G.O.P.D.

Barely covered by the mainstream media, the crackdown on the press and protesters at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis / St. Paul is nonetheless quite disturbing. From what I've read, the tactics included "pre-emptive" arrests for "conspiracy to riot", coordinated by federal, state, and local authorities. Independent and even floor-pass credentialed journalists (including an AP photographer and nationally syndicated radio broadcaster Amy Goodman) were among those arrested while doing their jobs.

The contrast to Chicago 1968 is stark; the police riot outside the DNC and subsequent trials captured national attention that still resonates today. Now, similar actions on a broader scale barely make the news. As a number of comments have pointed out, we paid more attention to protesters in Beijing during the Olympics.

Basically, the carefully scripted nature of these political conventions is now enforced, brutally if necessary, limiting the activity of the free press; one more boot on the neck of democracy in America.