Let me tell you how the Repubican National Convention in St. Paul has impacted my family...
My eldest daughter (she's seven) was sicker than a dog on Monday. She woke up and started puking her guts up, and it was more of the same as the day went along. Not wanting her to get massively dehydrated, my wife decided to bring her into Children's hospital in downtown. Upon arriving, she was stopped by two St. Paul police officers who demanded that they be allowed to search the car or she would not be allowed through. As my daughter is forced out of the car already feeling like shit and now scared out of her mind at what's going on, they then searched our entire car and our trunk, treating my wife and daughter like felons the entire time. Subsequently, when we had to drive through downtown yesterday and put up with security points, roadblocks, and monstrous black SUV's around every corner, my eldest was pretty much on the verge of a panic attack and it affected my youngest (she's three) pretty much the same way. Basically, we were the unwilling and unpaid stars of a real-life cops and robbers video game. Grand Theft Auto: RNC, if you will. Lifelong Minnesotans forced to put up with being treated like escaped convicts. Oh, your daughter's sick? Fuck you, step out of the car. Oh, you work downtown and you're just coming home from work? Fuck you and your family, WHERE'S THE BOMB.
So I said fuck it and stayed home from work today, I've got a sick daughter to take care of and a sinkful of dishes to attack (Oh shit he said "attack," SEARCH HIS HOUSE!)
We run to the store, grab some dinner, come home and try to relax. Then my wife gets a call from her sister, who works at the Domino's Pizza in downtown. Turns out yesterday afternoon the store manager had to dive behind his car because the cops were firing their tough-guy pellet guns wildly at protestors. But that's nothing compared to today. The tear-gas outside the store was so thick that it got inside, and the employees were forced to hide themselves and the in-store customers inside the walk-in freezer in back until it cleared enough to be tolerable. To top that off, all of the prep that had been out for the night had to be thrown out. Hundreds of dollars worth of perfectly good food wasted. The store was forced to close for two hours to clean and regroup. This is the type of business impact that you won't hear about in the news. You won't get this factored in to the economical statistics after the convention's done and gone.
Instead, you'll hear all about how The republican party averted disaster on the heels of a hurricane to deliver a fabulously successful convention to the City of St. Paul. Turn to Faux News after the convention, when they're doing their analysis. See if they make one mention of anything negative having to do with the repubican party. In fact, you'll probably be hard-pressed (pun intended) to turn to any news source and hear anything negative about this convention, aside from maybe a passing mention of the protests that went on.
Meanwhile, my kids are scared out of their minds. They're being denied educational opportunities, with both the Children's museum and the Science museum forced to close for the week. They hardly even want to leave the house for fear that we'll have to go anywhere near downtown. But fuck educational opportunities and the well-being of the city's youth, St. Paul as a city SHOULD be catering to these rich closet-homos for their little convention. The bars are staying open until 4 am. The shelter is closed to the homeless and hidden from view. The streets are closed off to the same families who helped build them, only opening for the privileged and the authority figures. Shit, I even heard the restrooms at the airport are eerily quiet because all the male prostitutes are downtown.
All for a party that supposedly prides itself on family-values, the war on drugs, and the war on homosexuality..... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... let's see.... this is the same party that's had it's members caught smoking meth and soliciting sex from boys. Oh, not to mention that their "maverick" vice presidential candidate has allowed her UNDERAGE CHILD to get knocked up. Family values, anyone?
They arrested Amy Goodman, a journalist for Democracy Now who had all her proper credentials and wasn't crossing any lines... for absolutely no reason... she wasn't threatening anyone, all she did was ask why they had arrested her photographer and another journalist.... But this country still believes in something called "Freedom of Press," right? .... right?
If you're in "the loop," then yes....
America needs to WAKE UP....
My eldest daughter (she's seven) was sicker than a dog on Monday. She woke up and started puking her guts up, and it was more of the same as the day went along. Not wanting her to get massively dehydrated, my wife decided to bring her into Children's hospital in downtown. Upon arriving, she was stopped by two St. Paul police officers who demanded that they be allowed to search the car or she would not be allowed through. As my daughter is forced out of the car already feeling like shit and now scared out of her mind at what's going on, they then searched our entire car and our trunk, treating my wife and daughter like felons the entire time. Subsequently, when we had to drive through downtown yesterday and put up with security points, roadblocks, and monstrous black SUV's around every corner, my eldest was pretty much on the verge of a panic attack and it affected my youngest (she's three) pretty much the same way. Basically, we were the unwilling and unpaid stars of a real-life cops and robbers video game. Grand Theft Auto: RNC, if you will. Lifelong Minnesotans forced to put up with being treated like escaped convicts. Oh, your daughter's sick? Fuck you, step out of the car. Oh, you work downtown and you're just coming home from work? Fuck you and your family, WHERE'S THE BOMB.
So I said fuck it and stayed home from work today, I've got a sick daughter to take care of and a sinkful of dishes to attack (Oh shit he said "attack," SEARCH HIS HOUSE!)
We run to the store, grab some dinner, come home and try to relax. Then my wife gets a call from her sister, who works at the Domino's Pizza in downtown. Turns out yesterday afternoon the store manager had to dive behind his car because the cops were firing their tough-guy pellet guns wildly at protestors. But that's nothing compared to today. The tear-gas outside the store was so thick that it got inside, and the employees were forced to hide themselves and the in-store customers inside the walk-in freezer in back until it cleared enough to be tolerable. To top that off, all of the prep that had been out for the night had to be thrown out. Hundreds of dollars worth of perfectly good food wasted. The store was forced to close for two hours to clean and regroup. This is the type of business impact that you won't hear about in the news. You won't get this factored in to the economical statistics after the convention's done and gone.
Instead, you'll hear all about how The republican party averted disaster on the heels of a hurricane to deliver a fabulously successful convention to the City of St. Paul. Turn to Faux News after the convention, when they're doing their analysis. See if they make one mention of anything negative having to do with the repubican party. In fact, you'll probably be hard-pressed (pun intended) to turn to any news source and hear anything negative about this convention, aside from maybe a passing mention of the protests that went on.
Meanwhile, my kids are scared out of their minds. They're being denied educational opportunities, with both the Children's museum and the Science museum forced to close for the week. They hardly even want to leave the house for fear that we'll have to go anywhere near downtown. But fuck educational opportunities and the well-being of the city's youth, St. Paul as a city SHOULD be catering to these rich closet-homos for their little convention. The bars are staying open until 4 am. The shelter is closed to the homeless and hidden from view. The streets are closed off to the same families who helped build them, only opening for the privileged and the authority figures. Shit, I even heard the restrooms at the airport are eerily quiet because all the male prostitutes are downtown.
All for a party that supposedly prides itself on family-values, the war on drugs, and the war on homosexuality..... hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... let's see.... this is the same party that's had it's members caught smoking meth and soliciting sex from boys. Oh, not to mention that their "maverick" vice presidential candidate has allowed her UNDERAGE CHILD to get knocked up. Family values, anyone?
They arrested Amy Goodman, a journalist for Democracy Now who had all her proper credentials and wasn't crossing any lines... for absolutely no reason... she wasn't threatening anyone, all she did was ask why they had arrested her photographer and another journalist.... But this country still believes in something called "Freedom of Press," right? .... right?
If you're in "the loop," then yes....
America needs to WAKE UP....
