Bad news is good news

The pattern of marginalizing, isolating, and even demonizing dissent has gotten so obvious that even CBS News is taking note of it in a way sympathetic to at least some protestors.

That's bad news because it shows how bad things have become.

It's good news because it means some attention is finally being paid to it by mainstream media, which will bring it to more people's attention. And the fact is, there are a lot of rock-ribbed conservatives out there who think protestors are vermin but who will be outraged that people are being arrested just for carrying signs on a street corner. "This is still America, buddy!"

Of course, there is still government PR to break through, some of it rather impressively subtle. For example, the Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) recently did an analysis of the 231 people arrested during protests at the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting recently. It showed that

an overwhelming majority of those arrested were white and under 30. One of five were teenagers. The youngest was 16; the oldest 68. Far more men than women were arrested.

Most were from states as far away as California, New York and Ohio.

Many were charged with such misdemeanors as unlawful assembly and resisting arrest without violence. ...

The high percentage of people arrested on misdemeanor charges instead of felonies and the fact that many of the minor charges have been dismissed in court show how baseless many of the arrests were, [Lida] Rodriguez-Taseff [president of Greater Miami ACLU] said.

The profile of the arrestees varied so greatly from the composition of the crowd, which included a good number of retirees and union members, that people suspect the police of profiling the demonstrators, that is, of arresting those who best fit the image of the "spoiled rich kids" and "anarchists [who] came down here to ... cause problems" that the Miami police sought to create of the FTAA opponents.

I've mentioned previously how Italian police have been accused of allowing the most violent elements among demonstrators to have free rein in order to justify attacks on the broader crowd. Given the police violence in Miami, "profiling" strikes me as an attempt to accomplish the same end with less expense to the good people and businesses of Miami.

Unintentional Humor Dept.: Despite the dismissal of many charges,

Police officials, however, stand behind their actions.

"Anyone who was arrested was arrested because they committed a crime - period," said Miami Police Lt. William Schwartz."

So now not only don't we believe in innocent until proven guilty, we don't even believe in innocent if charges are dismissed. Things are really looking up.