ENOUGH

Like anyone with a modicum of respect for civil liberties, I was enraged to hear of China's dealings during the Olympics. The government accepted applications for protests, and designated three public parks as protest zones. They then went on to deny every request, and even go so far as to arrest some of the people who applied.

WHAT

THE

FUCK

But then again, it's China. A country where a non-trivial portion of the population knows nothing of the Tienanmen Square Massacre. Where no student interviewed at the local U was able to identify the Tank Man, who swiftly became an unperson following his superlative badass moment. A country where the name of the official news agency translates to Newspeak. WE DON'T EXPECT MUCH FROM THEM IN THIS AREA.

But as of now, we've fallen off of the pedestal once again. One step closer to losing the ability to honestly claim that we, as a nation, are any fucking better.

Homes are being raided in Minneapolis.

Officers in SWAT gear, wielding semi-automatic rifles, have been kicking down doors, handcuffing people, seizing laptops, journals, and other materials, never showing any evidence of having obtained a search warrant. Journalists and lawyers have been detained.

and why?

because they were planning to protest at the RNC

It's apparently become insufficient to consign protesters to holding cells free speech zones. Now they need to be detained, questioned, and denied counsel (not officially, but if your lawyer is being detained as well good luck getting in touch.)

And the feds are in on it.

That the federal government is interceding on behalf of Republicans is, of course, a complete fucking surprise.

The worst part about this is that I have yet to hear word one about this from any mainstream media outlet. It doesn't seem to even be indexed on Google News.

This is getting fucking ridiculous folks. Remember that Bill of Rights thing that we used to have?

Wasn't it fucking great?