But diaries like this one over at Daily Kos about how European countries are magically free of police brutality are starting to piss me off.  Maybe it's just a consequence of having seen to many clashes between Basque protesters and police while in Pamplona, but I don't share this illusion that Spanish police won't beat the fuck out of you if you give them what they think is a reason.  I mean christ sakes Spain ran death squads into the 1980s.

Talking to American lefties about the police is increasingly reminding me of the (possibly apocryphal) story of Lech Walesa in Guatemala.

Walesa, tying to communicate the carnage the Polish government inflicted in Solidarity, tells a union audience in Guatemala that in the 1980s up to 250 trade unionists were killed by the communist government.  He is greeted by silence.  After his speech, one of his hosts explains to him that 250,000 people died in the civil war that rocked that country, including unionists.  

And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg