Riot Police in my own backyard

I will say that this week has been the most interesting on record...in many ways.
I live in St. Paul - about a mile from downtown and about 2 miles from the Excel center where the RNC was taking place this week.

Commuting SUCKED. Luckily I ride the bus to work into Minneapolis and in the mornings it wasn't bad at all. On the way home, however, was horrid. On Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis, the Rage Against the Machine concert was getting underway just as I was "trying" to head out. Police in riot gear, on horses, motorcycles, bikes - you name it. It looked like a fucking war zone. And maybe to them it was.
Although this was scary, it was kind of cool to think about all these people coming together to effectively "Rage against the Machine" just like it was cool/scary to see hundreds of protesters coming at me from the state capitol while I was on the bus yesterday.
Although most of the protests did end with arrests, the majority of the protesters did march peacefully and thoughtfully with their voices wanting to be heard instead of wanting to smash in a McDonalds window or throw a StarTribune newspaper vending machine through a bus stop shelter.

I am glad I live so close to the action - we were able to bike ride down on Sunday to a block party at a local coffee shop to hear free music and were a part of a crazy dance protest.
Hippies - TOTALLY - but it was so moving to see these people dance without abandon and to move freely without worrying about what they looked like. I started tearing up...GOD I cry at everything.

Every night of the convention I would watch the Daily Show which was broadcast, again, about a mile from my house (JON STEWART COME OVER FOR DINNER!!) and was completely blown away with the things that were said at the RNC. Did you hear Guillani scoff at community organizers? Holy shit! Again, I know he was taking a stab at Obama but geesh there are people out there making a WORLD of difference that are community organizers. How the HELL would you feel if you heard that coming from someone who was supposed to be on your side - taking office, potentially, in a matter of months! That would be like someone saying "Copyediting is a bullshit job and is a waste of time and not even worth mentioning".

The clips that were shown on the Daily Show showcased the myriad of inconsistencies within the speeches and commentary amongst the convention goers and politicians....and surely, there are inconsistencies amongst the Dems also but what I saw made my jaw fly open.

If you can, watch the shows.

I am glad its over...but now I have a surefire way of spotting a Republican - gold buttons on their suit coat.