Just read this Salon article about the police crackdown at the Miami FTAA protests, and it's pretty disturbing. People were arresting people - even journalists and legal observers - indiscriminately, shooting senior citizens with pepper spray, etc.

As many people in this article said, I am all about supporting the badge, but this was not "the badge". This was a police force gone crazy, whipped up into a frenzy ... not by protesters, but by their own superiors, who want to make the Miami police force look good. Thankfully we have a legal system that will allow those injured to sue; and since these are such well-documented, flagrant abuses, I would think it'd stand up in court. We'll see.

In the mean time, those of you who are democrats should contact the Democratic National Committee and tell them to fire John Timoney, who was the architect of this crackdown. He has been hired to provide security at the DNC convention in Boston. You can comment on the DNC blog and tell them.