Protestations about whiny journalists and bloggers dumb enough to get arrested

Once again I feel compelled to write about the Republican National Convention protests--and the bloggers and journalists who found themselves getting arrested during the unrest caused by the self-described anarchists in St. Paul.

I'm of the mindset that if the police tell you to do something, you listen and do what they say. The loons who were protesting against what I called "Whaddya Got?" do not care about the police. They care about themselves, getting noticed, getting high, and getting laid. And I guess, politics of the left-wing variety.

As I wrote last Saturday, Midnight Blue, Stix, and I walked from the Xcel Center to the final protest--which corresponded to the last night of the RNC. Their rally permit had expired, and the mob of 2,000 were blocking a major street near the state capitol building. Having taken our pictures and sensing the protest was going to end badly, the three of us left--we didn't want to get pepper-sprayed. Some journalists and bloggers, many of whom did not possess RNC credentials, including one person who had a badge with "Press" handwritten with a marker, decided to stick around.

But even for those fortunate folks who had RNC media credentials, the "rights and privileges contained within" do not include immunity from arrest. And when the cops say: "Clear the street," they don't add--"except for journalists." Credentialed or not.

But some people just don't get it. A professor at an Indiana college, who spoke to the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, is one such individual.

"An independent videographer may be doing just as legitimate journalism as the local NBC affiliate in town," said Bob Steele of the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media at DePauw University and a faculty member at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank.

"It's confusing, and it's uncomfortable, but we've got to figure out ways to do it," Steele said, referring to expanding the definition of journalism and accommodating those journalists.

Professor Steele, you are a moron. I was well accommodated by the Republican National Commitee, who by the way, granted me credentials to cover the convention, not a protest. Not that they've complained.

At the protests, our trio was not bothered by the police, but we made sure we did not get in their way as they performed their duties. But let me reiterate crucial point--we left before the cops closed in on the rabble and their illegal actions. Why? First of all, we wanted to cover the convention, but we didn't want to spend a night in jail, either.

And speaking for myself, but I'm sure Stix and Midnight Blue would agree, we are not vain fools intent on making ourselves into heroes.

Liberal radio commenter Amy Goodman was one of the journalists arrested. She has no one else to blame but herself for her plight.

According to the Pioneer-Press, Goodman rushed to one of the riots when she learned two of her producers were arrested covering the mayhem in downtown St. Paul.

A level-headed person, like, ahem, myself, would contact the police, find out where the producers were being held, pay their bail, and call a lawyer. Goodman made a bad decision, as the Pioneer-Press explains:

Goodman has explained she presented her official convention credential to a line of riot police and asked to see her producers. She was denied, and in a YouTube video it appears Goodman was asked to step back from the police line before she was arrested.

A press pass doesn't give reporters any rights to interfere in police actions, Steele said (My note: Okay, you are not a total goof), and in a Sept. 3 news conference, FOX 9 reporter Tom Lyden repeatedly asked Goodman whether she disobeyed a police order before being taken into custody.

Goodman's response, according to the paper, was that she hadn't cross a police line.

Possibly. But she didn't come across her own common sense--if she has any, that is.

By the way, the pictures I took are all my own. It's amazing what you come across even when there aren't any tear gas clouds.

Related posts:

Rebelling against "Whaddya got" in St. Paul

Republican National Convention counter-protesters

Technorati tags: Politics RNC St. Paul elections Republican protests photography photos police journalism blogging crime Minnesota Amy Goodman