I don't think it inaccurate to suggest that most all of us here would normally think this story is extremely important; and two of our most respected net journalists agree. Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher have been writing about this, doing on-scene reporting and interviewing, and posting video as well.
I'm not in Minneapolis/St.Paul, but from what I read, it certainly seems that the civil rights of American citizens are being trampled upon by the police, and all in the service of the Republican National Convention.
This is a story we would normally be all over. But ...
But there is a lot going on today.
We are all very concerned about a major hurricane, projected to make landfall near New Orleans Monday evening.
We are all very focused, on several fronts, on the most important election in our lifetimes.
The convergence of events - Obama's amazing speech, the Democrats extraordinary convention, McCain's exceedingly unexpected pick of a running mate, the hurricane's significant impact on the Republican's convention, which was supposed to start tomorrow, and the hurricane itself, of immense size, nearing New Orleans, while memories of three years ago are still fresh and painful in our minds - is overwhelming.
Which is perhaps why we as a group, as a community, are missing this story.
There have been several threads here already, each pretty much unnoticed. But Crooks and Liars has it up. Salon has Glenn Greenwald's story, updated four times at this point. Firedoglake is covering it.
Homes and meeting places are being raided by groups of thirty or more police with automatic weapons drawn. People are being handcuffed and made to lie on the floor for long periods of time. Their possessions, computers, laptops, private journals, vehicles, cellphones, seized and taken away, for what appears to be no reason.
A Democracy Now producer witnessed such a raid and was detained by the police.
Annan's latest diary is here and includes a new email from Starhawk, who is there witnessing these events, and reports about a family teaching permaculture whose bus/home was seized and taken away, leaving them beside the road with nothing but their animals.
Our rights to protest the Bush/Cheney regime, right at the time when it can mean the most, when the eyes of the world will be focused on the Republican's convention, are being taken away from us.
There is a lot going on; but we owe it to ourselves, and to those who are standing up for our democracy at the Republican convention, to take notice. Greenwald and Hamsher are telling an important story. We should take note.