amy goodman arrested: republican police state at work in st. paul

h/t to tristero at Hullabaloo, who has this to say:

Your police state at work. Be sure to listen to the mp3 of the arrest. It’s chilling.

UPDATE: Video [see above] of Amy Goodman’s arrest. h/t Avedon at Eschaton.

UPDATE II: Call to demand Goodman’s release:
Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman’s office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).

Do we need any further proof that the country doesn’t need another four years of Republican rule?

UPDATE: Digby has a great link list for following the police action in St. Paul, in her post Tas R Nation.

Glen Greenwald and Firedoglake have been following this closely.
DNC – RNC – Troops Out Now (an activist group).
Legal Team.
Legal team’s twitter update.
Minnesota Indymedia.
Minnesota Blue (a liberal Democratic site).
Minneapolis Star Tribune Convention page.
Google Blogsearch: “Republican + convention + arrests”.
Googlenews search: “Republican + convention + arrests”.
Cut and paste these:
www.theuptake.org The Uptake
www.submedia.tv The Stimulator
www.tcdailyplanet.net Twin Cities Daily Planet
www.minnesotaindependent.com The Minnesota Independent

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Obama says Palin’s family off-limits

click photo to play video

My respect for Sen. Obama is growing with this statement. I think families and their issues should be off-limits in a campaign. It’s a diversion from issues of the day that need to be discussed as the two campaigns enter into the final eight weeks.

Maybe it’s because I’m from the midwest, were every high school graduating class included at least one young woman who was pregnant. And I can hear the arguments now, that Gov. Palin supports abstinence-only programs. Well, oppose her candidacy for THAT reason — not because her daughter may have rebelled against strict family rules. I can’t be the only person who has ever heard it said that the preachers kids were the worst in the community. Kids do things against the will of their parents — its a reality every parent should understand.

As I have mentioned already, there are plenty of reasons to oppose McCain-Palin — their position on the war, the economy, our energy crisis, global warming, the list is endless.

The fact that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant, shouldn’t be one of them.

And keep in mind the Republican religious right base will very likely embrace Palin and her daughter for ‘doing the right thing by keeping the baby.’ Tony Perkins, of Focus on the Family, has already issued a statement supporting Palin and her family:

“Fortunately, Bristol is following her mother and father’s example of choosing life in the midst of a difficult situation. We are committed to praying for Bristol and her husband-to-be and the entire Palin family as they walk through a very private matter in the eyes of the public,” Perkins said in a written statement.

The new Democratic Party leader has spoken:

“We don’t go after people’s families; we don’t get them involved in the politics. It’s not appropriate, and it’s not relevant,” he added. “Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I ever thought that there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they’d be fired.”

Obama has eight weeks to win this election. He needs everyone to stay focused on the job at hand.