So This Is America.... in the age of Obama...

Folks... all I can tell you is... there's a video.

Could it be the U.S. government thinks peaceful, civilian protest against government is fine on the streets of Cairo, Egypt but not on U.S. soil?

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech at George Washington University yesterday condemning governments that arrest protesters and do not allow free expression and lauding freedom of speech on the Internet, 71-year-old military veteran Ray McGovern was grabbed from the audience in plain view of [Secretary Clinton] by police and an unidentified official in plain clothes, hustled out of the building, and - according to McGovern and his supporters - “brutalized and left bleeding in jail.”

What McGovern did was simply remain standing silently in the audience and turned his back on her as Secretary Clinton began her speech.

That was it.

McGovern, a veteran Army officer who also worked as a C.I.A. analyst for 27 years, was wearing Veterans for Peace t-shirt.

Blind-sided by security officers who pounced upon him, McGovern remarked, as he was hauled out the door, "So this is America?"

According to Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney with the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, “For this peaceful expression of dissent, [Mr. McGovern] ended up bruised, bloodied, arrested, and jailed."

"Secretary Clinton never paused, continuing her speech lecturing other countries about the need to allow freedom of expression and dissent, while Mr. McGovern was hauled out in front of her.”

McGovern was later found to have his arm covered with bruises. The metal handcuffs were fastened so tightly that his wrists were cut and some blood flowed from the cuts.

After being held by local police, McGovern was told he was being charged with disorderly conduct.

Folks... the audio in sync with the video clearly seems to demonstrate that the man was not creating a disturbance - let alone acting in a threatening manner.

Folks... is this really what it's come to?

As I wrote up above, a video exists which during the time recorded seems to show events as reported. (At least the initial taking into custody of Mr. McGovern.)

Does this news article seem a bit over the top? Yes. Frankly it does. However... it appears over the top - from my perspective at least - only because I recoil from what would clearly be implied assuming this report is 100% accurate with no "exculpatory" information released within the very near future proving the reporting to be untrue or exaggerated.

Folks... let's hope that some sort of reasonable explanation for what appears to be a clear abuse of governmental police power is soon furnished.