Amy Goodman of DEMOCRACY NOW arrested without cause at RP convention

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Tony Logan

Amy Goodman Arrested at RNC. The police are like a bunch of rabid dogs at this point in time in America. More video at TheUptake.

Mark Lewis has forwarded this ACTION ALERT:

ST. PAUL, MN—Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her. Video of her arrest can be seen here.

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained. They are Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman’s crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sherrif Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were being arrested on suspicion of rioting. They are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in St. Paul.

Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman’s office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amenmdent rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which they were arrested law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. Several dozen others were also arrested during this action.

DNC disruption provided by FOX NEWS

Posted on August 31, 2008 by Eric Verlo

DENVER- Sunday DNC Antiwar Rally. Predictably enough, the only disorder at the DNC protests was instigated by Fox News knave Griff Jenkins. At Recreate 68’s kickoff rally on Sunday, ambush reporter Jenkins tried to rush the stage and force an interview of Ward Churchill. AIM security intervened, but the camera skirmish created an inordinate distraction for the speaker at the podium and the audience trying to listen.

The diminutive Fox dick started shouting about HIS FREE SPEECH RIGHTS, which I believe illuminated his own understanding of the “journalism” role Fox serves. He doesn’t report, he decides. This thug’s media clout gave him the delusion he could speak over our right to assemble and attend to our speakers. His self-importance was laughable, and the crowd was not convinced. It started chanting FUCK FOX, FUCK FOX. Which of course Fox News reported as an anti-Fox riot. This was repeated later when Jenkins tried to interview marchers along the parade route.

In fact the only confrontations to come of the DNC demonstrations involved Fox’s Jenkins, Michelle Malkin, and inexplicably as far as I can undersand, Alex Jones from Prison Planet.

Police harrass kids at Denver DNC

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Eric Verlo

DENVER- On the fourth day of watching Denver mobilize countless police squads in anticipation of problematic demonstrations, you’d think this patrol wouldn’t have caught our eye. Except, the officer leading point on this patrol advanced past our outdoor table with his weapon drawn…

We turned to see him approach a handful of kids, while the other officers quickly encircled them.

Next the leader, or perhaps he was the youth-liaison officer, pulled the kids aside to offer his advice. “No one wants to see you guys on the 16th Street Mall.” And: “You guys aren’t dressed for the occasion. Do you think Colorado’s visitors this week want to see kids dressed like you are on the 16th Street Mall?” He recognized a couple of them from Juvenile Detention, I’m guessing, and cautioned them that he could make things easier, or more difficult, depending on whether they helped him out today. He added: “You heard about the two hundred people we arrested the other night? They were arrested for not following our request that they leave.”

When I interrupted by asking the officer to repeat himself, so that what I considered to have been an improper act of coercion could be made more clear, he stopped talking and told me I was interfering. His fellow officers then began taking constant pictures and threatened me with arrest if I didn’t back off.

Tent State stole park from DNC demos

Posted on August 27, 2008 by Eric Verlo

DENVER- Wednesday was a day of major betrayal of DNC protesters. The Denver park from which demonstrations were being launched was today suddenly completely fenced off OVERNIGHT. Clever move on the part of city. Civic Center Park had been serving as the point of reference for activists who now did not know how to find each other after the convergence center at 38th and Brighton was raided by police. Here’s what happened to the park.

The organizers of “Tent State” had a permit to use Civic Center Park on Wednesday. Since Saturday, Recreate-68 and Unconventional Denver had used it as a rallying point. Two weeks ago Eric Jung of Tent State announced that they would not be using the Wednesday permit. At the last Consulta, R68 organizers asked Jung to relinquish the permit so that others could keep using the park. Jung said he would, but he didn’t. As a result, the city pounced on the chance to begin setting up canopies for the annual Taste of Colorado scheduled for Friday. Have you ever seen a park fair event that wasn’t assembled the same morning of the event? This was a thinly disguised move to leave DNC protesters without a communications hub. Courtesy of Tent State.

Hopefully this will be the last of the many DNC betrayals by Eric and his friend JoJo Pease. They told 5280 magazine that R68’s turnout would be in the double digits, while theirs would number thousands. But Tent State turned out to be more like a pueblo. A camp circle more accurately.

After the IVAW cross city march I saw Pease bragging about how well their work had gone. The role the two played to destabilize and divide the 2008 DNC efforts should discredit Eric and JoJo from participating in a single important anything else. Damnable degenerates.

Tuesday night helicopters over Denver

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Eric Verlo

DENVER- Night has just fallen and a helicopter searchlight has moved from North of the Capitol, to Civic Center Park, to the downtown center. Police in riot gear are rounding corners off to the North East. Police troops riding SUVs are coming from the southern parts. I’m riding on the 16th Street Mall shuttle. As I get out, I see the bus has been followed by two white vans full of policemen. Across my path toward where Marie is waiting are a dozen bicycle cops.

Of course here we are live-blogging about DPD troop movements. Suddenly the server seems to be acting buggy.

If you think I’m suffering delusions of grandeur when I imagine that every cop I pass seems to be reporting the event into his headpiece, consider the budget they’re spending on all of us.

Denver spent fifty million on DNC security, including a Super Fusion Center. They expected fifty thousand protesters. That makes for some easy math. $50M divided by 50k means a thousand dollars of equipment and manpower had been allocated for each protester. Since fewer than expected showed up, that’s a lot of intelligence firepower to spread over quite a bit fewer than 50 thousand protesters.

If we figure the demonstrations thus far have drawn five thousand persons of interest. Would that mean $10,000 is being spent on each? Probably the figure’s more like 1,000 people who could be considered to pose an imagined risk. That would mean $50,000 per. Over the course of five days, that’s $10,000 each person, each day. Figuring 90% of the security budget might have been spent on equipment, $1,000 per day would remain to pay, what, seven law enforcement personnel working overtime for each citizen suspect?

If you consider yourself unpredictably active enough to be among those thousand, tomorrow, when you are facing a line of armor clad riot cops, pick out seven and have them call you Sir.

It’d be a symbolic gesture. Probably the actual DPD staff allocated to you personally is comprised of three riot cops, one plain-clothed informer, and two surveillance analysts. Does that leave one unaccounted for? One full time person working on who knows what about you? Very likely.

It’s hard not to feel special.

Nothing says “change” like a guy who’s been in the Senate for 35 years.

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Thomas Mc

Democratic Party making it clear they want a fascist police state even more than the GOP. Only violence at demonstrations by neofascist, jackbooted cops. I hope the City of Denver loses many millions of dollars in lawsuits for violating the Constitutional rights of protesters. And the Democrats lose many millions of votes for their complicity in these crimes against the Constitution of the United States of America. (Excerpted from thomasmc.com Aug 26.)

Day before DNC demo training for all

Posted on August 23, 2008 by Eric Verlo

DENVER- Recreate-68 held its day of training for participants in the upcoming DNC demonstrations. Know Your Rights, Health and Safety, Self-defense, Drumming and How to Be a Legal Observer were the more popular sessions. The Denver police held exercises in regular siren drivebys and keeping four intimidating fronts.

From the West.

East.

From North

Shade on the South.

Were these buses to serve as paddy wagons, or shuttles for the extra police?

There were no shortage of SUVs and large white vans. These DPD officers in riot helmets practiced riding on the side rail.

Denver officers kept arriving from neighborhood side streets, each armed with plenty of plastic tie restraints.

Bad DNC protesters? get them to behave

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Eric Verlo

That was embarrassing. The Indy asked me how to keep a protest peaceful, in light of participants who may be tempted to mix it up. The Indy said my advice was get them to behave. It’s what I meant of course, but I said: set a good example for others to follow.

I was talking to the Independent reporter about how one could participate in the DNC demonstrations without getting caught up in trouble. It is a perplexing balancing act. Despite every organizer’s best intentions, there are going to be soccer hooligans and plain-clothed provocateurs.

The best use you can put to all the digital video devices is to catch undercover cops trying to instigate crime. Young would-be rabble-rousers will have to offend for themselves because cameras might catch them too. Against police video surveillance, the bystander videotape will be the least of their problems. Principally, demonstrators will need to catch the various law enforcement agents trying to entrap participants and incite riots, for which they can blame their unwitting accomplices.

Don’t hold anything for a stranger, don’t follow the directions of someone you don’t already know to be an organizer.

And above all, remember why you’re here. To represent your message. To give voice to others. Taking to the street is as fundamental as fighting for your rights. They weren’t given us without somebody taking to the streets to demand them. Let the politicians and media and authorities know why you’re there. That’s real patriotism.

Police Liaison is double-edged handcuff

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Eric Verlo

Large demonstrations such as planned at the DNC invite a basic need for crowd management. From any standpoint there is an inherent requirement to involve officer friendly. Pardon my sophomoric wonder about how this can be done with sufficient prudence.

The term Police Liaison is self-explanatory. In the context of an organized public demonstration, police liaisons channel communication between organizers and law enforcement commanders. If crowd behavior diverts from what was permitted, liaisons are the last chance for diplomacy before an escalation of violence.

This can serve both sides. A crowd could be steered away from trouble, in particular if someone has been tasked with the responsibility for their actions. As well, police over-reaction can be countermanded if police leaders are alerted to their subordinates’ misbehavior.

In a perfect scenario, liaisons facilitate a smooth, legal public action. But what if events develop imperfectly? i wonder what vulnerabilities are created by having named liaisons.

At minimum, liaisons have been personally introduced to police and vice versa. They are given the police commander’s telephone number, and likewise the police are able to contact the liaisons. But in what further ways does having the liaison telephone numbers benefit the police?

It’s not hard to imagine that a police department could justify getting permission to conduct surveillance on those contact numbers. The liaisons are self-avowed protest organizers, aiming only to conduct fully legal activities, activities which they’ll fully admit however are often out of their control. They should have no objections to serving as extra eyes for law enforcement, whose expressed interest is providing a safe secure environment for all. A FISA court would be hard pressed to oppose such preventive oversight. The liaisons have as much as volunteered. Surveillance could consist of monitoring phone calls, passive bugging of all activities within earshot of the discretely activated phone units, or of course, GPS tracking of liaison movements. Why not? It’s for the security of all concerned.

Alternately, and let’s presume the police department would only do this if crowd actions were heading south, the police could elect to round up the liaisons in a preemptory arrest, to severe what they perceive to be the leadership from the crowd of followers. Such a preemptive move could also be decided merely from early plan-making overheard from the eavesdropping.

It could be presumed that law enforcement is already monitoring the phones of activists whom they consider to be persons of interest. But those activists who volunteer to be police liaisons in effect offer up their responsibility for their compatriots’ actions. They represent themselves as authority sufficient to try to steer protests from trouble. Liaisons as much as formalize their participation in the outcomes that eventually develop.

Should some terrible illegal act be committed, be it real or a frame-up, have the liaisons bound themselves to subsequent conspiracy charges that an investigation would trace in order to declare guilty parties? Imagine if such acts were terrible enough to warrant calling the organizing body a terrorist entity. Would the formalized police liaisons be considered its de facto signatories? Whoever would imagine that peaceful protesters exercising their right to assemble to petition their government for redress of their grievances should fall under the scrutiny of the Department of Homeland Security?

US judge lets Denver limit DNC protest

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Eric Verlo

Alfred Arraj Federal Building DENVER- Judge Marcia Krieger’s verdict is in. As NMT predicted, Denver can restrict DNC activists however the hell they want. Hide the demonstrations two football fields away, behind a large tent, limit marches to nowhere near the Pepsi Center. Why not? –Did I say Denver, actually the discretion has been given to the US Secret Service, both conventions have been declared “National Special Security Events.”

Meanwhile the Dems are accepting applications for Community Credentials for seats at Obama’s acceptance speech at Invesco Field. Hopefuls will be notified by August 18.

Beijing extracurricular Olympic schedule

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Eric Verlo

I have a last-minute, refocused interest in a safe and not-too-disrupted Beijing Olympics. It’s already been unofficially eventful. Here’s a time line of the counter-Olympics leading-up to the Opening Ceremonies. The Gazette is in Beijing. So are we!

OC -5: Marie arrives in Beijing!

OC -4: Sixteen Chinese policemen killed in Kashgar by Uighur separatists. Two Japanese journalists beaten by police for covering story.

OC -3: Earthquake hits Sichuan Province hours after Olympic torch passes.

OC -2: Four US-UK protesters unfurl TIBET banner as torch arrives at Beijing Bird’s Nest Stadium. / Four US cyclists cause furor by stepping off the plane wearing US-issued breathing masks. / Visa revoked for TEAM DARFUR Olympian alumni. Yay!
Tibet protester arrested in Tiananmen Square
OC -0: FREE TIBET demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. American Tourists stabbed. Assailant jumps to death. Official account. Chinese witnesses not at liberty to tell what they actually saw.

OC +1: Tibet activists ejected from Honk Kong equestrian arena. Protester sets himself on fire in Ankara.

Business unionism’s dead end

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Tony Logan

laborers
Each year in the US, the labor unions get smaller and weaker. What is the cause of this since life is certainly not getting easier for the working class of our country?

Will the unions finally just evaporate into thin air? At this time they are providing about ZERO protection for the population from the corporations and their corporate run government.

In this blog we have talked at some length about the problems of ‘Peace’ organizations run as small businesses rather than as democratic community organizations opposed to war. We have the same phenomena in the Labor Movement and with the same results which are the demobilization of people rather than their mobilization. Organizations with small paid office staffs that separate themselves from the people they supposedly are serving lead to organizations that do not inspire people to move themselves. Why should they? They have no control over the organizations they are in. Apathy, disinterest, and demobilization results.

We also have to factor in the corporate control over trade unions themselves, which is achieved through the Democratic Party. Once again, this process parallels what happens with the “peace’ groups run by paid office types. In both types of organizations, trade union and ‘Peace’, the Conservatives office milieu that is cultivated by business models of organization see themselves a lobbyists, and lobbyists to the politicians. That becomes their principle focus. These types often talk about ‘speaking truth to power’, but what they mean is that they should spend all their time in some form of lobbying of Democratic Party politicians.

As a result, demonstrations and independent organizing are deliberately kept from happening, and excess value is given to hobnobbing with the corporate press currying ‘reporting’ and visiting the offices of political insiders with pleas in hand. This is activity that is seen as needing paid organizers separate from community control, whose folk are only seen as potentially messing up this lobbying effort.

This method of using business models inside community organizations has paralyzed the antiwar movement, and has beaten down the Labor Movement into non-existence. Ads a result, unions can hardly be found any where actually engaging in organizing. In fact, they can hardly be found in actually hanging on to the membership that is left. What it will take is a completely different model of organization to ever be able to rebuild these organizations. That is not presently on the scene and it will not occur in an easy manner, but will require much sacrifice and effort.

BTW, that foto of workers at the head of this column is taken from a day labor company site. These are some of the many workers abandoned by business unionism’s failed model of unionism.

America’s liberal ‘Peace Community’ remains apathetically pro-war

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Tony Logan

Peace people America’s liberal ‘Peace Community’ remains apathetically pro-war, which explains why most are planning to vote for Pro-war candidate, Barack Obama. Far from being non-mainstream Americans ‘liberals’, are just as pro-war as their Republican counterparts are despite some occassional bleatings about ‘Peace’ in the abstract, and temper tantrums that the US has not won the invasion and occupation of Iraq just quite yet.

Doubt this analysis? Then ask yourself why hardly any of these liberals turned out the last 2 weeks for the many US regional demonstrations to demand a stop to threatening a war against Iran? These demonstrations were national in scope and called by 2 separate coalitions, but nobody showed up! In Colorado Springs, the local yokel misleaders didn’t even bother doing a local action, but that won’t stop them from responding that they are committed to non-violence and yada yada yada.

This week will find the ‘Peace Community’ going through the motions and holding candle light vigils in memory of the atomic bomb victims of Japan in 1945, but you won’t find them demanding that the US and NATO get out of Afghanistan. That’s because many of them plan to vote for a pro-war candidate that wants to fight that Afghan war forever if it takes that long to ‘win’ it? Or at least until some folk get mad about it… which most won’t because they don’t seem to care that much.

Locally, this Friday we will find the liberal ‘Peace Community ritually going out to Fort Peterson Air Base for their annual quick show ‘picnic’ there. What you will not see is any sign of a demand that the base actually be closed down. You will see many signs though with their abstract new age religious belief that war and violence are bad stuff! It is kind of a game they play… …and almost all of these ‘peacenics’ will vote for the pro-war candidate, Barack, almost all of them.

The thing liberals most fear is being considered somehow outside the mainstream American community which is still quite solidly pro-military and pro-war. Like the greater community at large, liberal ‘Peace Community’ folk mainly are angry because George W. Bush did not give the country a quick and easy victory in Iraq, so they are angry at him for it. Other than that, they are not that pissed off though. Afghanistan? What? Don’t bother us!

Why is the liberal ‘Peace Community’ so pro-war, even as they talk ‘Peace’? It’s because their conservatized neighbors are also very pro-war and they don’t want to appear too oppositional or unfriendly to these people. They don’t want to stand out and in fact never do (at least they never do in large vigils or protests against war and torture and inequality, etc. They often say it doesn’t’ work to participate in public actions!)

The liberal ‘Peace Community’ is committed to national patriotism and in America that means the military. But they are also committed to their idea of the Holy Ghost Jesus, Man of Peace. They try to fuse the 2 ideas together, but what remains is only to remain apathetically pro-war just like The Others they say they always oppose.

The liberal ‘Peace Community’ doesn’t want to really end war except in the abstract, but principally wants to agree that the US wars fought be juster wars with a kinder military than the world norm. Massage them and you have their vote. They really don’t care if their Democratic Party candidates are liars and manipulators. Just sound good.

The liberal ‘Peace Community’ doesn’t like being called antiwar, and in fact is not that at all. Antiwar to them sounds way too ‘anti-‘! Instead, they like to be seen as FOR the troops. They remain apathetically pro-war, and unfortunately so does the rest of the population.

Victory to the Afghan people! Victory to the Somali people! Victory to the Iraqi people! Victory to the Palestinians! And, Americans, get your heads out of your rear ends and screw them on straight.

Liberal Americans, that goes double! Stop being pro-war! You are, you know? Despite your constant chatter for ‘Peace’ which is mainly a cover for you to hide from yourself the fact that you’re as pro-war as your neighbors most of the time.

Tiananmen Square before Olympic spirit

Posted on August 2, 2008 by Eric Verlo

Beijing 2008 boycott
Human rights activists are crying foul about China’s role in Tibet and Burma. Here’s a illustrated time-line of the events which led to the totalitarian repression of the Tiananmen protests of 1989. Reprinted from Christus Rex.

Beijing Spring -A look back at the 1989 Spring that impacted a nation. Visit original website to see archival video footage from the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.

April 15
Former Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, a leading reformist, dies of a heart attack at the age of 73. Students at Beijing University put up posters praising Hu that indirectly criticize the opponents who forced his resignation following student demonstrations in 1986-87.

April 17
Thousands of students march in Beijing and Shanghai shouting “long live Hu Yaobang, long live democracy, long live freedom, long live the rule of law.”

April 18
2,000 students from Beijing bicycle into Tiananmen Square and protest before the Great Hall of the People. Included in their demands for democratic reforms is the repudiation of official campaigns against freedom of the press.

April 21
Crowds of up to 100,000 demonstators gather in Tiananmen Square to mourn Hu.

April 22
Students defy police orders to leave the square, while riots break out in the provincial capitals of Xian and Changsha. Official memorial ceremonies are held for Hu at the Great Hall of the People.

April 23
Beijing students announce a boycott of university classes.

April 24
Tens of thousands of students at Beijing universities go on strike, demanding a dialog with the government.

April 27
Bolstered by broad-based support, more than 150,000 students surge past police lines and fill Tiananmen Square, chanting slogans for democracy and freedom.

April 29
Government officials meet with student leaders, but independent student groups say they will continue a class boycott at 41 university campuses in Beijing.

May 2
6,000 students march in Shanghai.

May 4
100,000 students and supporters march on Tiananmen square to celebrate the 70th anniversary of China’s first student movement, while similar demonstrations are held in Shanghai, Nanjing and other cities. 300 journalists protest outside the official Xinhua News Agency.

May 9
Journalists petition the government for freedom of the press.

May 13
2,000 students begin a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square.

May 15
Government deadline for students to leave the square comes and goes. A welcoming ceremony for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s state visit is moved to the airport.

May 16
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators occupy the square.

May 18
One million people march in support of the hunger strikers. Li Peng, Premier of the State Council, issues a stern warning to student leaders and refuses to discuss their demands.

May 19
A tearful Zhao Ziyang, China’s General Secretary, makes a pre-dawn visit to weakened hunger strikers. Li also visits the students briefly. In the evening the students decide to end the hunger strike, but quickly change their mind when Li and President Yang Shangkun announce martial law. Zhao reportedly resigns or is ousted from power after failing to convince Li and others to compromise.

May 20, 1989
Chinese authorities ‘pull the plug’ on Dan Rather who is reporting live from Beijing.

May 28
About 80,000 people (mostly students from outside the capital) demonstrate but, unlike past rallies, few workers participate.

May 30
Students unveil their “Goddess of Democracy,” a replica of the Statue of Liberty, on the square. The government calls it an insult to the nation.

May 31
Farmers and workers stage the first of several pro-government rallies in Beijing’s suburbs.

June 1
The Beijing Municipal Government bans all foreign press coverage of the demonstrations.

June 3
Tens of thousands of troops advance on the city shortly after midnight, but are repulsed by residents who put up barricades. By the afternoon 5,000 troops appear outside the Great Hall of the People, but are again surrounded and stopped. In the final assault that evening, troops shoot and beat their way to the square.

Taping the beginnings of the massacre, correspondent Richard Roth is arrested.

June 4
Troops occupy the square and smash the “Goddess of Democracy” with tanks. The shooting continues with soldiers periodically firing on crowds gathered on the outskirts of the square. Residents set fire to more than 100 military trucks and armored personnel carriers. The government claims the “counterrevolutionary riots” have been suppressed. Meanwhile, riots break out in southwestern Chengdu.

Richard Roth is released and reports further on the night’s violence.

June 5
There are reports of clashes between rival military groups around Beijing. President Bush condemns the “bloody and violent” crackdown and orders a suspension of U.S. military sales and contacts with the Chinese government.

June 5, 1989
Richard Roth reports: one anonymous man stops a column of 18 tanks.

June 6
Foreign embassies advise their nationals to leave China. The government says 300 people were killed and 7,000 injured in the crackdown, but claims most of the dead were soldiers. There are more reports of clashes between military units. Six people are killed in Shanghai when a train runs through a barricade. The U.S. State Department announces that dissident Fang Lizhi and his wife have sought refuge in the U.S. Embassy.

June 7
Troops, responding to what they say is sniper fire, shoot into a foreign diplomatic compound. The United States and other governments order the mandatory evacuation of dependents of diplomatic personnel.

June 8
Premier Li Peng appears in public for the first time since the crackdown to congratulate troops.

June 9
China’s leader Deng Xiaoping appears for the first time since May 16. In a speech to military officers he blames the turmoil on counterrevolutionaries attempting to overthrow communism.

June 10
Beijing authorities announce the arrest of more than 400 people, including student and labor leaders.

June 11
The government issues a warrant for the arrest of Fang Lizhi and his wife, saying they committed crimes of “counterrevolutionary propaganda and instigation.”

June 12
The government bans all independent student and labor organizations and says police and soldiers should shoot all “rioters and counterrevolutionaries.”

June 13
The government issues a wanted list for 21 student activists who led the democracy movement.

June 14
China orders the expulsion of Associated Press reporter John Pomfret and Voice of America Bureau Chief Alan Pessin.

June 15
Three Shanghai men are sentenced to death for burning a train that ran over protesters. The nationwide arrest total reaches above 1,000.

June 17
A Beijing court sentences eight people to death for attacking soldiers and burning vehicles during the June 3-4 assault.

June 18
Politburo member Qiao Shi appears prominently in the official media, adding to speculation the party security man will replace Zhao.

June 20
The government nullifies all exit permits in an apparent attempt to stop fugitives from leaving the country.

Free Speech relief unlikely from US Court

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Eric Verlo

DENVER- Federal District Judge Marcia Krieger heard closing arguments today in the case challenging Denver’s DNC free speech restrictions, and what she didn’t hear, she augmented with her own leading questions. “Would you request that the court reserve its ruling until Invesco security arrangements are announced?” (Is she laying ground for a delayed decision?) Other questions painted the plaintiffs’ Free Speech concerns as requests that protest photo-ops feature the Pepsi Center as a backdrop. Judge Krieger asked: “Does the public have the [Constitutional] RIGHT to frame the picture that they like?”

Judge Krieger adjourned at 4PM to work on her written decision. Her earlier plan to visit the disputed isolation zones in question was called off due to a technicality.

There was also a surprise suggestion of a little playground north of the Pepsi Center where the city attorney asserts the public can catch an unimpeded view of the convention center. The plaintiff countered that the park wasn’t among those offered for permits. The judge answered cheerfully that we wouldn’t need a permit for it, to which the plaintiff clarified groups can’t legally hold demonstrations there, beside the fact that it’s a playground, dotted with playground furnishings… Meanwhile the novel location buttressed the city’s claim that protesters would have visual access to the DNC “from all points of the compass.” A fellow activist murmured “like Long’s Peak.”

The plaintiff’s final arguments today were peppered with questions from the judge, to suggest that demonstrators are looking to make a constitutional issue of a photo backdrop. Tent State’s stated desire to be seen marching away from the convention center was ridiculed as if the idea defied geometry. To walk away from the DNC, you’d have to walk toward it, and vice versa, etc.

The defense attorneys seemed to have displeased the judge more, because she had to restate their case for them in stronger terms perhaps so that she’ll have more room to find in their favor. It looked that way to me.

Unconventional Denver DNC schedule

Posted on July 30, 2008 by NMT

DNC Disruption 08 From Disruption’08:
Denver is currently overflowing with plans from an extremely diverse array of groups for different types of demonstrations, music festivals, street parties and actions that will occur during the entire week of the convention. The many events are roughly broken down into theme days (see below). Anarchists and anticapitalists are working on many aspects of this mobilization but have a general focus of expanding acts of resistance outside permitted areas, radicalizing the debate around the Democrats, and ensuring that during the convention there will be no business as usual in Denver!

Schedule of actions:

SUNDAY the 24th
-10:30am, Civic Center Park: Massive march against militarization and occupations called for by Recreate 68. This will be a family-friendly, low-risk event.
-Midday: Funk the War! Following the march, a large, low-risk street party called for by the Alliance for Real Democracy will fill downtown with music and festivities against the war
-Late Afternoon: As the convention-goers check into hotels and attend their pre-convention party, our own raging party in resistance to the militarized occupation of Denver and the world will reclaim public space and spread the festivities onto the streets. Be ready to take the rowdy celebration to the doorsteps of delegate hotels etc.

MONDAY the 25th
-10:30am, Civic Center Park: March against the prison industrial complex and for freedom for all political prisoners.
-Evening: Meet at the Civic Center at 6pm to join the anticapitalist march (see below) or participate in organized and decentralized actions that will actively disrupt the capitalist corruption and cronyism of the two party system by targeting specific fundraisers, delegate parties and corporations backing the DNC. come ready for quick decentralized actions spanning the downtown area at a variety of risk levels.

TUESDAY the 26th
-Afternoon: Confront the Spectacle- We vote no! As delegates are arriving at the Pepsi Center, snake marches will converge on the entrances through the fence of the no-protest zone in order to create spaces for different levels of delegate movement disruption. Flying squads will assist the disruption and create distractions as we bring their party to a halt.

WEDNESDAY the 27th
-All day: Actions and alternatives- Real solutions to the climate crisis! A day of direct action against ecological destruction. We will create solutions to global warming without the politicians by shutting down sources of greenhouse gas emissions and corporations who destroy the earth (and fund the Democrats). we will also engage in creative resistance outlining solutions and alternatives; bike bloc! car free zones! guerrilla gardening!

THURSDAY the 28th
-10:30am, Rude Park: No Borders March! No one is illegal! Join this national mobilization for immigrants rights and help us draw connections between the struggles of immigrant communities and the struggle against global capitalism. This will be a low-risk event safe for all people regardless of immigration status. so play nice.
-Evening: A special Denver anarchist variety show party, put on by none other then Denver’s Louis Vitton.

ALSO:
A precarious workers council of UA has called for an anti-capitalist force to manifest at the DNC as a black bloc on the evening of Monday the 25th. This will meet at Civic Center Park at 6:00pm and will coincide with Unconventional Denver’s call for organized and decentralized no-business-as-usual actions during the same evening. More details TBA.

*this is by no means a complete list of all actions planned by the many groups involved in the Denver mobilization. Check dncdisruption08.org, recreate68.org, realdemocracy2008.org, and weareamericadnc.org for other events and actions.

Where will Tent State be without tents?

Posted on July 28, 2008 by Eric Verlo

A couple weeks ago, the students behind Tent State University were hoping to lobby Denver’s mayor for permission to camp overnight in a city park for the DNC. They had been given until August to show they could meet seven conditional requirements, but now the mayor has decided to tell them no. So where will Tent State be without tents? TSU was one of the ARD groups which splintered from Recreate-68, hoping to curry favorable treatment from the city. TSU leader Adam Jung even suggested the Denver City Park encampment would enable authorities to “retain control over the entire event.”

The Democratic convention protesters of 1968, who wound up on the truncheon end of the Chicago police riots, had been camped overnight by the simple result of their continuous protestation of having no representation at the DNC. Tent State University 2008 No one asked permission. In 2008, by breaking off from the R-68 organizers and asking to be sanctioned by the city, TSU has allowed the Denver Police to preempt spontaneous demonstrations. Certainly in the eyes of the public and the residents of Denver. Now anyone who sticks around after curfew has been forewarned of the consequence.

The DNC Alliance for Real Democracy is a counter-protest Fifth Column

Posted on July 25, 2008 by Eric Verlo

Denver DNC 2008 DENVER, COLO.- The Alliance for Real Democracy (ARD), formed to counter the scrappily-named Recreate 68 at the DNC, is in reality an unwitting fifth column, set up by Democratic Party allies to temper protest in Denver. The UFPJ and other sundry “non-violent” progressives are funneling their members into the less populist ARD actions to divert participation from the major DNC demonstrations. But the aforementioned underwriters aren’t providing any funding, surprise! Leaving the ARD to protest exactly what it’s supposed to: nothing.

Alliance for Real Democracy I think it’s heartbreaking to watch earnest young activists, representing the organizations comprising the ARD coalition, trying to organize activities without any commitment from their national affiliations. And some of the more outspoken national leaders, keen to make appearances at the DNC rallies, are beginning to smell a rat. They’re making backup arrangements to coordinate with the boots on the ground, R-68.

A Fifth Column refers to a group of partisans, usually spontaneously organized, which forms behind enemy lines as a conquering army approaches. It is the additional “column” of civilian fighters which an attacker might count on to stab the defenders in the back. Franco boasted of his fifth column in the Spanish Civil War. The French Resistance represented a fifth column for the Normandy liberators.

America’s antiwar movement has had its steady divisions, between UFPJ and A.N.S.W.E.R. most notably, but the rift has become more critical with the advent of another hopeful Democratic election win. Four years ago it was Kerry, with groups like Moveon.org trying to tone down the antiwar rhetoric. This year it’s Obama, and the appeasers are out in battalions. As usual, it’s done in the name of “nonviolence,” where too vigorous protest is seen as insufficiently nonviolent for the Democrat’s fragile delusions.

When R-68 began the groundwork for DNC protests, they were vilified for evoking the Chicago 1968 police riots. R-68 repudiated the violence, but not surprisingly those statements have yet to be reported in print. Meanwhile the bad press gave UFPJ and other nonviolence apostles the opportunity to break away and form their holy alliance to give their members sanctuary from the ruffians, re unpredictable young people.

But will it really? The R-68 group includes Unconventional Denver and Disrupt 08, but neither have violent plans. Black Block script-kiddies will turn up no matter whose event. Police agent provocateurs will instigate violence no matter how pious your crowd.

Code Pink, IVAW, Veterans For Peace, and UFPJ are among the national endorsers of ARD. Tent State, SFPJ, and Students for a Democratic Society are examples of young activists getting caught in their elders’ tar baby.

Because it’s not enough to vote for Obama, you have to quash dissent for Obama. It’s the Alliance For Real Democracy For Obama.

Naturally Denver protest organizers, whether ARD or R68, have found themselves having to confer about time slots and permits, out of respect for the success of each other’s activities. As a result, the national head of UFPJ, Leslie Cagan, issued an email decreeing that no ARD organization member would participate in the major Aug 24 kickoff antiwar demonstration. This drew question marks from prominent activist leaders who want to be at the biggest rally.

Bi-monthly CONSULTA meetings were scheduled by ARD and R68 to coordinate efforts. But the morning before the second Consulta, Leslie Cagan flew in from NYC for an emergency meeting with ARD leadership to brief them on what not to negotiate. She followed this with a hastily scheduled press conference the next day on the subject of Iran, it appeared to preempt her rivals’ DON’T BOMB IRAN action planned for August 2nd.

Colorado Springs own PPJPC is an endorser of ARD. Their letter of support was read into the minutes of a recent meeting, and it read like the typical support they’re getting from everyone. I’ll paraphrase the PPJPC letter:

“We at the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission are honored to endorse your efforts at the DNC … due to critical funding shortages, we cannot offer you any monetary support at this time … Likewise, I’m sorry that I will not be able to participate in any events that week , but will try to interest our members in attending…” We’ll be with you in spirit, etc.

Why form a fifth column if you’re not going to support it? Because the ARD‘s job is to do nothing. Doing nothing is exactly how you stab activism in the back.

Stop the War On Iran!

Posted on July 17, 2008 by Tony Logan

It may not be clear in Colorado Springs that the national antiwar movement is trying to deal with the probability for a coming military attack on Iran, because the local group Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission has planned nothing so far. They are asleep at the wheel downtown in the PPJPC offices. United for Peace and Justice has called for a series of actions next week, but where are the local paid crew at PPJPC here in town? MIA once again?

The national United for Justice Peace and Justice (UFPJ) has 5 suggestions for local actions, of which #2 and #5 seem to be the most important ones to take. Here they are listed below…

2) Ask your mayor to sign on to a resolution urging the Bush administration to pursue diplomatic engagement with Iran. At least 36 mayors have already signed on — now is the time to approach your mayor! For more information visit the Cities for Peace website.

5) You can organize a visible presence in a busy location in your town: a vigil, an afternoon of leafleting or tabling, a human billboard, etc. Be sure to pick a time and location that has a lot of pedestrian or vehicle traffic!

The local group pays out $600 a week in salaries to 3 guys who seem to be only there in the offices to pull down their salaries? I sincerely doubt that any of these 3 would be there without the money they get in their paychecks. Why are they not organizing these vigils suggested? Why are they not organizing municipal government resolutions against US government use of torture and against plans to go to war with Iran? That’s what they should be getting the money paid to them to be doing. What are they doing instead?

Not only is it the national UFPJ that is planning actions nationwide, but also another national grouping called StopWarOnIran.org. They are planning demonstrations on August 2 around the country. Where is our local PPJPC in the planning of these events? What is their unaccountable to no one other than themselves Board of Directors doing to plan for this event? Where are the 3 office staff who think it their business to impede others and keep organization of the group entirely under their control, even as their salaries are bankrupting the group? Why are they always doing nothing?

Time is running out to do activities against this planned war with Iran, BEFORE the attack occurs. The PPJPC here in Colorado Springs simply is not doing the work that needs to be done. This group needs to be reorganized so that it is not run top down, but bottom up. Organize today to stop this war on Iran from happening.

Peacefully lost in the fog: American liberals’ denial of reality

Posted on July 14, 2008 by Tony Logan

Last week saw many a liberal author writing about why, in their opinions, the US government will not start a war against Iran. This is true lost-in-the-fog liberal denial of reality, though why is it? By what combination of stumbles in thought did they reach their conclusions?

These liberal academics (that’s what they are mainly), that believe that an attack on Iran is improbable, simply misread the general US public mindset. They believe that since Bush is so unpopular now that he has become entirely neutered and restrained by general disapproval. But is that really true?

Bush is unpopular so much not because Americans believe that the Iraq War was wrong, but rather because Americans think it wrong that Bush did not wrap up ‘victory’ there as quickly and as easily as they were promised. That does not mean that the general American public is now somehow a group of anti-imperialists. Quite the contrary. They still love American imperialism but just want it done more successfully.

Most liberals actually think that ‘the tide has turned’. As usual, they are totally out of touch with reality in this. Here liberals cannot even organize small street demonstrations against the Pentagon wars currently underway, yet somehow they think that they have the public behind them all the way! Talk about lost in inner space!

Quite simply, liberals mistake the fact that the corporate elite wants a new team in office for a while, with their own delusions that now they are going to get more say in management through the Democrats. You are not, Dummies! You are a side show, and the US government has a bipartisan corporate consensus that their war needs to be extended even more and this time towards Iran.

Real political power comes from independent organization, but liberals mistake groups like MoveOn for being such. They mistake all their tiny little office paid ‘peace’ groups for being a real antiwar movement. They mistake their liberal church group participation for being the necessary work that has to be done. They simply do not get it. They don’t want to get it!

The liberals simply do not have a movement going and neither do we more radical types. We have not yet currently constructed a Labor Movement, a Black or Hispanic Movement, or a Movement to Defend the Environment. These Movements simply do not exist at this time, and without them in place, the US government does not feel restrained in the least.

The government is simply going to continue with their so-called ‘Global War on Terrorism’ until we are able to do something about through our own independent organization. We have not even begun to do that yet, and we certainly are not entrenched in any sort of major success. We are losers up to now, and the liberal Democratic Party voters amongst us are addicted to losing. They lose most often when they ‘win’ even! They mistake losing for victory, thus liberal authors can write about how the Bush Administration will not do this or that, like they, the liberals, are in control now!

Yes, the sad fact of the matter is that America remains with a pro-war mindset. Americans love war! They believe that all war is theirs for the easy win. They simply do not understand why Bush and his Administration are such failures at doing just that. They are simply not antiwar in the least.

Strangely enough, liberals have been developing delusions of grandeur recently. They do think that the tide has changed. However, what evidence is there really that that is actually true? Obama might win? Talk about being really out of the loop in understanding one’s own society though!

We are in a definite danger period now. The oil industry and all the other major corporate industries, too, all want a continued and prolonged global war. They have no public opposition to this so far inside the US. And sad to say, the European middle classes are behind this game plan, too. The European populations are simply not mobilizing themselves against this global warfare. Where is this supposed change in the tide then? Certainly not in Europe, and certainly not here in America.

Sitting around with their thumbs up their rear ends saying that it is improbable that the US will attack Iran is pathetic. It is an excuse for continuing their own lack of success in actually building an independent movement against the war. The liberal community is not doing anything much other than taking it as it comes, and pretending that it won’t come when it will.
They are going to vote, and that is about all.

Passive Public Tense

Posted on July 9, 2008 by Tony Logan

Republican Democrat American political grammar is stuck right now in the Passive Public Tense of expression. Tens of thousands of writers daily complain about The Bush Administration publicly… and also yet passively, even as their veins pop out in fury. These folk are tense, no doubt about it, but also extremely passive. The only plan they have is to vote for the who-evers that the Right Wing Democrats set up for them around the country.

Sad to say, many of these passive folk will claim that organization, demonstrations, and political independence are futile, and that the only ‘realistic’ thing to do is go to the voting booth and pull that lever. Forward, Zombies! Sadly, these zombies claim to be merely being ‘realistic’. ‘Realistically’ though, what will they get with so little effort on their part?

How did the US sink into this passive public tense? I mean, it leads to depression! Depressed patriotism, depressed, liberties, depressed Constitution! Really, is it all that ‘realistic’ to just roll over face down, play dead, and be passive public tense during a raping from Dick Cheney. Would it not be better to fight back and hope you give them a heart attack. I know that Barack Obama wants his time at us, too, but….?….passive public tense will just get you more abuse and from even more of the bipartisan corporate gang humping away at their victim in mass.

Many have personalized all this mess, and see it now as an epic struggle between God and Satan, Barack and John… Remember when this same passive public tense thought that the other John (Kerry) was God? Where is that god now? Certainly he was the god that failed.

The passive public tense don’t like these sort of commentaries about their wimp-pee-ness, pee in their pants mind sets. They feel guilty, and get angry if their passive public tense is pointed out to them. They like to think of themselves as ruff and tuff heroes and heroines instead. All because they go out and pull that lever (true, many now just mail in their ‘resistance’ to the repressive state).

The passive public tense is a lazy tense. Lazy, not scared. Scared only to be anything other than lazy. Oh well, pull that lever for the lesser of two. Pull it for the greater of two. Sad to say though, you have done nothing, simply because the two are not the problem when you have only the passive public tense all around. It is the passiveness of the guy and gal who only ‘vote’ that is.

Protesters forget thinking cap stamina

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Eric Verlo

COLORADO SPRINGS- Such an unfortunate characterization of the J&P.

In the Gazette coverage of the Air Force Academy graduation, the paper featured this teaser on the front page: “War protesters bail early.” The article on page 8 began: “Air Force Academy cadets apparently are made of sterner stuff.” We can’t deny “while the cadets and their families sat through the early morning fog and drizzle, war protesters left rather than wait for the late-arriving President Bush,” but Springs activists rarely show anything but tenacity in making their point. Why would they leave early and give the media such a predictable pot shot? Do we chalk it up exclusively to our antagonistic local daily newspaper?

While it might be unfair to compare the brawn of military officers to that of septuagenarian activists, I fear this was a test of brains, and the space cadets came out on top.

The AFA had announced that President Bush was expected at 9am. His motorcade not having turned up by then prompted diverse deductions: he might have sneaked through another entrance, he might have choppered in, or he might have been called away to emergency affairs of state. Activists might also have become discouraged by the diminishing flow of cars into the event. A lack of passersby is the surest way to take the wind out of a protester’s banner. But the number of incoming having petered to nil would have been the giveaway to Bush’s impending arrival.

A presidential motorcade along an interstate has few escape routes, and so cannot begin before all vehicles have been cleared from its course. Escorts block all on-ramps over 30 minutes before to ensure the procession will encounter nothing to threaten its pace. That the AFA gates were advertised as open to attendees until 9:30am puts to lie the suggestion that Bush was expected by nine. The path would not have been unencumbered until the later time. Indeed police did not begin emptying the interstate until after nine. The motorcade sped into the North Gate by 9:45. Bush was not due to speak until eleven.

Did the protesters lose heart and/or heat? I think what the participants forfeited was thinking for themselves. Through the PPJPC, activists let the AFA relegate demonstrations to the minimally visible North Gate, and they let the AFA misinform them about Bush’s ETA. Compound this to the lukewarm organizing effort and contradictory announcements of the action plans. It’s hard to see how the J&P could have done worse if they’d tried. Low turnout, TV interviews of unprepared interviewees, and the rag-tag bunch ultimately offering the Gazette a pithy swipe at their capitulated spirit.

These are otherwise very determined activists. Usually their self-sacrifice does not include their very mission.

Here’s the full text:

AFA graduation notebook
May 28, 2008 – 5:15PM
By BILL REED and LANCE BENZEL
THE GAZETTE

Protesters miss late-arriving Bush

Air Force Academy cadets apparently are made of sterner stuff than anti-war protesters.

While the cadets and their families sat through the early morning fog and drizzle, anti-war protesters left rather than wait for a late-arriving President Bush.

By the time Bush, whose motorcade was behind schedule, passed through the North Gate, a solitary protester – carrying a sign reading, “War is not the answer” and flashing a peace symbol – was all that remained of a band of 20 people who planned to greet the president.

The rest cleared out amid slate-gray skies before the president pulled past the gate at 9:45 p.m., 45 minutes after his scheduled arrival.

South of the academy, five other protesters stood on a hillside overlooking Interstate 25 near the Fillmore exit and unfurled a cryptic message.

Their 50-foot long banner read, “Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin,” an Aramaic phrase meaning, “It has been counted and counted, weighed and divided.”

The biblical figure Daniel interpreted the so-called “writing on the wall” as a judgment against the king Belshazaar, determining that his acts had been weighed and found deficient and that his kingdom would be divided.

“We wanted to speak to him in a language he purports to listen to, which is the Bible,” said Eric Verlo. “It was a great location for the motorcade to see us.”

AFA South Gate versus North Gate

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Eric Verlo

AFA will permit protest at NORTH GATE only Every year, those disposed to holding peaceful protests at the Air Force Academy will deliberate about the relative merits of using either the South Gate or the North Gate entrances. Whether one sees more traffic than the other is difficult to measure because the AFA routes the incoming cars via whichever entrance is not being protested. Accordingly, the AFA only offer permission for demonstrations at a single entrance at a time. When we’ve tried to cover both, the Air Force forces us out based on the “agreed” restrictions. Since both entrances are located on Air Force land, this may be regarded as their prerogative. But let’s not confuse the AFA “entrances” for the approaches to those points which are on public land. The I-25 overpass, as an example.

The North Gate is the more secluded and invisible to the public eye. The southern approach is more visible. Hopefully, their militant posturing about protests being prohibited at the South Gate will not confuse the issue about where the AFA is indeed allowed to dictate public access. The Academy Boulevard I-25 overpass which leads to the AFA South Gate is State controlled property. A local court precedent has already been set that the AFA does not have jurisdiction to expel or arrest people who are on the I-25 grounds.

In the following statement:

“We will send you a letter soon from our the Air Base Wing Commander outlining the rules for your demonstration. We are requiring all demonstrations to take place at the North Gate as this is a safer location for everyone since vehicles will be going slower there.”

The AFA can only be only referring the grounds around its entrance, and cannot address the Colorado Department of Transportation property immediately adjacent.

Furthermore, the CSPD has recently communicated that it has no problem with citizens holding banners on that overpass, nor any other overpass.

“As far as the I-25 overpass question. I can let you know that the CSPD has no issues with citizens expressing their first amendment rights on the overpasses as long as the citizens do not interfere with pedestrian or vehicle traffic, or affix banners/posters to the structure”

Though targeting both incoming traffic flows for activism divides the perception of our numbers, it is the only way to reach the majority of those headed into the AFA. In many instances, the overpass on Academy Boulevard reaches those drivers going to either of the entrances. Bush would see either if he is taken by motorcade to the commencement ceremony.

Though we have ample precedent to conduct tomorrow’s action unmolested, there are also several fall-back locations that will be preferable to harassment or arrest. The overriding objective tomorrow will be to keep our message visible to the visiting president and to our fellow citizens of Colorado Springs.

To Recreate 68 at the Denver DNC is not a call to incite a Rumble in the Jungle

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Eric Verlo

Free the Conspiracy Eight Contrary to the hype it is encouraging, RECREATE-68 does not want to recreate the violent clashes of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. That would have to be up to the police. While we know the Chicago Seven (+1) and their cohorts did not go quietly, it is now also well admitted that the violence in 1968 was perpetrated by the Chicago police without provocation.

I don’t think anyone wants to relive that brutality again, especially as riot police today have much more debilitating and potentially lethal weaponry. Recent demonstrations, as in Seattle against the WTO and in Miami against the FTAA, have seen militarized police force used against a well intended, if obviously outraged, outcry.

Last week at a public debate against Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown, Recreate-68 event coordinator Glen Spagnuolo made clear that they are not interested in receiving a beating or permanent injury at the hands of overzealous police. Of course the catch-phrase “recreate 68” does titillate with accompanying slogans like “Do It in Denver,” but this is done to pique people’s interest, and it has accomplished that.

Recreate-68 is determined to get people engaged with the DNC, in the streets, instead of in front of their televisions as passive spectators to the usurping of their power. The Democrats are party to continued funding of the war, raiding the US treasury for the rich, denying Americans universal health care, taking away our civil liberties with the Patriot Act, and colluding with murder, torture and profiteering. If the American people go along with these crimes, they are accomplices. Too bad they are also the victims. Official channels do not permit people to raise their voices above a silent consent. The DNC in August, in Denver, is opportunity knocking in the streets.

When party organizations admonish you to work through the system, they perpetuate their power to deny progressive reforms. The will of the people has only ever expressed itself through protest. Democracy, Human Rights, Abolition, Suffrage, Child Labor, Civil Rights, Pacifism. We have only made these gains by collective action. A redress of grievances is what it’s called in the constitution. I can just hear Democratic representatives saying, “oh we can’t go that that far, we could never get elected if we advocated for such extremist reforms.” They are undoubtedly right, because real reform is always up to you. But as much as Obama can urge you to feel hopeful, “you” doesn’t mean you voting for a representative who is promising you in actuality nothing.

Recreate 68 is about recreating the sense of connectivity Americans held in 1968, when young and old put their bodies into the line of fire desperate to bring an end to the disastrous Vietnam War. The people’s movement of the sixties had been growing, led by men soon assassinated. Students were rioting in London and Paris, and Cassius Clay was suspended from boxing for having declared himself a conscientious objector. By 1968 people understood that nothing would change unless they did it themselves.

Today we are into the sixth year of the Iraq War and there is no American antiwar momentum to speak of. There are diverse projects on the internet and in sporadic protests, but the US effort is a pitiable movement compared to the public outcry overseas.

Particularly lacking are young people. You may say it is because there is no draft, but enough are still volunteering to fight. I rather think that the youthful opposition is absent because of No Child Left Behind. Our children are being educated to be uncritical thinkers, in particular, narcissists and apolitical bubble babies with no immunity to corporate misinformation. They may be cynical, and clever by half, to the extent that they lack a social conscience. As a result, their forever adolescent thinking that nothing can touch them keeps them civically disengaged until it is too late and they are indebted to the machine.

The youthful cynicism which the slick corporate media celebrates as hip irreverence keeps kids from caring for their fellow people, and certainly holds them from believing that anything they do can make a difference. Look at the average age of the typical social activists. They’re past middle age. Is this a coincidence?

Young Americans, even up to age thirty something, are so jaded to have become tragically ineffectual. Electoral politics might be the extreme of their participation, and look where it will get them, against fraudulent pollsters and rigged voting systems.

I’m curious about what will happen in Denver if Recreate-68 is able to mobilize the youth. Perhaps kids will only be able to express themselves as Grand-Theft-Auto and Half-Life have taught them, as our soldiers are doing, cast adrift in Iraq. In that case, the disembodied violence to which we carelessly expose them will have come home to roost. If Denver becomes a riot, it is a development I think we will need to face.

For my part, I hope we can recreate 68. Let’s break through the media moratorium on the social issues important to us. Let’s remind the TV populace that we want to hold at least our Democratic Party politicians accountable to listen to our needs. If the candidates will not, and we’ve already learned that someone like Dennis Kucinich cannot get the nomination, perhaps the party system is too phony to matter.

What if the Democrats are only shills for the Republicans in charge? I believe the Democratic convention might only be setting up a candidate to lose to John McCain. For example, do you think Americans are ready to elect a woman or a black man to the presidency? I’d like to think so too, but I have a feeling the media is prepared to inform us in November, “oh, so close but no cigar!” Who is suggesting that Americans are past the gender or race card? Is it the corporate media, tool of the rich white man? Since when did the average American TV viewer wise up? George W. Bush’s approval rating was already at a dismal low when Americans reelected him in 2004. This, even after televised debates showed unequivocally that Bush was the dunce everyone remembered from the back of their classroom. Even if Bush didn’t really win in 2004, as in 2000, at least there were enough dumb white voters to make it look legitimate. Are those constituents going to vote for an unexperienced, non-veteran non-white Obama? Those errant voters are still out there, you see them, they still have W-04 stickers on their cars. And the the black box vote counting, voter registration and poll both gate-keeping are still in the hands of Republicans.

If the Democratic Party really hopes to represent the people, it has to do much better. If the Democratic Party is not prepared to offer Americans a real alternative to the corrupt misrepresentation in Washington, we can find better entertainment with the charades of the WWWF. Should the Dems hear this from you? Is your representative listening or still asking you to show patience? Take him or her to the mat, in Denver, in August.

Recreate-68 versus the City of Denver

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Eric Verlo

Preparing for police brutality
DENVER- Glenn Spagnuolo of RECREATE-68 held his own against Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown at a symposium held today at the University of Denver about the upcoming DNC in August. Asked whether providing instruction for the use of shields truly constitutes advocating non-violent protest, Spagnuolo told of the permanent injuries which Police inflicted at previous demonstrations like the FTAA, and he described Denver’s newly requisitioned equipment such as shotguns which fire long distance tasers (XREP) and ear-piercing weapons systems (LRAD). Councilman Brown stressed the importance of protecting the upcoming DNC, its delegates, its protestors, the people of Denver, and the reputation of Denver, from the threat of terrorism.

The City of Denver refuses to release its security plan, to preempt a timely legal challenge. According to Spagnuolo, the city is considering a mile wide perimeter around Pepsi Stadium. Spagnuolo also clarified that Recreate-68 is not calling for repeating the violence of the 1968 Chicago convention, but instead hopes to re-activate the public to the level of engagement it exhibited in 1968, when the same Democratic Party refused to heed the will of the people to stop funding the illegal war in Vietnam. As history repeats itself forty years later, the anti-war movement has yet to summon the courage of the American people.

A couple of Recreate-68 innovations: Doc’s Place, a 24-hour people’s health clinic, to provide free conventional and alternative medical care for all for the duration of the DNC, “to deliver the promise no candidate has: Healthcare for all.” AS WELL, Recreate-68 is planning large FOOD NOT BOMBS events, to feed the homeless of Denver, to counter the efforts of the city to sweep its streets of the homeless in advance of the convention.

There did appear to be a conflict about how best to secure Denver’s image with the eyes of the world upon it.

Glenn Spagnuolo comes to Recreate-68 with experience leading to arrest and acquittal in demonstrations in 2005 and 2007 against the Columbus Day parade. He’s worked with the South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, ACT-UP, and against the FTAA in Florida.

Most recently, Denver held a lottery to allocate the choice protest venues for the duration of the DNC. Recreate-68 received some locations and time slots, but lost the prime spot and prime time to another candidate: the Democratic Party! Oddly, although the Democrats are going to be center-stage at the convention hall, they applied, and won, the right to occupy the main protest stage adjacent the Pepsi Center on the first evening of the convention.

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