This is what we came home for?

We just got back from a long weekend in Yosemite and it seems as if the country has gone insane. Of course, it already was insane, but now it seems even more insane.

As we neared Oakland on our drive back we turned on NPR to hear All Things Considered. Initially we felt relief that Hurricane Gustav turned out to be fairly minor. Then we heard that Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Well... ok. That happens. Not such a big deal, really, except we all know what the right-wing media & blogs would be doing if it were Obama's or Biden's daughter. But the real story here seems to be that Palin may have actually covered up her daughter's previous pregnancy. It is appearing that Palin suddenly announced she was seven months pregnant, then gave birth to a baby with Down Syndrome. The speculation is that this may have actually been her daughter's child and she merely covered this up by claiming she was pregnant. I'm sure this will get sorted out eventually, but it does appear likely that some sort of lie or coverup has happened here. The choice of Palin for running mate was certainly a strange one, but it appears to be looking worse and worse. I predict that she will "withdraw" her nomination (much like Harriet Miers) before too long.

But the real shocker is the police and government reaction to the protests at RNC convention in Minneapolis. The more I read about it the madder I get. Rather than try to sum things up, check out these links for more info:

Salon.com: Massive polive raise on suspected protesters in Minneapolis

Daily Kos: The Police State in Minneapolis

I-Witness Video blog

Perhaps what most shocked me was what happened to the I-Witness group. This is a group whose only purpose is to videotape police behavior at protests to document abuse by the authorities. Their actions at the 2004 convention helped get charges dismissed against hundreds of protesters who were arrested. The police surrounded the St. Paul house where they were meeting even though they had no warrant, told them that anyone who exited the house would be arrested, and then -- even though they finally, after several hours, obtained a warrant only for the house next door -- basically broke into the house, pointed weapons at everyone inside, handcuffed them, searched the house, and then left.

If this kind of behavior goes unchallenged then we surely do live in a police state. I feel disgusted.