CNN and DNC Strategist Attacked by Pepper Spray

Donna Brazile was hit by pepper spray en route to the Xcel Center for the RNC on Monday. The longtime Democratic strategist (she was the head of Al Gore's 2000 campaign) is a frequent guest on CNN.

Glen Greemwald on St. Paul Protests

Greenwald is writing about the events of the protests in St. Paul for Salon:

Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 -- with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured.

I wrote a long post about all of this, as well as the local tv coverage, but Blogger ate my homework. D'oh. I'll try again later.

Battle of St. Paul - Video of Woman Being Assaulted

This video shows a young woman being heavily maced by armored riot squads. It comes courtesy of Glen Greenwald from Salon.

Good lord. I want someone fired for this. I want that damned mayor impeached. Ask St. Paul mayor Nick Coleman if this is his idea of law and order. Yes, parents of Minnesota. Your streets are under attack from college girls holding flowers. How would you feel if that were your daughter? Is this acceptable because you heard the Macy's storefront window was smashed by some other kid?

As I've written about previously, I had a front row seat for all of this. None of this footage made it on the nightly news. None of it will.

NY TImes Article on McCain's VP Decision

Politically, this is devestating. Just disastrous in every conceivable way. You have a surprise pick which is seen as a desperate gamble, then a steady trickle of embarassing or questionable details about Palin. It has been nothing but bad news for nearly a week, which leads, of course, to more digging, more revelations, more embarassments. This candidate is hurting and hurting badly; the McCain campaign will have to take drastic action if they hope to change the public's opinion.

The Times' article really isn't any surprise to political junkies or those of us who have followed McCain and the GOP. It was clear to me that he wanted Lieberman as his VP, but there was simply no way the party's Dobson wing would allow it. Being pro-choice really is a deal-breaker with today's Republican Party. So is being pro-birth control, which is really freakin' hilarious when we find out about the 17-year-old daughter. This is great comedy, folks, and frankly, those of us here in the Twin Cities need all the laughs we can get.

So now they have a damaged running mate which is threatening to torpedo the entire campaign, and there's really no escape. I know of a couple blogs that have already started their "Sarah Palin Betting Pools," and expect her to withdraw from the race, but I'm having a difficult time seeing that. The Republicans are fully aware of how damaging that would be for the general election, echoes of George McGovern 1972. Dumping your running mate is political suicide.

The Dobson wing would fight tooth and nail to keep Pain on the ticket, of course. They won't allow Lieberman or Tom Ridge or any of the prominent women Republicans (who are all pro-choice, have you noticed that?). This would be like pulling out a newly-transplanted organ and starting from scratch. Do that and you'll have one hell of a mess.

For me, I'm hoping and praying that McCain remains stubborn enough and impulsive enough to keep What's Her Face around. Why not? That's how he picked her in the first place. It's not like he had any idea who the hell she was. I'm sick and tired of these damned Republicans. I'm sick of their brutality. I'm sick of their cruelty. I'm sick of their ideological extremism. I'm sick of their rank incompetance. I fear for my nation and the police state that grows and grows and grows. The violence by the GOP stormtroopers is only a beginning of what future rule will be like. This is the party that believes habeus corpus doesn't exist, the party that believes a President can assault and disappear any citizen at any time, for any reason at all. Or no reason at all.

I've had my fill of this rotten despicable bunch. I'm betting most Americans feel the same way. We don't need four more years of these dimwitted madmen.

Palin Interviewed by McCain Team Only One Day Before She Was Chosen

We're getting more and more of the details on the Palin fiasco, and it's becoming clear that there was no proper vetting for McCain's VP. Palin was not subjected to a background interview until last Wednesday, the day before she was chosen by McCain to be his running mate.

We've long since past from the stage of tragedy to comedy. Is this a comedy stunt? Is this a parody? You can tell me. This is like Steven Colbert, right? John McCain isn't seriously going into the general election with this woman. Gee, this almost makes facing down the GOP riot squad worth the bruises.

The Battle of St. Paul - Photos #1

These are scenes from Labor Day. This was an extremely tense situation, which thankfully did not become violent. The porch where I and several others were standing was caught right in the middle of several different kinds of police, riot squads, and other unidentified agents.

Pay close attention to that first photograph. You'll notice that riot trooper carrying an M-16? The GOP stormtroopers are carrying machine guns. They are also armed with pepper spray, tear gas, concussion grenades, and God only knows what else.

This was a very effectively organized operation for them. A great deal of coordination and military precision. I don't know all the parties involved, beyond the local Twin Cities police and riot squad. The fully armored troops with gas masks and visors were the most militaristic, and usually among the later waves, after normal police and local riot teams (lightly armored).

Pay close attention to the final photo. These teams were moving around in long parades of mini-vans and suv's. These vehicles were unmarked apart from a number on the upper right corner of the rear window. There were dozens of these.

This is serious stuff, kids. Don't anyone be stupid. I don't want any martyrs. Stay away from downtown St. Paul this week. This area will remain a war zone until Friday at the least. Be careful.

No, I'm Pretty F'n Far From Alright

I've been upset as hell all day long. It's been a rough day for me, having survived the first day of the "Battle of St. Paul." Now it appears as though we'll have problems with the Republican's militarized riot squads all through the convention.

I didn't head over to St. Paul tonight, as I'm struggling to get caught up on blogging (which is funny, really, because the Sarah Palin fiasco is crumbling so fast). I did catch the nightly news on KARE 11, which miraculously enough, had a cameraman with the protesters tonight against the stormtroopers (and, no, there really is no better word to describe them). The footage showed night two much harder and heavier than day one, with far more tear gas and concussion grenades. I don't know if any stormtroopers were armed with M-16's.

Oh, didn't you know that? The armored riot squads were armed with machine guns yesterday. I was ten feet away from one of those squads. So you can appreciate why I've been so upset. I'm pretty f'n far from alright.

What we're witnessing is nothing less than a full-scale militarization of a major American city. Don't let the nightly news reports scare you about tales of endless anarchist arsons. We are overwhelmingly peaceful, and we have no way of defending ourselves should the riot squads start cracking down. But we cannot allow our citizens to live in fear of the Republican Police State. We are not living in the Soviet Union. We are not protesting in Tianamen Square. We are Americans, and we need to preserve the freedom of all our citizens to peacefully assemble to protest their government.

We must proceed with great caution. This is a very tense situation, and I fear the tension will rise to explosive levels by Thursday night. I fear there will be a violent crackdown. I have a real bad feeling about this.

The eyes of the world must descent upon St. Paul, Minnesota. We need witnesses to these events. We cannot allow violence and fear to rule our streets, from any side or any party.

RNC & the Battle of St. Paul - Trying to Make Sense of it All

It's been a very tough 24 hours for me. Labor Day at the RNC was very...well, I really don't know what it was. It was emotional. It was intense. It was scary as hell.

I went to the state capitol to cover the peace marches, which were peaceful and fun, full of street theatre, impressively inventive floats and props, and droning speeches that went nowhere. That was certainly the fun part of my day.

Then I travelled towards downtown St. Paul and found myself in the middle of a war zone.

I'm very thankful to be alive and well. I'm still trying to deal with it emotionally today. I didn't allow myself that luxury when suddenly faced with an army of riot police, swat teams, and paramilitary units armed to the teeth. If you find yourself in that situation, on a day like yesterday, then God help you. You are in more danger than you realize, and only a damned reckless fool would venture any closer.

I found myself on the upper sidewalk of Kellogg Avenue, on the block before the barracade that surrounds the Xcel Center. There were several brigades, countless squads, a small army. The police I can handle. They're okay, they're fine. I can even deal with the police in standard riot gear. I've seen them before, and you will be safe as long as you stay out of their way and do nothing stupid. When you walk past them, past the riot police on horses armed with metal visors, walk up to the old Radisson Hotel, and see several squads of black-armored soldiers, you are in trouble. You are in very serious trouble. If your fight-or-flight instincts don't kick up to maximum immediately, you have some serious brain issues.

When a man on a bicycle was tackled, smashed to the ground, by a gang of police, and what looks like an army of Darth Vader clones stars marching ominously in your direction....do I really have to go any further? This isn't a game, kids. This isn't a thrill ride. Get your kicks some safer way, like jumping off of cliffs. This is the real deal. You will know fear. Most of your old phobias will melt away in seconds. Get back home alive, and you will welcome the basement bats with open arms. I don't know if nothin' scares me anymore. The American Police State scares me to my core. Everything else is burned away.

I don't have any words to describe what went down. I somehow managed to snap photos and shoot short videos on the digital camera, as many other people were. That is a remarkable act of bravery if you don't know. It will take all of your strength, or all of your stubbornness, to lift up your cell phone or digital camera and document the advancing armies. And armies is what they were. Don't kid yourself. This was not the police. This was the swat team, or something worse. Something much worse. Thank God the situation was not worse than it was. It could have been a bloodbath, if only the masked, armored troopers made it so. We were at their mercy, and it is a frightening thing to realize your powerlessness. All you could do is swiftly, quietly, get the hell out of the way. Find an escape. Find a safe place. Pray to God the crowd moves back. Pray to God no stupid punk kid decides to be a tough man and throw a rock. Fear and tension, my friends. Fear and tension thicker than I've ever known. You better get back and find safety in the crowd. The situation could become ugly in a second. Be prepared for anything. Remember to breathe. Breathe. Slowly. Exhale slowly. You'll have time to panic later. But first there has to be a later.

I'm walking back, away from the hotel, still looking around for these anarchists and violent rioters I've heard about. I'm seeing no one but myself and others who look like me. A generation of young Americans who have taken up the crazed idea of petitioning their government. We had this insane notion of Democracy. And everything must be shown to the world. Pull out your camera, everyone. Start taking pictures. Stay calm. Don't get in the way of the tear gas.

I'm still trying to work all this through. One minute you're snapping photos of happy hippes and their parade floats. The next you're standing ten feet from a squad of soldiers armed with machine guns, tear gas, concussion grenades. Good lord, they're carrying machine guns.

Something is dangerously wrong with America. This nation is veering off a cliff. We're staring into the abyss, my friends.

I'll try my best to upload the videos and photos, or at least pass them along to others who can. Now I really hate to lose my YouTube account. Stay tuned. Stay safe.

Scarborough - Palin Will Not Work

Much thanks to Clarknt67 for his diary at Daily Kos. Let's add this to the viral mixtape. An interesting segment on Scarborough with Pat Buchanan discussing the possibility of McCain choosing Palin as his running mate. Obviously, this was before the VP pick was announced, so this gives us a good opportunity to hear what they really thought, before the GOP talking points come crashing down.

John Stewart - Palin

Okay, now I'm outta here. I just had to post John Stewart first.

Give to the Red Cross

I know I'm posting a lot of partisan, political posts here on the blog, since I'm about to wade through Minneapolis and St. Paul in search of trouble (as well as that killer music show at Harriet Island). But I cannot in good conscience leave you without offering some aid. This is a time when you can help make a difference in other people's lives. It's wonderful that Gustav is a much weaker hurricane than feared (only a Category 2 storm), but there will still be a lot of devestation and broken homes.

Give to the Red Cross. Please don't sit back on the sidelines. Get involved. Make a difference.

Read Krugman's Calls Out GOP on Gustav - When Will Democrats?

Paul Krugman, as usual, offers some excellent observations on the GOP and McCain's efforts to turn Hurricane Gustav into a cheap pr stunt. We seriously need to call them on their bullshit.

And, by the way, where are the Democrats? Have they gone into hiding yet again? Will they timidly concede another "crisis" to the Republicans? Do not let McBush run away with this one.

"No Oil Shed in the Gulf After Katrina" - ORLY?

Would it be asking too much of you high school gossips to do you damn jobs?!

The Village is overrun by zombies, methinks.

Hurricane Gustav is McCain's New Running Mate

True, the lives of thousands of Americans are threatened by a terrible natural disaster....but the important thing is that it makes John McCain look good in the teevee commercials.

Everything is good news for McBush.

John McCain Thinks Hurricane Katrina is Funny

Well, at least no arabian horses were killed. Huh-huh-huh-huh. Yeah. That's cool. Huh-huh-huh.