DEMOCRACY NOW!

raw footage of the Amy Goodman's arrest

While the party hacks and ward heelers fawn over themselves at the Republican National Convention, there is protest on the streets outside the hall that doesn't make it onto the convention Jumbotron--or into your living room.

Amy Goodman, award-winning journalist and host of "Democracy Now!" was arrested by the Minneapolis Police Department Monday, the opening day of the convention. Goodman was asking police about the whereabouts of two of her arrested colleagues, and wearing credentials that clearly identified her as a journalist.

Protesters detained by police outside the 2008 Republican National Convention

A crackdown on protest (and journalists covering the protests) resulted in 280 arrests in St. Paul opening day. In a free society, of course, dissent should be encouraged. Obviously, in this locked down convention town, "democracy" is well-rehearsed and choreographed with tele-prompted speeches and balloons and flags. Meanwhile, real democracy gets busted, and protesters (even credentialed journalists) run the risk of arrest and getting their faces smashed into the ground. It doesn't even make the official news. Imagine if this scenario "leaked" out of some foreign country, Iran say, and how the spin doctors would be tripping all over themselves to support the brave dissenters. Here, it gets a ho hum shrug. We're well trained.


Goodman interviewed about the arrest

For an updated story, see the Democracy Now! website HERE.