As predicted, the anti-war protest groups aren't too thrilled with the way their ability to protest the convention is shaping up. Freedom of speech, it seems, is not all they want.

The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War has a conditional permit to protest within the specific route St. Paul police have laid out. They don't want a specific route, they want to roam the entire area. They also want more details about when and the exact route, which police told them they will resolve when Federal police have determined that for themselves.

The protest groups are making quite a scene, threatening law suits and what not, because they don't know the exact time and location of their protest. They claim it inhibits their planning. How? If they know they can protest on September 1 but cannot tell other protesters the exact time of day or route, how does that effect planning for people who will probably arrive the day before and leave the day after? It's not the logistical nightmare they are claiming.

The real issue isn't a protest route, v. fences v. permits or any of that.

The real issue is: Sure, the freedom of speech is a right. But so is the right to peacefully assemble. Both should work in tandem, but this ideal gets tested during the planning for a convention like this. I may not say this often, but right now, I'm giving kudos to the St. Paul police for trying to hash it out in a respectable, dare I say--constitutional--manner.