This recipe comes to us from Glenn Greenwald:

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Ingredients: millions of dollars in donations, spineless alleged representatives.

Directions: Blatantly ignore laws against warrantless surveillance.  Apply donations to spineless representatives until immunity passes.  Allow time to simmer afterwards, then throw party next to Democratic convention grounds.  Season with various pals of spineless representatives to taste.  For extra brazen flavor, have Denver police yank credentialed members of the press away from a “public” sidewalk nearby.

Serves absolutely no one but the political elite.

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Not to nitpick, but Glenn could’ve thrown the cops’ earlier explanation right back in his face when he came by to shoo ‘em away.  He said as long as they were on “public” property they were OK, then later on told them to leave, though they were violating nothing.  Anyway, the multiple absurdities this shows — passes designating who counts as press and who doesn’t, “public” property that in practice is denied to the public at the drop of a hat — are just symptoms of the larger disease.

BTW: someone should ask whether the parties are “private” entities or not.  It doesn’t matter on the face of it, but the inevitable blank look that such a trick question would get in response speaks louder than words.  See, they can’t say they’re private because then they by extension admit politics is for personal gain, and if they’re public then they have no right to deny anyone access to anything they do.

Edit 082708 6:50 CST: Apparently “big media” reporters aren’t immune either.  Yet again, public sidewalk, reporter doing their job, police — and this time the handcuffs come out.  One of the officers involved even said the guy was “lucky” that they didn’t assault him.