Wonkette
During the weird hurricane prayer service/unveiling of Sarah Palin trade show in St. Paul a few weeks back — which feels like exactly One Thousand Years ago — there were also some street protests. And the “Minnesota Nice” armored clone-army SWAT monster cops arrested some 800 ne’er-do-wells and guttersnipes for marching around and, in one kind of pathetic incident, throwing some Clorox on the slacks of an elderly delegate. Anyway, there were some News Reporters (liberals) out there just cold reportin’ on the action, and the mean cops arrested a bunch of them!
Well, the St. Paul District Attorney just said “forget about it” to the various media people — from hapless AP reporters to Democracy Now! star Amy Goodman — arrested by the fascist pigs.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said Friday that the city attorney’s office recommended against prosecuting reporters for the misdemeanor charge.
“This decision reflects the values we have in St. Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press,” Coleman said in a prepared statement.
Ha ha, whatever. He isn’t even Norm Coleman’s brother. But all St. Paul politicians are required, by law, to be named Coleman.
Anyway: This whole dumb kabuki protest/cops street melodrama has happened at exactly every single major American political convention since 1968: There are protests, cops are sent in to bust up the protests, some reporters from Pacifica Radio get caught in the chaos, and then everybody yells about the police state and then the charges are dropped against the reporters.
Reporters arrested at GOP convention: No charges [Star Tribune]
Why do they hate freedom rock?
How the hell did you 3 escape lock-up?
Oh hell… I just saw Palin throw Hillz under the bus on the Iran rally… she said some Democrats decided to play politics and now no elected officials could go to the Stop Iran rally… Hopey should send a tape of that to Hillz with a note: “You gonna take that from her?”
“This decision reflects the values we have in St. Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press,”
Nice way to worry about the freedom of the press!! This would be like that nut-job, baby-killing florida mom claiming all she really has done was have a very late abortion…..
“The values of St. Paul”. Yeah, cuz they’re not a bunch of lecherous airport bathroom trolls like those heathens over in Minneapolis.
It’s tradition, like the swallows and San Juan Capistrano.
So the ‘values’ in St. Paul are to fuck up reporters, arrest them, and then drop the charges via the legalise version of ‘my bad, dawg’?
Arrest All Libruls!
magic titty: Yes! It’s in the city charter.
Those aren’t liberals they are letting go. It’s Pacifica Radio - those are Unitarians. This is just a professional courtesy from the Lutherans.
I thought twin cities values involved drinking grain belt, going to the target, and buying lemon squares at Lutheran bake sales.
I love Amy Goodman… she’s like a combination of Terry Rialto (good times) and an SLA era Patty Hearst.
Did they issue a statement, like, “j/k” or something?
They can use the new 35W and head back to the cooler city of the duo, Minneapolis.
magic titty: Subtract two points for my misspellings of ‘legalese’ and ‘dawg’.
when our new Chinese overlords come to power the only ‘reporters’ allowed will be Simon Cowell, Mary Hart, and Howie Mandel
magic titty:
More like ‘Don’t get any ideas!’.
NoWireHangers: There were no protests in the bars?
This doesn’t explain why Gary Coleman’s career was cut short.
sorry, so very sorry
Deepthroat: …and Howie will be required to wear a Chairman Mao wig.
Well now there’s just going to be roving gangs of reporters walking their streets, writing things down on notepads, interviewing people, and e-mailing stories. They didn’t prosecute when they had the chance and now they’re going to be neck deep in journalistic criminality.
http://thesebastards.blogspot.com/
grendel: Yeah, I’ve been wondering about this. Is Hopey holding her back to save her as major artillery, by biding his time and waiting for the right moment? (I hope.) Or, as most of you probably believe, is she just kickin’ back and chillin’ out?
Yah, yabetcha.
Suggest wearing orange cone hats saying ‘REPORTER’ on it in future. Maybe moose antlers. Something.
DemmeFatale: She’s been puposely tepid in her campaigning, waiting for the perfect moment to step in and slap up Moose Knuckle in public, so that when Barack wins by thismuch, the MSM will report that Hillary saved the day, and his ass.
He’s just saying that - have we actually heard from any of those reporters since? Or have they been diappeared? There’s 10,000 lakes in MN and lots of cement shoes available. Oh, and there’s at least 1 bridge to Somewhere* that we couldn’t afford to maintain due to no gas taxes, wars, and other things to do with republican luvin’ conducted in MSP bathroom stalls.
*by somewhere in this case, I mean a place that has several more million people than all of Alaska
Maybe they counted actually having to go to St. Paul as time served.
DemmeFatale: Clinton needs to come out soon and lay the smack down on Caribou Barbie. She’s lost two big fundraisers to the McCain/Palin campaign, and hasn’t issued any meaningful press releases since she dropped out of the race. You gotta fight bitch with bitch in this country.
DemmeFatale:
I’ve been saying it’s the former. Timing is crucial in this attention-impaired society. Her return should be fresh in the minds of voters. I’m wondering if a cabinet post was offered for her delegates and will be announced just before election day.
Amy Goodman’s publicist begged and begged them to prosecute, but they didn’t want to pump millions into a glorious St. Paul First Amendment Festival that could have raised millions for the ACLU, which will be forced to find a menorah on public property to sue about as a result. If Amy’s name only had been Flodeen Olson, at least Garrison Keillor could have picked her up for a Saturday night, eh.
If there had been something a bit more violent, like obstruction of lutefisk, it would have gone to a preliminary herring…
These purveyors of Agitprop were released due the our country’s financial crisis, which has caused the cost of Black Talon ammo required to carry out mass executions to go through the roof. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/core/pics/0255/img0006.jpg
Country First.
Here’s an affectionate look back at the Class 5 shitstorm that was the RNC. Or, you know what it could have been. Or, whatever - it’s funny.
http://www.observer.com/2008/style/black-comic-introduces-mccain#comments
After a light Tasering to the genitals and a two hour Minnesota Long Goodbye, they were sent on their way with cups of black coffee and some hot dish “just in case ya’ need a little snack on the road.”
Wow, here in small town America, pouring bleach on a stranger is considered “neighborly”.
Truculent: In Alaska, lightly tasering a child is considered a sign of parental affection, like a pat on the head.
Did you know if you rearrange the letters in Sarah Palin’s name, it spells “corrupt overbearing bitch”?
gliberal: also ‘pathological liar’.
Bible Spice/WALNUTS! ‘08
“This decision reflects the values we have in St. Paul to protect and promote our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press,” Coleman said in a prepared statement.
So… not prosecuting people that they have no evidence to support the charges against, but still arresting said persons and holding them in a massive wire holding cell for the duration reflects the values that people in St. Paul have to protect and promote First Amendment rights to freedom of the press? If you have press credentials… nevermind… not going to suppose that there is any real clearance process to get press credentials… I’ve heard even Pareene gets those.