Coleen Rowley's LTE on being a Patriot for RNC

From Pioneer Press

08/16/2008 04:23 PM CDT – I finally figured out what that old Simon and Garfunkel song meant by warning about the "Sounds of Silence." It doesn't take much to chill people from exercising their First Amendment rights. Just look at the lead-up to the RNC in St. Paul, which has unfortunately been characterized by misinformation, not so much by police or city authorities, but by right-wing talk radio, anonymous sources and the rumor mill.

What kind of a democracy is this if we let citizens become unnecessarily intimidated about being tasered, pepper-sprayed, infiltrated, spied on or photographed by cameras installed on public streets?

We can prove the talk wrong and counter this threat to participatory democracy by simply showing up in great numbers for all the marches, rallies, concerts and artistic, "unconventional" expressions during this time of national focus. Martin Luther King was certainly right that there are times when silence is complicity. Therefore patriots cannot stay home and keep quiet.

Coleen Rowley, Apple Valley