Again, I don't know how they say this shit with a straight face. I've been noticing how so many American leaders have been talking about encouraging the dissenting people of Iran. Thank goodness such voting shenanigans could never happen here (.....) John McCain says, "repression and the crackdown and the imprisonment of these protesters must stop." Almost every politician with access to a microphone has been voicing encouragement to the Iranian people. The Republicans have been especially supportive. "The people in Iran are trying to speak out, and we need to help them,"
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said with deep shock and anger in
Washington.
Yes there's nothing our leaders in America love more than dissent. Let's take a quick look at how protests are usually handled here. Forget the bloody few hundred years where if you weren't a rich white, male land owner, you were had 0 rights. Forget the turbulent 60s and putting the hose and dogs on Black people. Forget Kent State and all that stuff, growing pains we'll say. Let's just quickly look at the past few years.
Police await protesters at 2008 RNC
Being that our political leaders, especially Republicans, support free expression and dissent so much, why is there an army of cops with clubs, automatic rifle and tear gas guns stationed at every point on the way to the convention? Probably just to welcome the protesters and hand out cookies and other refreshments .
March 2007, protesters are arrested in NY
This was a non violent anti-war protest. Charges were dropped against most arrested but many still were stuck in prison for days. Maybe the police just wanted take extra good care of them and make sure they were safe.
2004 RNC, plain clothes cops gently take someone down
Now why would there be plain clothes cops at a protest? It couldn't be to inflitrate and entrap could it? No no no, not here in the land of the free. It's not like there were ever counter-intelligence programs aimed against out own citizens. No, these nice officers must have been playing touch football and somebody fell.
2008 RNC
It's quite obvious that these protesters fell off their bikes and the police were trying to catch them before they got hurt.
2008 RNC (yes it was a dandy)
I think these freedom-loving officers knocked into him by accident. His injuries weren't critical anyway.
AP photgrapher Matt Rourke arrested for covering 08 protests
It's quite obvious the nice officer just happened to fall with his knee on the back of the neck of this AP photographer. I mean we encourage dissent so much here in the good ol' USA that officials would encourage a photgrapher to cover the underreported amount of people at a protest. Maybe the nice officer is trying to encourage the reporter to take more pictures?
Journalist and host of Democracy Now, Amy Goodman
She was arrested when she asked what happened to her producer. Now it might seem excessive to grab a 90 pound, 50 year old woman and put her in a chicken wing hold but hey maybe she was a real threat as she has won several journalism awards and maybe she was hiding one of them and planned to use it as a weapon. And how was the cop supposed to know she was a journalist there to cover the story anyway? All she had with her was a cameraman and official press credentials.
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Now of course I'm not saying people are better off in Iran. I'm not saying it's a swell place. I wouldn't step foot there. I do think it's funny (and a little insulting) that the same leaders who condemn protesting here in the states even to the point that almost all rational discourse is dismissed if it can't fit in a 15 second soundbite are somehow championing this cause.
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