"It is no secret that the armies of the Denver police at the Democratic National Convention adopted a policy of intimidation towards people expressing their First Amendment rights. One cannot say that the Denver police did not telegraph their intentions, from promising to overreact during the convention to producing unacceptable t-shirts stating "We get up early to beat the crowds." This week, two cases of Denver police overreaction during the Democratic National Convention returned to the news.

"After the generally positive reviews for Denver's hosting of the Democratic National Convention, what - on balance - were the benefits and costs for the city?

Mike Dino, chief executive of the local host committee, gave his answer during a recent panel at Skyline Park, part of a series sponsored by Metro State College. Here's the video."

"In Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown's September newsletter, he reports that 38 of the SUVs and cars loaned by General Motors to the Democratic National Convention were missing a week after the event and cites Paul Lhevine, chief operating officer for the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee, as the source."

"All the real anarchists and rioters were in St. Paul, getting ready for the RNC, instead of embarrassing their not-radical/violent/crazy-enough would-be friends in the Democratic Party here.

(Eat your heart out, Spagz.)"

"Enough change already. Two days into their national convention in Denver, Democrats proclaimed a need for change with a passion seen only from the aggressive panhandlers staked out on the 16th Street Mall a few blocks away.

But behind all of the rhetoric of new beginnings, an aged policy platform has emerged. As eight U.S. Senate Democratic women took the stage Tuesday afternoon to present their "checklist for change," it was hard not to feel sorry for them."

"This morning, Denver residents, Democratic National Convention attendees, and protesters awoke to find Civic Center Park surrounded by a chain link fence. The only problem with this is that Re-create 68 already had a permit for park demonstrations today. Back in March, Glenn Spagnuolo of Re-create 68 threw a temper tantrum when they did not receive park permits for every day of the Democratic National Convention."

"Most broadcast operations at the Pepsi Center during the Democratic National Convention are ensconced on the club level, and when I entered the zone, I found no security, no technicians, no one at all -- except for Dick Wadhams, head of the Colorado Republican Party."

"So much for all the DNC-related action happening in downtown Denver. On my drive to work this morning I spotted this unmistakable display on Table Mountain between Arvada and Golden, displayed here in a photograph taken by a friend."

"The DNC is shaping up to be a preview of an autocratic nanny-state on steroids. Fried foods are prohibited, and meals must contain the appropriate amount of fruits and vegetables. There must be three to five different colors of food on a plate (and garnishes don't count.)

Well, folks, there has been a serious food security breach. And luckily, I'm here to break the story."

"Here is a 360 degree pan in the Freedom of Speech Zone, one half mile from the Pepsi Center, and on the other side of a big tent so that no one at the speaker's podium, such as it is, can see anyone beyond the double fence, guarded by armed, but friendly, police officers. What a wonder no one is using this bastion of civil rights."