceably assemble. And isn't that exactly what the Republicans are planning to do? They rented out the X and are planning to peaceably assemble there. They have rights too you know.

I am a life-long liberal (not 'progressive'; that is such a weenie word) democrat. I oppose the policy choices of the GOP and I support the rights of the anti war folks (I consider myself to be one) to peaceably assemble. But at my age, I've had enough of street theater and rebel-without-a-clue behavior.

All bets are off. Bring it freaks.

"What Laws"
The laws they are planning on breaking when they say they are willing to get arrested... perhaps disorderly conduct, hopefully not much worse than that. There are lots of laws that govern what it means to peaceably assemble...
Perhaps instead of protesting the war, people should hold a candle light vigil in honor of those serving in the military fighting for freedom and those who've lost their lives fighting... I think that would have a greater impact... people tend to tune out screaming and shouting...