Roughed-up protester wins thousands!

The 2004 Republican National Convention, which was held at New York's Madison Square Garden, wasn't just a symbol of right-wing intolerance. It was also a source of violence against dissidents.

During Bush's acceptance speech at this laughable event, a woman unfurled a banner criticizing the feverish dictator. Two Republican operatives responded by beating the woman and dragging her out of the venue.

A complaint filed by the woman's lawyer said that the GOP thugs "maliciously beat, pushed, grabbed and otherwise violently battered plaintiff with the intent of causing her injury." And injure her they did.

The woman was also arrested on trumped-up assault charges lodged by the men who attacked her, but a video proved these criminals were lying, and she beat the charges.

She sued over the attack, and now the city has to pay her $55,000 - adding to the $1,500,000 the city has already had to pay to settle other suits stemming from the city's illegal suppression of dissent during the convention. Although the attackers in this case were not city employees, the city had to pay the $55,000 because of a prior agreement to foot the bill for suits against the Republican National Committee. Clearly, the Republicans knew there was going to be trouble at the convention, seeing how they made the city sign this deal.

New York City voters ought to be fuming right about now that their tax dollars have to pay for the Republicans' violent antics. Not like the public's votes count much anymore: They voted to institute term limits, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg's machine just decided to gut those.

(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/nyregion/16settle.html)