From Salon.com – Massive Police Raids on Suspected Protesters In Minneapolis…

Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets. Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff’s department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than “fire code violations,” and early this morning, the Sheriff’s department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.

. . .

There is clearly an intent on the part of law enforcement authorities here to engage in extreme and highly intimidating raids against those who are planning to protest the Convention. The DNC in Denver was the site of several quite ugly incidents where law enforcement acted on behalf of Democratic Party officials and the corporate elite that funded the Convention to keep the media and protesters from doing anything remotely off-script. But the massive and plainly excessive preemptive police raids in Minnesota are of a different order altogether. Targeting people with automatic-weapons-carrying SWAT teams and mass raids in their homes, who are suspected of nothing more than planning dissident political protests at a political convention and who have engaged in no illegal activity whatsoever, is about as redolent of the worst tactics of a police state as can be imagined.

From The New York Times – Dozens Detained Ahead of Convention

On the weekend before the Republican National Convention, law enforcement agencies detained dozens of people and issued a series of search warrants aimed at groups believed to be organizing demonstrations while delegates and Republican officials are in town.

Video of journalist, Amy Goodman being arrested at the Republican National Convention…

A post on the Minnesota Independent has a link to ColdSnapLegal’s invaluable twitter, which shows a detailed breakdown of prior incidents involving police and protesters that have been happening throughout the day. The twitter shows a report of Democracy Now! journalists being arrested and includes Amy Goodman.

Here are some more videos…

Here is a video clip of Cindy Sheehan speaking at the Recreate 68 protest…

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From The New York Times…

The Denver National Convention saw its first major protest today, and it ended peacefully with no immediate reports of arrests.

About 1,000 people organized by the group Recreate 68 gathered on the steps of Denver’s capitol on Sunday morning, carrying colorful signs and shouting anti-establishment chants that railed against such targets as corporate influences on U.S. politics, the war in Iraq and big oil.

“We’re here to call the Democrats out, to let them hear our voices,” said Laurie Hunter, 55, of Denver, who said she was an Obama supporter but still felt the protesters needed to be heard.

From Wake-up America…

The protesters involved include the Re-create 68 group (named for the massive rioting protests actions at the Chicago 1968 Democratic Convention), Cindy Sheehan, and even the Green Party’s presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and her vice presidential running mate, Rosa Clemente, were in the crowd.

From Crooks and Liars…

I’m of two minds about these protesters, but the coverage of them on FOX is hi-damn-larious. It is to seriously giggle. They clearly did not expect to see the vitriol towards Pravda, er…FOX News from the “far left” protesters (why are all Democrats “far left” in FNC’s eyes? Do they think that moderates stay home or just don’t exist?), or they wouldn’t have sent relative newbie Griff Jenkins (gawd, if that doesn’t sound like a frat boy, I don’t know what does) out amongst the riff-raff to ask them if they believe in freedom (of speech). Dude, they’re protesting. That IS exercising their freedom of speech. That they choose not to validate the Republican Party’s official propaganda arm isn’t exactly ignoring freedom of speech.

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Griff is shocked–shocked, I tell you!–that there could actually be people protesting at the Democratic National Convention who might not support Obama (because aren’t all Democrats lemmings like the unquestioning party-over-country Republicans?), even though he acknowledges that the protest includes Green Party Presidential Candidate Cynthia McKinney and her supporters. Critical thinking skills are obviously not a job qualification for a FOX on-air personality. In fact, it probably helps if you don’t have any.

From BuzzFlash…

Uncredentialed activists are to be fenced off and kept away from the Pepsi Center in Denver by parking lots the size of football fields. The protesters descending on the RNC will be cordoned off into designated “free speech zones,” guarded by thousands of police officers to the tune of $50 million at this “National Special Security Event.” The streets will also be haunted by the ghosts of conventions past, from the cracking of skulls at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago to the pre-emptive arrest and detention of nearly 2,000 protesters at the 2004 Republican convention in New York City. Like their predecessors outside those arenas, this year’s dissidents have come to see the party conventions, advertised as the ultimate showcases of American democracy, as exhibits A and B of the nation’s deficit of democracy instead. And they cast themselves in opposition, as the keepers of the flame.

Apparently, there is also a warehouse being setup arresting protesters.

Here is an interesting behind the scenes look, at the caged free speech location, and the secret detention center.

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Free Speech at the Democratic National Convention

If there’s one thing the United States stands for, it’s unfettered free speech. It is vital to a functioning democracy. Unfortunately, the increasing use by government and law enforcement officials of “free speech zones” and other stifling tactics to purge dissent has largely undermined the First Amendment’s safeguards for political free speech.For example, President Bush’s Presidential Advance Manual outlines the specific strategies his administration has used to “minimize the demonstrator’s effect.” It includes such Orwellian tactics as selling tickets exclusively to presidential supporters and creating “rally squads” of supporters who will surround and drown out protesters with pro-Bush chants. The manual also discusses the strategy of asking local law enforcement to create a designated protest zone, “preferably not in view of the event site or motorcade route.”

Free speech zones have been employed by both Democrats and Republicans at past political conventions. This year, however, Democrats face the embarrassing possibility that they will be the only party actually caging dissenters. Protesters at the upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver in late August will be corralled into caged “free speech zones” made of chicken wire and chain link fences which are located more than two football fields from the delegates’ entrance. Those who attempt to exercise their First Amendment rights outside this makeshift cage, which is partially obscured by trees and sculptures, will be arrested.

The Death of Free Speech at the Democratic National Convention

Surprise, surprise– the “party of change” is afraid of the potential of “free speech.” Protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Denver late August will be relegated to “free speech zones,” because security supersedes freedom in this Orwellian, post 9/11 world. Those not happy with keeping their voices confined to zones where their speech is contained and neutralized will find a newly built home at “Gitmo on Platte,” complete with stun guns and barb wire fences…

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So…What do you think about this? Is this any way for a country that prides itself on freedom, to treat it’s own people? It seems the presumption here, is that protesters are nothing short of criminals. I think this is a very sad commentary on the state of our “so called” free country. What do you think?

All week we are celebrating women political bloggers. Yesterday, I posted on the first 100 women blogging politics, from our list of over 500. Today, I have the next 100.

One of my goals for this site, is that women will use each other’s sites, to link to in their own blogs, and promote each other.

You can help promote women political bloggers, by linking to them on your own blog. And, if you know someone not on the list, please send me their link, and I would be happy to add them.

Maybe you can even do a post on women political bloggers for your own site, and link to some of the women on this list.

So, here is the next 100 on our list…

1. DebsWeb
2. Deep Muck Big Rake
3. Defending The Environment
4. Delaware Way
5. Democracy For New Mexico — by Barbara W.
6. Detroit News Politics Blog
7. Diary of a Content Black Woman
8. Different Drummer
9. Dirt & Noice
10. Ditzy Dems, Part Deux
11. DogWoman
12. Cynthia Samuels — Don’t Gel Too Soon
13. Dragon Lady’s Den
14. Dragonfly Ranch Blog
15. duh pookie
16. E. A. Hanks at the Huffington Post
17. Echidne Of The Snakes
18. EconomistMom
19. Education and Class
20. Emily’s List
21. Engaged Intellectuals
22. Envision Art Studio — A blog about politics, religion, feminism, freedom, racial issues, the environment, peace, love, philosophy, mental health, and life from my female perspective.I won`t claim to always be right but I will hope to always make you think.
23. Erin Kotecki Vest — Political Contributing Editor for BlogHer — Also see her personal blog Queen of Spain
24. Essential Estrogen — written by Lynda Waddington and Paige T
25. Faboo Mama — Inside the mind of an opinionated mama
26. Fact-esque — I look at politics from a lefty perspective. I`m also interested in the political reporting of the NYT. I wander off-topic so often that I`m wondering if “off-topic” even applies anymore. But I`m always in the ballpark of progressive politics.
27. Feminism in 2008 Election and Beyond
28. Feminist Cupcake
29. Feminist Fire — I have given up trying to fit into any ‘feminist movement’ or anywhere else, for that matter. I am just me. The label which most suits me is ‘Radical Feminist’. I have no time at all for in-fighting within the movement – I believe we are all on the same side and should just get along and concentrate on getting the job done.
30. Feminist Law Professors
31. FeministBlogs.org
32. Feministe
33. Feministing — Young women are rarely given the opportunity to speak on their own behalf on issues that affect their lives and futures. Feministing provides a platform for us to comment, analyze and influence.
34. FOOTNOTED
35. Frances L. Holland at The Truth About Kos
36. Frankly, My Dear…
37. Free Soil Party Blog — Discussing Feminist Revolution
38. Freedom Eden
39. Frog Princess
40. From My Brown Eyed View
41. From Scratch — A lot of chatter about food (plus a little about politics)
42. Frustrated Incorporated
43. Georgia Women Vote — A view of the Georgia political scene from the perspective of a Democratic women. We cover the local politics, events, legislation, opinion, and the occasional gossip!
44. Get The Facts & Get Involved
45. Girl With Pen
46. Glamocracy – Megan Carpentier
47. Gloria Feldt – HeartFeldt Politics Blog
48. Golden Apple Press
49. GOP Vixen — The blog of columnist Bridget Johnson
50. GOTV with contributing editor, Alice
51. Granny Geek
52. GRAPEVINE — Georgia Federation of Democratic Women
53. Great Satans Girlfriend - courtney is an awesome discovery and she NEVER minces words.
54. Green Consciousness
55. Grizzly Mama
56. Hagar’s Daughters
57. Health Populi — Jane is a frequent public speaker and writer on health policy, health economics, information and medical technology and scenario planning in health care.
58. Hear Speak No Evil
59. High Desert Reports
60. Hillary Is Our Choice – forum
61. Hillary’s Bloggers
62. HillRaiser 08
63. Hog House Blog
64. Hoyden About Town — We blog on life, laughs, science, progressive politics and foiling diabolical masterminds.
65. Hullabaloo
66. Iddybud Journal
67. I Hate Your Opinions — A cynical political blog with 2008 election coverage, book reviews of autobiographies of presidential candidates, and more
68. I Wish I Were In Paris
69. I’m Tired of Voting For Men
70. Illini Family Politics
71. Impudent Ways — tattooed tea enthusiast. like that’s original.
72. In Jennifer’s Head
73. In The Pink Texas — Humorous Texas and national political blog targets a readership of influential legislators, lobbyists and media. Has received over 700,000 hits since it launched last year.
74. In Women We Trust
75. Inches Away From Sanity
76. Independence Lost
77. Informed Voters 2008 — I’m a 30-year old wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, veteran, citizen, patriot, wanna-be environmentalist and conscientious voter.
78. Irrational Woman
79. Is That All You’ve Got?
80. It’s Curtains For You - nanc is a breath of fresh air in a stale world.
81. It’s My Right To Be Left of the Center — The truth doesn’t care where you or I stand on an issue. I want to see through the bullshit of it all and find the Truth. It’s there somewhere.
82. Jac’s Notepad – an election 2008 diary
83. Jen’s Green Journal — My blog is 1/2 politics and 1/2 green living (which is becoming more and more political)
84. Jenn’s Journey As a Conservative - jenn is an awesome woman of conscience and conservative values stuck somewhere in n.j. and she’s always a fun read.
85. Jessica Mondillo’s Blog — I am a freshman at Boston University. I’m an 18 year old girl with very different views than many of the people around me. I enjoy intelligent conversations and seeing other people’s views.
86. Jo Jo Says…
87. Julie Pippert: Using My Words
88. Katharine Seelye — From the New York Times
89. Kathleen Reardon — Huffington Post
90. Kay at Covering Florida
91. Kentucky Women: Power, Passion and Politics
92. Kitten Politics
93. Kim Pearson — Contributing Editor BlogHer
94. Kirsten Anderson — Huffington Post
95. KristinaMarina
96. Kiss My Big Blue Butt
97. La Shawn Barber’s Corner
98. Last Left Turn Before Hooterville — A liberal political blog from the perspective of a rock chick mom who wants a better world for her 4 kids and is not going to sit around and wait for it.
99. LaurieWrites
100. Lawyer Mama — Geeky is the new cool.

Help celebrate women political bloggers. If you do a post on our list of over 500 women blogging about politics, leave me a link in comments…I’ll be mentioning these posts as friends of The Political Voices of Women in a future post.

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the 500+ women who are blogging about politics. Women are playing a powerful role in politics, and women bloggers are helping to lead the way. Our list of women blogging about politics, has just reached over 500!!!

To celebrate, I will be posting links to 100 women today, and then again each day, for the rest of the week.

One of my goals for this site, is that women will use each other’s sites, to link to in their own blogs, and promote each other.

So…If you have some time today, check out the first 100. Have you discovered some blogs you like? Let me know in comments, or in a post.

You can help promote women political bloggers. And, if you know someone not on the list, please send me their link, and I would be happy to add them.

Maybe you can even do a post on women political bloggers for your own site, and link to some of the women on this list.

Here are the first 100 from the list (in alphabetical order)…

1. A Brain Like Mine – Diary of a Feminist Housewife
2. A Lovely Promise — Human rights, war and peace, politics, and gardening.
3. A Mommy with an Attitude
4. A Series of Tubes — How are political groups using the internet to reach out to citizens? From YouTube debates to Facebook groups, this blog will tell you all about it.
5. Above Average Jane – PA Politics and GREAT interviews with pols and candidates
6. Nikki — According To Nikki
7. Adventures In Daily Living
8. Althouse
9. Always On Watch
10. Amanda Carpenter — From Townhall.com
11. American Princess — Party politics and the age of the Post and Prada
12. And Rightly So — I am not a politically correct person at all. I speak my mind and I could care less who I offend when doing so. I call a spade for a spade when needed. I also swear a whole lot – get ever it.
13. Anderson @ Large — I blog about politically black news and commentary, focusing on voter participation, voting rights, civil rights, religion and politics, and voting rights and technology.
14. Anna’s Clue Tank
15. Annie’s Inferno
16. Anonymous Is A Women — A blog about politics, religion, the economy, the culture wars – you know, all the fun stuff.
17. Antigone Magazine — A blog about women, politics, women in politics and the politics of being a woman.
18. Appetite for Equal Rights
19. Arianna Huffington — Huffington Post
20. Sandy Renshaw — Around Des Moines
21. Asheville on the Ground
22. Assorted Babble
23. Avedon Carol
24. Average Jane at Progress Ohio — Our mission is to provide quality online and off-line tools for use by individuals, groups and organizations to further their ideas and issues through communication and action.
25. A. M. Reynolds — Backyard Beacon — The Backyard Beacon is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan citizen-based watchblog that sheds light on underreported stories, particularly those in minority communities. The Beacon is a Newstex.com licensed Weblog distributed through the LexisNexis services.
26. BackyardConservative — Comments and Links from a conservative in the Chicago suburbs. This blog is a product of over 25 years of biting my tongue in polite society.
27. Bang the Drum – Rant and ramblings of a political junkie.
28. Barbara’s Blog
29. Barbara’s Tchatzkahs
30. Becky from Deep Muck Big Rake — So much muck, so little time.
31. Been There
32. Betsy’s Page
33. Big Girl Pants
34. Big Green Purse
35. Birth Pangs
36. Biscotti’s Blog
37. Black On Campus
38. Black Political Thought
39. Black Women, Blow The Trumpet!
40. Black Women Blogging
41. Black Women Vote!
42. Blatherings
43. Blog Fabulous
44. Blog For Democracy
45. Blog It Forward
46. Bloggg
47. Blogging Amerikkka
48. Blogging For Michigan
49. BlogHer — A community of Women Bloggers
50. BlogHer — Election 2008
51. Blogs By Women
52. Blonde Sagacity — The conservative that liberals hate to love.
53. BlondeSense
54. Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat
55. Blue Bloggin — My liberal blog focuses on Texas and national politics, political corruption, the environment and what every else pops in my head.
56. Blue Gal
57. Blue Girl, Red State — I’m an over- educated, pissed-off redhead with a broadband connection and a credit card; fiercely dedicated to the Constitution; here to remind y’all that America is founded on four boxes: 1.)The Soapbox. 2.)The Ballot Box. 3.)The Jury Box. 4.)The Ammo Box. They should be used in that order. This is my soapbox.
58. Blue Linchpin
59. Blue Spot
60. Blue Star Chronicles
61. Bluedaze — You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result. – Mahatma Gandhi
62. BOHEMIAN Adventures
63. Bold Words — Exploring How Bold Words Can Give Life To Bold Ideas
64. Bottom Line Up Front — Amy
65. Bride of Acheron
66. Brilliant at Breakfast
67. Brown Sugar
68. Build Peace — Arizona-based blog by a woman peace activist, mother, writer, anthropologist, semiotician — most often political, but not always. Original scoops and reporting have included Raging Granny arrests and Howard Dean`s positive interactions with Arizona CODE
69. BWFO — Black Women For Obama
70. Care2 Election Blog
71. Catzmaw’s Commentary — I mostly write about issues like the Iraq War, legal issues like habeas corpus and Guantanamo, and the like. Lately I’ve been writing about radiation therapy.
72. Celtic Diva’s Blue Oasis
73. Center for New Words — The Center for New Words is dedicated to a simple mission: To use the power and creativity of words and ideas to strengthen the voice of progressive and marginalized women in society.
74. ChangeServant — Big ideas Random thoughts Irregular musings
75. Chicago Moms Blog — The Chicago Moms blog is a collaborative group of moms writing about their lives in Chicago, Ill.
76. Chicken Hawk Express — Robin
77. Choose or Lose
78. Citizen Against Lies
79. Chronicles of Dissent — Fighting back against the erosion of privacy and civil liberties in post-9/11 America.
80. Citizen Jane Politics
81. Code Neon Blue!
82. Coleen Rowley — Huffington Post
83. Completely Unnecessary
84. Confessions of a Closet Republican
85. Connie Talk
86. Conservatism With Heart
87. Conservative Ally
88. Conservative Belle
89. Conservative Amazons — Conservative Amazons is written by a group of college-age conservative women who say that liberal feminism doesn’t tell their side of the story.
90. Conservative Girls Are Hot
91. Conservative Politics Today
92. Cool Crys Chronicles
93. Cooper and Emily — BlogHer Acts
94. Cooper at Wonderland or Not
95. Cosmo and Me
96. Country Dawn
97. Cynthia’s Interests — My blog is eclectic. I talk about everything from politics, to religion, to education and heath. I`m honest, yet I`m not always politically correct. My views are strictly told from an African American woman`s perspective.
98. Dana Tuszke — Political Contributing Editor for BlogHer
99. DC Metro Moms — The politics of parenting.
100. Dear Kitty, Some Blog

Help celebrate women political bloggers. If you do a post on our list of over 500 women blogging about politics, leave me a link in comments…I’ll be mentioning these posts as friends of The Political Voices of Women in a future post.

Below is the video…It is purposely small, to represent the smallness of this man (and I use the term man lightly).

Here is some of what others are saying. What do you think? Let me know in comments.

This is from a post at BlogHer by Erika Alexandera – Stop The Silence On Sexism…

In your song, “Politics,” you refer to Senator Hillary Clinton as an irrelevant bitch. Okay, you have a First Amendment right to your opinion – no matter how ignorant – and I have a right to beat that opinion down with the truth. I served as a national surrogate for Hillary, but now I am speaking for all of the women you address by calling one of the greatest avatars of “hope in action” – a former candidate for President, former first lady and current U.S. Senator – a dog. Have you no decency? What did Hillary ever do to you? Let’s see. For the past three decades, just fight on the behalf of and get health care for America’s poorest children, educate young black brothers in Harlem, advocate for foster children, provide benefits for soldiers, and support black single mothers. And that’s the just the first few lines of her resume.

This is from an open letter from Urban Thought Collection to Ludacris…

You are a three-time Grammy award winning artist. No one can dispute that you are one of the leading rappers in the industry. You have the first amendment right to record music of your own choosing. But I feel that the recent release of your song attacking Jesse Jackson and Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain only hurts Senator Obama. Obama, who you have stated is a friend of yours and offered your support to. But with friends like you, Obama doesn’t need enemies.

This is from NPR…

Ludacris also attacks politicians who he thinks have “hated on” Obama — including Hillary Clinton, whom he discribes as an “irrelevant b*tch” and John McCain (“McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralyzed”), as well as Jesse Jackson and President Bush.

To put it mildly: heads are exploding in Chicago and the right-wing blogs are having a field day.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton issued this rapid-fire response:

As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to. This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these lyrics.

From The Swamp…

As if Barack Obama, presumed Democratic nominee, weren’t popular enough with the kids.

A loyal Swamp reader points out that Illinois-born rapper Ludacris has just released a new song about Barack Obama, his favorite politician and maybe Best Friend Forever based on the lyrics.

The Obama campaign said Ludacris should be ashamed of the lyrics, which they called offensive, not only to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and likely Republican nominee John McCain (R-Ariz.), but also ‘all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear.’

A former Clinton aide also quickly got in on the act, calling on Obama to denounce the song.

Ludacris’ rep. would not return repeated calls for comment.

Also See:

Pamela Lyn’s post – The Ludicrous Treatment of Military Women

Frequent visitors to the blogosphere are familiar with the fact that news agency, The Associated Press (AP) sent DMCA notices to the Drudge Report, citing that DR’s use of excerpts from AP articles infringes on their copyrights.

You’re also probably familiar with Viacom’s lawsuit against Google over Youtube’s use of their content. A federal judge is now ordering YouTube to turn over information on its users’ viewing history.

And the latest salvo has targeted Redlasso, the video search and clipping service that many bloggers have come to rely upon.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

NBC Universal and Fox filed suit Wednesday against RedLasso Inc., saying the video provider copies and distributes the companies’ content without authorization.

In the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, NBC Universal, Fox News Channel and Fox Television Stations Group said RedLasso had been engaging in the “wholly unauthorized” copying and distribution of its content. It isn’t clear how much in damages the companies are seeking from RedLasso.

Informal talks had been going on between RedLasso and NBC, Fox and other networks since the companies sent a cease and desist order in May. It wasn’t immediately clear why the other companies, which included CBS Corp. and Allbritton Communications Co., did not join in the lawsuit.

Is anyone surprised that FOX is involved in this?

Redlasso executives issued the following press release this afternoon:

REDLASSO TO SUSPEND ACCESS TO BETA SITE
COMPANY TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR
BUSINESS AND RADIO TO WEB CLIENTS

King of Prussia, PA – July 25, 2008 – In light of recent legal actions by two networks, Redlasso(www.redlasso.com) announced today that it has no alternative but to suspend blogger access to its video search and clipping Beta site for the immediate future. The company will continue to operate and provide services to its business and Radio To Web clients such as Greater Media and XMSatellite Radio.

The now-suspended Beta site provides bloggers with online broadcast content tools that enables them to exercise their first amendment rights to comment on newsworthy events, by searching blogger-selected TV and radio segments and creating limited duration clips for usage in blog posts.

In addition to the Beta site, Redlasso also offers two other services which will continue.

The first is a solution for businesses that allows them to track and clip content for internal use. The second service, Radio To Web, is an on-line platform that allows each radio station client to search, clip, and upload its content to its own web site and share that content online.

“We are very disappointed in the actions of select networks. We believe we have always acted within the law and have been respectful of the networks’ rights. Unfortunately, they have forced our hand and are denying the blogging community access to the Redlasso platform that beneficially tracks the usage of newsworthy clips across the Web,” said Ken Hayward, CEO of Redlasso.

“Redlasso’s goal is to develop a platform that provides content owners and bloggers a viable solution to tracking and monetizing content online, not to engage in lawsuits. In the eight months the Beta site has been in operation, we have built wide brand awareness and equity amongst the blogger and media communities. The wide spread use of our tools and platform demonstrates that the Redlasso model is a simple and elegant solution for all content owners to track and monetize content usage on the Web; content that would otherwise be untraceably spread across the Internet and used
for free.”

What is really at the heart of these legal actions?

Could it be that the political power brokers are realizing that if Americans aren’t limited to getting their news from mainstream media sources that they won’t be as easily lead?

The following videos address just how powerful the blogosphere has become and why forces like the Rupert Murdochs and the Washington insiders might want to see it stifled. View them while you can.

In the following video Sherine Tadros of AlJazeeraEnglish reports on how internet technology has changed the face of politics and political coverage.

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In this video, TheRealNews interviews Joe Trippi, author of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” about the social shift from TV to the Internet will affect politics.

OK. What do we think about this? I can tell you one thing. It hurts to look at it, even though I guess I understand what the artist, Barry Blitt, says he was trying to do. Rachel Sklar’s Huffington Post interview with the magazine’s gifted editor David Remnick explains further.

Obviously I wouldn’t have run a cover just to get attention — I ran the cover because I thought it had something to say. What I think it does is hold up a mirror to the prejudice and dark imaginings about Barack Obama’s — both Obamas’ — past, and their politics. I can’t speak for anyone else’s interpretations, all I can say is that it combines a number of images that have been propagated, not by everyone on the right but by some, about Obama’s supposed “lack of patriotism” or his being “soft on terrorism” or the idiotic notion that somehow Michelle Obama is the second coming of the Weathermen or most violent Black Panthers. That somehow all this is going to come to the Oval Office.

The free speech and marketplace of ideas concepts that I’ve treasured all my life clash with my reaction to all of this; I know that. The Constitutional protection of freedom of speech exists to guarantee the right both to speak and to hear not only popular, but also unpopular ideas. We don’t need to protect the popular ones; it’s the ideas that enrage people that need the protection. And I’m all for that.

But for a responsible and respected publication like The New Yorker to abuse that freedom by offering such blatant stereotypes to make its point, particularly when the subjects are the first African American Presidential (Columbia and Harvard-educated) candidate and his (Princeton and Harvard-educated) wife, an accomplished attorney — each of whose life trajectory suggests two stars who did everything expected of them to grow into exciting, productive citizens — seems to me abusive and dangerous. In an effort to make a point about the hate that’s being distributed concerning these two, they’re feeding it.

It will be interesting to see how many right wing websites and publications make use of this image. There’s been plenty of reaction so far and most of it is far more sophisticated than I could dream of being. I’m having too much trouble with my emotional, gut sense of right and wrong to be very thoughtful; this just feels wrong – perhaps even more so because of who printed it. I’ve been a New Yorker groupie since I was a high school kid in Pittsburgh wishing I was in Greenwich Village living the life of Susie Rotolo. Like this – walking through the Village with Bob Dylan.

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So it’s particularly disturbing to me that something so terribly offensive was pubished by this beloved icon.

The stereotypes don’t fit the Obamas, obviously. That’s what the New Yorker is trying to demonstrate by feeding these stereotypes out there in such a naked way. But even if they did, how many of us who ever cared about anything is willing to stand by every position we adopted in our younger days?

Congressman Bobby Rush was a Black Panther. Now he’s chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, serves on the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet and is a co-chairman of the Congressional Biotech Caucus. Isn’t that what we want? Growth.Even if the Obama’s were flamers back then (and I don’t think they were, by a long shot), isn’t the American way for young activists to rebel, maybe the wrong way, early in their lives then “grow up” to ultimately help to make change from inside? Justice Hugo Black, one of the great justices of the 20th century, started out as a member of the Ku Klux Klan – then went on to be a staunch defender of civil liberties for all. If we deny our future leaders the capacity to grow and question while they’re young, we will end up with leaders who may be what we deserve, but not who we need, by a long shot.I guess what I’m saying is that this effort to force Americans to confront political trash talk by offering up a visual representation of it all is, to me, a terrible mistake. An image that casts a shadow over the remarkable symbolic gift of this landmark candidacy – an image that lingers like a scar.

[cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog]

Also See:

McCain, Obama campaigns agree: New Yorker cover is not satire.

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Pamela Lyn from Pam’s Coffee Conversation wrote…

If you’ve followed the Presidency of George W. Bush you know that he very seldom speaks at a “public event” that doesn’t have a hand-picked audience. Well GOP Presidential Candidate John McCain seems to have adopted the same practice.

ProgressNowAction has reported:

“On orders from Senator John McCain’s security detail, Denver police escorted a 61-year-old woman away who was waiting in line to attend a so-called town hall meeting with McCain that was billed as open to the public. Carol Kreck, who works as a librarian in Denver, held a homemade sign reading “McCain = Bush.” On orders from McCain’s security detail, police cited her for trespassing and escorted her to the sidewalk. She was told if she returned she would be arrested.

“And all I did was carry a sign that said McCain = Bush,” Kreck said. “And for everyone who voted for Bush, I don’t see why it’s offensive to say McCain = Bush.”

This episode by McCain’s Secret Service appears to be a rerun of McCain’s 2005 town hall in Denver with President Bush in which the Secret Service had three Denver citizens removed from an “open” event where McCain was campaigning with Pres. Bush for his plan to privatize social security.

It appears that McCain’s Secret Service and staff have proved Ms. Kreck’s point. At least when he comes to freedom of speech, McCain=Bush

From AlterNet…

A 61-year-old librarian was ejected from an ostensibly public McCain campaign event at the Denver Center of Performing Arts in Denver, CO on June 7 because she was brandishing a deadly memetic weapon: a hand-lettered sign that read “McCain=Bush.”

Jazz Singer Rene Marie was booked to sing the national anthem at the annual Denver mayoral state of the city speech (click to read more of Amy Gahran’s take on the reporting of the event).

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Marie has said that she was engaging in both art and protest.As Barack Obama was stopping in the state of Colorado the day after, the Democratic convention will be held in Denver and Obama is black, he was asked to make a statement about Marie’s performance despite the fact that he was in no way associated with Marie or the event.Reactions have ranged from supportive, nuanced historical perspectives, anger, outrage, calls for Marie to be sued for breech of contract (she was not paid for the performance), to extreme racism (white racist websites and blogs are having a field day with this).

READ FULL POST BY MARIA NILES AT BLOGHER