Minnesota Independent » Democracy Now

Ellison tells Dems to stand up for Ground Zero Islamic center

Andy Birkey — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:47:20 +0000

Rep. Keith Ellison

Rep. Keith Ellison appeared on Democracy Now on Thursday to discuss the controversy over a planned Muslim community center blocks from Ground Zero in New York City. Ellison said that Democrats need to remember the Constitution and support religious freedom, because ultimately that’s what resonates with voters.

On the project’s symbolism to the world, Ellison said, “By supporting this project we directly undermine and counteract the narrative of the transnational terrorists who claim America is at war with Islam. America is not at war with Islam and all we have to do to demonstrate that is to stand on our Constitution that guarantees the freedom of worship for all Americans.”

On his fellow Democrats, Ellison said: “Unfortunately, I think that some of them are in some tight races. Their opponents have made this into a divisive wedge issue and they blanked on the constitution because they are afraid of their prospects in November.”

He added, “But i just want to tell any Democrat that, look, you stand on religious freedom, it’s going to be a winning issue because it resonates with Americans.”

MnIndy’s Demko discusses Coleman/Franken on “Democracy Now!”

Paul Schmelzer — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:26:56 +0000

This morning, Minnesota Independent political reporter Paul Demko appeared via Skype on Amy Goodman’s radio and TV show Democracy Now to discuss the recount in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race. The independent news site is closely watching the battle between Al Franken and Norm Coleman as one of three still-up-in-the-air races that, if won, could garner the Democratic party a filibuster-proof, 60-seat “super-majority” in the Senate.

Watch or listen to it. (Fastforward to 38:35)

St. Paul Police Chief Harrington: cops ‘did heroic work yesterday’

Paul Demko — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:04:36 +0000

St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington addressed reporters this morning, praising the “heroic work” of cops under difficult circumstances yesterday. “We’re looking forward to a day of a little more normality than we had yesterday,” he said at the beginning of the press conference. “They did a great job in the face of a lot of challenges. They did not overreact. They acted appropriately and very respectfully, and we’re moving on to Day 2.”

Harrington also stated that 283 people have been booked into the Ramsey County Jail so far, including 120 on felony arrests, primarily for criminal damage to property and rioting charges. An additional nine RNC-related arrests were made in Minneapolis overnight.

Harrington characterized as a failure the attempts to thwart the RNC from proceeding. “They came here to try and stop the convention, to crash the gates, to stop the buses,” he said. “They failed. They made numerous attempts to crash the gates and never got in.”

When the press conference was opened to questions, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman questioned the rough treatment of some reporters by police. She and two of her producers, along with an Associated Press photographer, were arrested yesterday. Harrington said he couldn’t comment on the specific situation but defended cops interactions with reporters generally. “If they are in the midst of a riot, we can’t protect them,” he said. “It will be very difficult for us in a moment of that kind of chaos to make those kinds of fine distinctions.”

Journalists = fair game? Video of Amy Goodman arrest

Steve Perry — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:43:17 +0000

To augment the not very revealing audio we posted earlier of the arrest of Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and some of her colleagues, here’s video.

More about the trend toward detaining journalists and documentarians at this year’s RNC tomorrow.