Did anyone else catch the marathon Bush speech last night? Kirsten and I
flicked onto it a couple of times, and were, for the most part, completely
disgusted at what we saw.

What really set us off though, was the removal, by extreme force, of two
dissenting voices from the convention hall. photo, photo

Are US citizens living in a country where freedom of speech and assembly,
two of the most fundamental freedoms in their constitution, are being
systematically removed?

You tell me.

The US doesn't need new leadership. It needs a completely new system. That people were able to put your country into as bad a position on the world stage as they have shows that there's a fundamental flaw in the government. Where are the highly valued "checks and balances" that are supposedly inherent in the US government structure? What of the laws to protect the rights of its citizens from corporate interests? How can your current leader be a "war president", when Congress itself has not authorized or declared war? In fact, how could the US have held a war in Iraq without a formal declaration of war?

Bush's speech last night spoke of "expanding liberty". He spoke, "in our world and here at home we will extend the frontiers of freedom". Yet, as last night showed, he's not the least bit interested in freedom. Over 1700 protesters were arrested and held longer than a reasonable period (at least according to habeous corpus) in horrific conditions. So many people were packed into Pier
57 that most people couldn't lie down to sleep. Those that could suffered chemical burns from diesel fuel spread over the floor. They were held, without charge, for anywhere from 18 hours to well over 48 hours. But it wasn't just protesters that were arrested... people who weren't protesting were arrested as well. So were journalists covering the event. The police were indiscriminate in who they arrested, and appear to mainly be trying to shut down the protests through intimidation.

It's more than just a theory that this may have something to do with the Republican party. Given the NYPD's abject refusal, despite court orders, to release the protesters it had arrested, most weren't released until after Bush's acceptance speech. Incidentally, the state surpreme court has found the city in contempt, and is charging $1000 per person kept past 24 hours.