Civil Disobedience and Political Disgustingness

Remember all the near-rioting by those damn dirty liberals at the Republican National Convention last summer? Turns out, there wasn't much. "Seven months after the convention at Madison Square Garden, criminal charges have fallen against all but a handful of people arrested that week. Of the 1,670 cases that have run their full course, 91 percent ended with the charges dismissed or with a verdict of not guilty after trial. Many were dropped without any finding of wrongdoing, but also without any serious inquiry into the circumstances of the arrests, with the Manhattan district attorney's office agreeing that the cases should be 'adjourned in contemplation of dismissal'." According to this article in the Times, citizen-shot videos of the incidents have become key evidence in showing that, rather than riotous behavior by demonstators, the NYPD's overenthusiasm - or was it illegality? - accounted for the vast number of arrests. I'm glad that so many innocent citizens - whether demonstrators or bystanders - are being let off the hook, but it's sickening that police authority was used in this way to suppress political speech and protect the RNC from the public. But hey - unwarranted detention is just another way to Guantanamize the country.