Pawlenty: Protesters pay up

Minnesota's Republican governor Tim Pawlenty says he wants antiwar protesters who get arrested for civil disobedience to pay for costs associated with their arrest. Let me get this straight: We're engaged in a war that the international community and countless legal scholars have deemed illegal. My taxes pay for a war I vehemently oppose. Yet, if I protest the war and get arrested for civil disobedience the governor thinks I should pay? Should I pay a cop's salary once through taxes and again through a user's fee? Are thieves and rapists paying their tabs too?

The cost of arresting a million protesters probably doesn't amount to the pricetag for a day's worth of "smart" bombs dropped in this ugly war. The governor has no power to affect prosecution this way, but he promises to initiate legislation to force protesters to pay. It's clear what he really wants to do is shut us up.

Tell Pawlenty what you think of his plan. E-mail tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us.