TheMillerCircle.org

Before communism imploded in Poland, Polish dissidents pointed out that there were so many laws governing virtually any conceivable behavior that you could be arrested and charged with something anytime and at any place. The purpose of Polish Communist law was to intimidate people into submissive behavior and invoke a state of constant fear. The behavior of the St. Paul police in their “preemptive” strikes against young people intent on protesting at the RNC, was based on a law that defense lawyers have never heard of called “conspiracy to commit riot.” Using this “law,” that lawyers argue is surely unconstitutional, but has yet to reach the courts, the police raided houses in St. Paul in swat gear with flashlights mounted on rifles, handcuffed and threw people to the floor, while the house was searched for material that might be used for making “bombs.” Search warrants were not presented until the end of the search and materials were removed from the house that included computers, literature and boxes of items of questionable relevance for the mission. Glenn Greenwald, writing in Salon, describes the raids, with video material and talks with those who were planning a protest against the RNC. The one group calls themselves “Food not Bombs” and were planning on a peaceful protest against the war and the RNC. These college-age students, though clearly shaken by the raid, said they were more determined than ever to continue with their protest activities. The lawyer who is defending those arrested during these raids has claimed that not a single act of violence or illegality has been committed by these young people.

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Amy Goodman of Democracy Now was arrested in St. Paul late this afternoon as she tried to free two producers of her show that were arrested for “rioting.” She is currently being held in the Ramsey County Jail. Police claim that the two producers will be charged, though it is unclear whether Amy will also be charged. Police actions today were carried out with heavy force, as they appeared in full riot gear, using pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion bombs, smoke bombs and clubs. This has set a very tense tone for tomorrow’s demonstration and march, which is supposed to be much larger in scale than that of today’s, and like today’s, it will begin at the Capitol in St. Paul, just a few blocks away from the XCel Center, where the Republicans are holding their 2008 Convention, interrupted by hurricane Gustav and now an ugly riot scene which includes the arrest and detainment of obviously innocent observers (reporters).

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If the Republicans had introduced their current agenda to the American public in the 1960s, it almost certainly would have evoked a move to outlaw the party perhaps by promoting a constitutional amendment banning the organization as subversive to our Democracy and cultural values. While the banning and amendment option may have been viewed as unconstitutional (after all, we didn’t even ban the Communist party, we just persecuted its members), the party could not have maintained access to American voters with the agenda that they have today. An organization that commits itself to destroying government, privatizing its functions to promote excessive corporate profits, eliminating labor unions, destroying the economies of friendly countries, denying services, destroying our public school system, risking public safety for corporate profit, allowing bridges to fall and promoting a continuous state of war to keep its militaristic agenda alive—that party would have shocked our nation of the 1960s. And oh yes, we don’t hear about the “Republican War on Science” disguised as the elimination of “junk science,” but that too is part of their agenda, it’s just hidden from the vast majority of Americans. The Republican party agenda of today has all of these attributes that seem stunningly un-American and yet the perpetrators have a happy home in America, with a large constituency, frightened about war and possessing deep pockets.

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