Cry the G-20

What I’m seeing is not just the consequences of tear gas but the alarming development of a Police State.
The Militarization of the Police Force in USA http://vodpod.com/watch/1851048-police-state-the-militarization-of-the-police-force-in-usa

Whatever happened to the Constitutional right to assemble to petition the government for a redress of grievances:
Article 1
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Or am I just naive to think that the Bill of Rights has any relevance anymore in this modern world?

“Or am I just naive to think that the Bill of Rights has any relevance anymore in this modern world?
”
I hate to say it, but some are more relevant than others these days. The 4th is almost dead – the SCOTUS killed it with exceptions; the “good faith” exception being the worst. And assembly died sometime during the Bush Administration.
Can I ask something? What are they protesting? I’ve never gotten this. Are they protesting a global economy? Every time the G20 meets, this is what happens and I don’t know what the anger is about.

the who, what and why re the G20 protest @
http://www.g20media.org/node/40

thanks for posting on your blog, Michael Moore instructing Wolf Blitzer on how to conduct an interview !

Thank you for answering my question.
The protest is basically a protest against Capitalism -
I knew when the right finally took Capitalism to its extreme, again, the backlash was apt to go a lot further left than anyone ever anticipated and I still think that is in process. It has been for years, but it’s a work in progress.

this is too much:
Franklyn Smith, 58, a mental health case manager who was protesting at Schenley Plaza, said police tackled him.
“He threw me to the ground. He kept smashing my face into the ground. Then about two or three other cops came over. They jumped on me,” said Smith, who was released from the city jail around 7 a.m. Friday and went straight to the ER for treatment of a badly bruised face.
when have rightwing groups ever been put down like this?
call & write to say enough is enough:
Governor Edward G. Rendell’s Office
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Phone: (717) 787-2500
Fax: (717) 772-8284
http://www.governor.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/contact/2998
if we don’t start raising our voices now, they’ll think they can get away with this behavior and it’ll just get worse.

also disturbing was how obama downplayed the violence:
President Barack Obama called this week’s G-20 meeting a “very tranquil . . . summit,” despite protests that damaged store fronts in Oakland and surrounding areas.
“In most of these summits, there has been a much more tumultuous response,” he said. “In London, you had hundreds of thousands of people in the streets,” he added with a sort of a laugh.

I’m probably going to piss you off, but here it is: the G20 protesters invariably go a bit wild – I recall them breaking windows on stores in Seattle. There’s no way the President of the United States is going to take the side of the protesters. Without exception, the G20 protests produce the most police reaction every time. I agree that the force was excessive – and I have my own theory on that, and it’s all about George Bush, because when an administration is lawless, it seeps down to authority at every level every time. But to expect the president to take any other position on these protests is just mad – mad as Mad Jack McMad on the day he won the Maddest Man in the World contest.
(nods to Blackadder)

but reports have been that police attacked peaceful demonstrators and even innocent bystanders, not the window breakers.
Experts say that anarchists successfully deployed a tactic in Pittsburgh that they have often used at other protests, leading a large group of people toward police, then slipping out of the crowd to commit mayhem elsewhere.

he doesn’t need to side with the protestors. i don’t expect him too. but he doesn’t need to laugh off how they were put down either.

something else to consider -
As a long time protester I can say from experience the following short video is not unique. We have not yet reached the fear and paranoia level of our American neighbors, but our police have become more militant, intimidating and subversive as the terror mantra is constantly hyped by the corporate media.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAfzUOx53Rg

Oh, rightwingers have guns.
Bombs too, they blew up the federal building in Oklahoma city.
Heck, some of these cops probably go to the little tea parties in their time off. They wouldn’t attack their own. Now… people who won’t fight back? That’s why they joined the force!