Truly Scary Article on Miami protests by Naomi Klein...

[John_Shadows_1]

Here:

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1125-08.htm

<snip>
Police violence outside of trade summits is not new, but what was striking about Miami was how divorced the security response was from anything resembling an actual threat. From an activist perspective, the protests were disappointingly small and almost embarrassingly obedient, an understandable response to weeks of police intimidation.

Listening to the incessant roar of helicopters and the march of police boots, I couldn't shake the feeling that something new was going on. It felt less like we were the targets of this operation than the target practice, unwitting extras in an elaborate military drill.

The FTAA Summit in Miami represents the official homecoming of the "war on terror." The latest tactical and propaganda techniques honed in Iraq -- from a Hollywoodized military to a militarized media -- have now been used on a grand scale in a major U.S. city. "This should be a model for homeland defense," Miami Mayor Manny Diaz proudly said of the security operation that brought together over 40 law-enforcement agencies, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But in order for the Miami Model to work, the police first had to establish a connection between legitimate activists and dangerous terrorists. Enter Miami Police Chief John Timoney, an avowed enemy of activist "punks" who repeatedly classified FTAA opponents as "outsiders coming in to terrorize and vandalize our city."
</snip>

And the fucking media was in on it, too:

<snip>
With the activists recast as dangerous aliens, Miami became eligible for the open tap of public money irrigating the "war on terror." In fact, $8.5-million spent on security during the FTAA meeting came directly out of the $87-billion President Bush extracted from Congress for Iraq last month -- a fact barely reported outside of the Miami press.

But more was borrowed from the Iraq invasion than just money. Miami police also invited reporters to "embed" with them in armored vehicles and helicopters. As in Iraq, most reporters embraced their role as pseudo-soldiers with unsettling zeal, suiting up in ridiculous combat helmets and brand-new camouflage flak jackets.

The resulting media coverage was the familiar wartime combination of dramatic images and non-information. We know, thanks to an "embed" from the Miami Herald, that Police Chief Timoney was working so hard hunting down troublemakers that by 3:30 on Thursday, "he had eaten only a banana and an oatmeal cookie since 6 a.m."
</snip>

I've only got one thing to say - I want to be at the next one!

[theivoryqueen]

1. was just reading that article, and the Bill Moyers as well

They seem to go hand in hand, as the press plays a role - stifling or provocative - in every story (reported or not). Also, that Bill moyers speech on CommonDreams is great, too.

[John_Shadows_1]

2. Yeah, the Moyers one is great, too...

... it's here (about media consolidation, with a great story involving ex-baseball pitcher Jim Bouton):

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1125-15.htm

[BurtWorm]

3. Amy Goodman's show had an excellent segment on Miami yesterday

with her two producers who were injured and/or arrested and Tom Hayden whose students who had goen to observe the meetings rather than the protests were injured and arrested.

The big news to me was that reporters were apparently "embedded" with the riot police. This may be the tack of the future, making the media eat out of your hands by giving them riot gear to wear during protests.

[tom_paine]

4. And Totalitarianism creeps into Amerika on padlocked feet

The Imperial Subjects of Amerika are, if fact, viewed not much differenty as the pulverzied and looted subjects of the Imperial Province of Freedomstan, formerly known as Iraq.

And yes, it is quite clear that the Busheviks are presaring a lethal brew of Police State Suppression over their bootlicking Imperial Subjects, who will continue to squeal with entertainment at the brutalization of their fellows.

As I look at the Imperial Subjects of Amerika, I see a people with the same slavish acceptance of lies and the same inability to discern propaganda from truth, unreason from reason.

The Imperial Subjects of Amerika will accept without much trouble nor question what their Imperial Masters tell them.

And I see in the faces of many Imperial Amerikan Subjects, a close cousin (perhaps a "kinder and gentler" cousin) of the glint in the Nazi SS man's eyes. When their IOmperial Masetsr give them the okey-dokey, our Black Clad Imperial Sturmtruppen will happily staff the Gulags...

...as happily as the followed their orders in Miami...

[Lisa]

5. that CBC documentary was also pretty damning ...

It examined media coverage of Iraq ... there were reporters who were goofing around, posing with weapons, and playing soldier.

http://www.cbc.ca/deadlineiraq/index.html