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Democracy Now! | AT&T Throws Party to Support Dems Who Voted to Grant Telecoms Immunity for Illegal Domestic Wiretapping

GLENN GREENWALD: Absolutely. I mean, I found the symbolism of the event very revealing. First of all, as you say, there was a very intended-to-be-intimidating wall of private security surrounding the event, and they were actually infinitely more aggressive and angrier than the Denver police were. And in fact, I was there with Jane Hamsher, the blogger from FireDogLake, who at one point was trying to speak with one of the individuals entering the party, and she was physically pushed by one of the private security members, notwithstanding the fact that the Denver police had been there the entire time, navigating and negotiating where it was that we could stand.

The other aspect of it was, was that what the police had been clearly trained to do is create this façade of being accommodating and cooperative and pleasant, but what it really does is it masks the fact that their strategy is to ensure that any sort of dissident voices, or people off script, are relegated to places where they can't really be heard.

AMY GOODMAN: It's very hard to figure out in these situations. You know, you have a sidewalk, which is owned by the private venue, and where the public can use the public sidewalk, they're showing you the cracks, the crevices in the sidewalk, and they're saying that's theirs, this is yours.

GLENN GREENWALD: Right, well, I mean, I found that very odd, too. At first, we were told that we could stand in a certain place that was on one side of one of the cracks that appeared in the sidewalk, and I was kind of amazed that the Denver police knew with such precision, based on the cracks in the sidewalk, where private and public property were demarcated. But when it turned out that where we were told to stand originally still enabled us to accost the people who were exiting the cars and try to interview them, suddenly the cracks in the sidewalk shifted to a place further away, and then suddenly that became the public-private line, and then we were told to stand there.



The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it. Chinese Proverb.
by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 01:36:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The most disturbing thing about this press coverage item is that it's business as usual between lobbyists, corporations and our elected officials. The cracks in the sidewalk issue doesn't alarm me nearly as much.  Just because a place is public property doesn't automatically mean anyone can stand there any time they want.  I got a ticket a few weeks ago for parking too long (about two minutes) at a public airport drop off point (I just needed to carry my toddler grandson across a busy street before I left).

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears
by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Tue Aug 26th, 2008 at 02:39:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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