Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Police Raid RNC Protest Sites in Twin Cities
Ramsey County authorities conducted raids across Minneapolis and St. Paul Friday and Saturday as a pre-emptive strike against disruptive protests of the Republican National Convention.
St. Paul police officers attempt to gain entrance to a house on Iglehart Ave. Saturday. Sara Coffey with the National Lawyers Guild was stopped outside the house, handcuffed and detained. She helped police negotiate with those inside. (David Joles, Star Tribune) Five people were arrested and more than 100 were handcuffed, questioned and released by scores of deputies and police officers, according to police and elected officials familiar with the raids.
In a statement Saturday morning, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the St. Paul raid targeted the RNC Welcoming Committee, a group he described as "a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self-described anarchists...intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention."
"These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers," Fletcher said. Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.
But the raids drew immediate condemnation from activists and St. Paul City Councilman Dave Thune, whose district includes the former theater at 627 Smith Avenue South, which was rented by activists as a gathering space.
"This is not the way to start things off," Thune said Saturday morning. "This is sending the wrong message. Regardless of how you feel about these people...they had a right to be there."
On Saturday afternoon, law agents surrounded 951 Iglehart Av. in St. Paul where members of I-Witness Video, a New York-based group that monitors police conduct during protests, were staying. They were detained and handcuffed but eventually freed without charges.
At a news conference Saturday, Cheri Honkala of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, one of the protest groups, described the Friday raid and an earlier one Thursday that evicted a demonstrators' camp on Harriet Island as "terrorism" intended to divert attention from issues the protest groups are raising and cast the news as police versus protestors.
Thune was especially critical of Fletcher for taking action within St. Paul city limits.
"I'm really ticked off...the city is perfectly capable of taking care of things," Thune said. "If they had found anything that could have been used to commit a crime they would have arrested somebody."
- Posted in
165 Comments so far
Show AllWhy do you think some of us were so upset about the Patriot Act and FISA--pro-active arrest is unlawful. But, then, they can just call them "terrorists". They have to tell you --NOTHING! You have the right to--NOTHING!
Jeevee
RIGHT!
Not a peep about this in the corporate media. Police state, no constitutional rights. "Pre-emptive" strikes against activists? "Self-described" what? If they are so, then let's HEAR WHAT 'THEY' HAVE TO SAY. Let's hear them 'describe' what it means to be an anarchist or an activist or a protester. That WOULD be journalism.
Why aren't Bush and Cheney called "self-described" Republicans? Why isn't Obama a "self-described" Democrat? If someone ELSE describes you as something and does so by saying you are 'self-described'--that is a form of lying and a put down. It is another way of saying the person or people are 'full of sh*it.' The story teller mediates the experience we have of the protesters, who they are, what they believe. This article is an example 'so-called,' 'self-described' journalism.
"Not a peep about this in the corporate media." huh ????
This story IS from the corporate media. The StarTribune is the MSM.
It is ironic that left wingers rely so much on CD posting articles from the MSM.
You have a point, in that folks on here probably miss looking at where these stories are from a lot of the time.
However, I still think the concern about lack of coverage regarding this is valid.
When these stories do appear in the MSM they are not given much run time or buried in the backs of papers and forgotten. They are never followed-up on. It is almost as if they cover them just enough to be able to say "what are you complaining about, we covered it..."
Besides, no one reads anymore anyway. It doesn't really count unless the TV media covers it.
This was reported on cnn.com yesterday.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/30/police-raid-headquarters-of-rnc-protesters/#comments
One of the few things that set us apart from totalitarian regimes were the checks and balanaces we used to apply. We are now regulated and monitored by an impersonal, unchecked machine that is fueled by fear and governed by greed. The numbing toward normalization has worked.
"...law agents surrounded ... a group that monitors police conduct during protests....detained and handcuffed...."
Whoa. Has it come to this?
Yes it has
Lobo Gris
FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, a partnership between multiple federal agencies and state and local law enforcement. The effort's primary mission, according to the Minneapolis division's website, is to "investigate terrorist acts carried out by groups or organizations which fall within the definition of terrorist groups as set forth in the current United States Attorney General Guidelines."
yesterdays republicans are todays democrats... and todays republicans are fascists
Fuck the police.
Fuck the entire US Government--and Blackwater. Fuck the DNC and the GOP. When can I expect to help take my coutnry back?
______ M A K E __ L O V E ______
________ N O T __ W A R ________
We cannot "win" by fighting them,
we can only "win" by LOVING them.
______ M A K E __ P E A C E ______
____ W I TH __ W H A T __ I S _____
Namaste
I don't agree with this. Anger is a positive thing that can motivate people to do great things. This hippie bullshit didn't work in the '60s and it won't work now.
We need to stop frivolous and childish hatred, but keep hatred and anger directed at those who most certainly deserve it.
I think this is just a cop-out so folks can make excuses for just waving signs around and holding candlelight vigils, but never having to take their action to a level that might get them in trouble.
Me... I'm pissed off and I see no reason to love these forces of oppression.
I have in no manner DENIED your perfect right to be angry, nor would I ever.
This is not about namby pamby 60s hippy wanna-be illusions & drug induced euphoria
___ this is about accessing & OWNING OUR power that creates worlds, and IS LIFE's source energy
This is about QUICKLY getting OFF of anger, revenge, & hate … … …
___ as those STATES are profoundly limited in enabling ANY creative solutions,
___ although understandable, and perfectly OK as an evolution series of step,
___ toward actual emotional states that connect us with our real power
Perhaps your continuation in a state of hateful vibration, will bring you YOURSELF to the realization that by acting as "THEY" do, one only re-creates the separation between "THEM and "US" -- which guarantees that nothing will change.
If you really REALLY want real change -- THEN CHANGE YOURSELF !!!!!!!
Namaste « Presence »
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world » — Gandhi
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed » — Gandhi
« We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself » — ML King
There are things that just cant be changed alone or within the person--I can get completely off teh grid (if I coudl afford it) and live peacefuly in the woods--global warming would continue. I AM peaceful, as far as using violenc--only in defense and as a last resort. War still rages.
Perhaps the critical mass of "phase inversion" non-linear phenomenon is SOON upon us.
___ Some believe that a 5% awakening of the populous, would be enough.
Of course one person will not see the important difference that they make themselves -- and that's where the ability to hope, have faith ( in a higher power ) and trust in the outcome -- actually believe it into existence -- and it will be so.
Don't stop working upon yourself, just because the world stinks, breath it in and allow it to be -- this is Kali Yuga.
___ what we resist
___ PERSISTS
The true test of courage & LOVE, is when knowing the score, to maintain forwward movement through a commitment beyond mere FEAR and circumstance.
Namaste
Ah...OK
Huh?!
Light a candle,
__ stop cursing the dark ( cave )
Namaste
Huh?!
Seriously, lay off the New Age Kool-Aid.
What if you're wrong. There is no higher power. Everything is meaningless (other than the meaning we create for ourselves each day) and we're all fucked. That's not something I can just sit and breathe in and allow to be. Fuck that. I'm going to be pissed off and disgruntled and dissatisfied, and that is why I will not stand idly by and allow myself to be just another wage-slave.
Fuck that, with a capital "F".
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
This no "Evil" or right or wrong, that thought doesn't make it so. ( da bard )
Yes, I'm aware that my perceptions are fluid, as is truth, and my discernment being faulty can lead to many conundrums.
Your musings about meaninglessness are exactly where your spirit is consciousness-wise. Enjoy your own cool-aid-acid trip, as you made it -- it's your life to do with as you will -- in fact that's why they call it "free" will.
Please don't resist ( "I'm going to be pissed off and disgruntled and dissatisfied" ) the bonds of the reality that you created, as that chaffing can become very uncomfortable -- it's better just to spin the dial and create a better one.
Stand where you wish, you might even find company. There's a lot of those capitals now days, like DC, painted with very big "F"s and some have that other letter next door, that a few can see : "U". Some people even think that there's a gov'tal conspiracy sending dissidents hidden messages -- but I sincerely doubt that they really care enough to do so. Unless it were a general message for all the people of America the Beautiful ?
What you see as evil and an inconsiderate God, I see as an opportunity for consciousness raising.
That old-testament grey beard authoritarian dude is so ZEROth century, and we've now jumped some 21 since then -- I don't think that you were left behind -- but not to worry even if you were, there's still lots of desert out there for whatever you wish to do with it.
I believe in the new age concept of SOURCE energy and vibration, which is well understood as the actual SCIENTIFIC basis of our physical reality of electron orbit shells, and quantum states jumping about, and miniscule nuclei surrounded by vast empty space. What I am, and what you are -- is not much different than various levels and dances of excitation and organization of energy ( matter just being one solidified form of energy ).
[_________ R E A L I T Y __ I S __ O N L Y __ O N E _________]
[_______ O F __ T H E __ M A N Y __ P O S S I B L E ________]
[___________________ I L L U S I O N S ___________________]
Namaste « Presence »
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world » — Gandhi
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed » — Gandhi
« We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself » — ML King
"This is not about namby pamby 60s hippy wanna-be illusions & drug induced euphoria"
No Homer. 60's hippies gave us more free progress than a trillion dollar/year "defense" budget ever would.
Not homer, not the one who blasted the hippies for doing nothing.
Please read the earlier statement I was responding to. Perhaps I went too far in attempting to distant valid ideas from the ridicule of being "too high" to have anything of value. We all owned the experiences we each had in 60s, not the hippy movement ( which individually & collectively were almost as formless and difficult to generalize, as terrorist of today are defined )
Of course the 60s youth were powerful, but not strictly because of hippies, who were rarer than most want to think. I was there, each of us has their opinions, and I didn't say that ALL hippies were ineffective, far from it. For their numbers, the rainbow coalition types and other free thinkers created something very unlikely and unprecedented -- and vastly contrary to the status quo.
We agree that that couldn't be created for even trillion$, as the mass movements are self-fueled and grass-roots emergent, the antithesis of hierarchy.
Namaste
Namaste;
If the world is made up of two groups, The Enlivened, who are good and kind, and the Bushed, who are brutal scum, how can the Enlivened manifest change in the world by changing themselves? Since they are already true to their own values, and the others, the people holding Death's reins don't care one iota, not one whit about what others are, or what changes they might make, how can decent people effect world change by changing themsleves?
A friend.
One place to start is that there are only us chickens here, some are more enlightened and some more materialistic.
It's a continuum of consciousness, where those more aware ( of their awareness ) make choices based on perceptions of connection, love, friendship, and abundance -- and the world runs much better because of this.
Those filling out the population of less aware make choices ( perfectly consistent ) based on perceptions of separation, hate, enemies, and scarcity -- and the world runs much worse because of this.
Some charismatic people are more proactive of their beliefs and they take on the leadership roles to ennoble ( enhance society ) or disgrace ( retard society ) America.
Everyone is is fine hunky-dory just where they are ( a perfect fit ), until the consequences of their life around them cause them to question their beliefs -- responding to this, some move higher and some chose to move to lower states of consciousness.
People are INDIVIDUALLY responsible for their lives, because NO ONE ELSE could or can create anything one way or another.
Blaming others is a sign of being either ill informed or lacking the discrimination to perceive and understand reality, and based on my personal experience, people attempt to be consistent and as you said "true to their own values," but we often fail at that. The LIFE lessons that we evoke around us, are to allow us to grow and evolve -- and again we often stumble or give in just before making a breakthrough -- never to know how close we got.
The "the people holding Death's reins don't care one iota, not one whit about what others are, or what changes they might make" are deeply scared and living mostly out of FEAR and DEPRESSION. Some of these people are psychopaths, and we must protect society by placing them safely away from the public -- some have no redeemable qualities although treacherously dangerous and deceitful ( w/o shame or conscience ).
You ask "how can decent people effect world change by changing themsleves?", because that is actually the only way anything ever changes. People can be empowered, enlivened and take on serious issues -- and those better aligned with their purpose, conviction, belief, and expectation -- will fair much better than those running near to empty on "auto-pilot".
People chose to give up the control and the reins of their lives, and can reverse that situation equally as well. Some people are fine with victimizing others, while some victims feel that they are "supposed" to play their "supporting" roles -- so the machinery marched on.
When enough people tire of the jack-boots upon their throats, they'll either take on that role as "boot upon another's throat" -- or they will evolve to come to the service of aiding others to see for themselves.
[_______ T H E __ C H O I C E __ I S _______]
[_____ F O R __ E A C H __ O F __ U S _____]
[____________ T O __ M A K E ____________]
Namaste
Namaste
Are the relatives of the One Million Dead Iraqis "either ill informed or lacking the discrimination to percieve and understand reality" if they blame others?
Surely others-We Americans, Cheney Bush the NeoCONS, are to blame, because we 'have created something, one way or the other" Death.
I see not how the poor Iraqi fits into your model.
Humbly, I think NOT BLAMING OTHERS IS A SIGN OF BEING ILL-INFORMED. Likely a symptom of terminal mental malaise, television mental evisceration and or the will not to know aka Dynamic Ignorance.
To be informed is to be enraged. Ergo the surgically precise removal of truth from television and schools and the flatlining of America.
Again Namaste, A Friend for Sure.
BLAME is an artifice, to play games with which way reality's teeth bite into one. Does the suffering change at all by having a target for "justifiable" revenge ?
__ Is blame necessary for forgiveness ( to give as before ) ?
__ What purpose can it possibly serve ?
__ Is not blame just more of the same old power play hierarchy
__ Are not WAR CRIME TRAILS and BLAME much alike, in that both are reserved for the winners to decide ?
Responsibility and accountability are quite different -- than BLAME -- and who can doubt's the USA's role in destroying Iraq ?
Of course a well informed public is of the gravest concerns of Corporape America, and whenever a small truth appears they must hasten to obliquely undercut it, so as to ultimately negate it.
The massively jacka$$ sewer main stream media is latched like leaches upon the minds of America, and should it waiver for a moment -- everything might shift in attempts at re-balancing.
Truth & Freedom both are casualties of the WAR OF TERROR being waged upon US, and it will now take massive PERSONAL experiences ( with very strong emotions ), to breakthrough that inertia of lies, patriotic images, and false framing of reality to fit the neoCONers agenda.
FEAR naturally triggers a deep ANGST and DIRECT appeal for an authoritarian solution ( as it's part of the reptilian pre-brain -- like swallowing ). Larger FEARs and survival responses are regularly foisted upon us, to keep the lower more primitive brain centers active, which temporarily shuts down the higher brain functions -- and wears us out. The shock Doctrine is about maintaining us out-of-balance and then shoveling us where they want us to go … … …
Namaste
So we substitute "who is responsible" for blame. Semantic hairsplitting. The truth now enshadowed must have bright lights shined upon it if freedom and love are to have a chance.
Make no mistake; 'They' know this game is for keeps, and 'they' want nothing more than for us to crawl inside our own navels and meditate.
Judging by the Pig-Response to the RNC pacifist-protests, 'they' fear bright lights, truth, action and being exposed.
They fear being BLAMED, use any word(s) for the wars, for stripping our rights, for 9-11.
The guilty fear blame, responsibility, exposure; they do not fear love.
The guilty, the murderers, Cheney and Co. fear more than anything having the blame for their crimes land upon their shoulders. And that would be good, that is good, if it was.
Would that it could be so.
From the West Coast.
I speak from the inner person to how that person can adapt a more enlightened perception of reality.
That is in no way inconsistent with shinning the spotlight of truth upon the fiends trying to escape justice in the dark of their own making.
Of course they FEAR honest reporting and publicity, perhaps they do view love as going into one's naval and out of the way, they certainly have no real experience of it.
The criminals should ALL quake in the prospect of full monte public exposure of their despicable & reprehensible acts. It's society's problem beyond all, to learn to recognize those criminals who are also psychopaths, as they are the world killers.
Psychopaths are extremely clever about hiding, but feel no shame, and will blatantly continue with a whole new constellation of lies, when confronted with exposure of earlier lies. Their charisma and good looks will continue to placate the dilettantes whose motions are only to appear to be looking for truth.
When asked how they feel, they will initially desperately avoid their vulnerable under belly of emotions -- and can only mimic what they "think" others might say in similar situations -- and after a few well placed questions, they will be exposed as cardboard cut-outs that they really are, attempting to act human.
They can make their lies about facts appear more plausible, as they have tremendous analytic powers to get those details straight -- whereas they have no emotive center to double check their lies about missing feelings, and thats how they can be best detected. Remember " … put food on the people" remark ?
Namaste
Look. I've already changed myself. I watch what I consume. I speak out. I don't partake in the mass culture of brainwashed hysteria. I think past the talking heads. Etc. Etc.
But I am at a place, where I allowed myself to fall victim to this "all you need is love" mentality. I participated in the sign waving, and the give peace a chance protests.
But I've clued into something, and that is the failure of my parents' generation. I think there was this big chance to do something different in the 60s, but everyone got fried out on drugs and love, and then most sold out to the system, exchanging their rebellion for credit cards and the 9 to 5.
Now, I'm stuck with the bill. The world's even more fucked up, and we're stuck in the revolutionary paradigms of the past. I think it's silly and short-sighted to view hatred and anger only as steps in an evolution toward love.
I am not talking about mindless vengeance here. I am talking about allowing anger to drive you toward being motivated enough to put yourself on the line and ditch your comfort zone.
You know, people u-locking themselves to doors, dropping stink bombs, covering themselves in their own shit and daring the police to arrest them. Taking it to the next level.
This primal rage, this holy anger, it just feels REAL to me. I feel like this new-aged mantra, this numbing of valid emotions through labeling them as juvenile is a manufactured attempt at faux-enlightenment that allows one to simply repeat the past without having to radically readjust their lifestyle. Protesting becomes a social function rather than a rebellion.
I think happiness is just as limiting creatively, if not more so, than hatred and anger. This is just my experience. Happiness and peace breed complacency and acceptance. One you complacently accept your fucked reality, you stop acting out radically against it and head toward the cliff with a smile on your face "calm as a Hindu cow," as Tyler Durden would say.
Remaining in any one emotional state is stagnate and isn't healthy. Be that hatred or love.
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
I also just before, responded to you below.
You are absolutely entitled to be filled with primal anger & rage, and believe you me, that state emotionally if far better than depression -- although many around YOU might argue differently. Those around us, often selfishly ignore and prefer our depressive states in contrast with raging and angry ones -- to make their own sad lives "work" out more smoothly.
I say that you're fine letting them know that they can take that IDEA, and shove it where the sun don't shine.
Your life is about your feelings & beliefs -- and almost no one else will ever really know what IS really is occurring within your own skin -- how the hell could they ?
Happiness is a feeling, while JOY likened to LOVE, is about BEINGNESS ( the context of existence -- not the CONTENTS ).
I suggest you focus upon CONTEXT as a precursor to contents -- as the old joke about just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic ( or Hindenburg ) conveys the reality that our lives contents don't matter much when the vessel is either sinking or blowing up. Right ?
You've a great spirit to focus your attention and plow into LIFE, just be cautious of your languaging of YOUR reality ( see below ), as you've got the power to do drastic re-arranging, or a weekly basis ( if you like ) -- many thousands of parallel universes of thinking. It can be a real trip to see ALL of the evidence of this reality all aligned so perfectly, and then the next week find another organizing set of principles -- that turn that world view on its ear -- while ALSO equally matching all of the circumstances and "FACTS" of your remembered reality. How cool is that ?
Just remember who's in charge of YOUR show -- YOU !
Namaste
Fear, testosterone and vengeance driven reactionary attitudes are usually counterproductive and lead to escalation of violence and war. Acting like a deranged animal could intimidate another, but modern weapons aren't defeated by conservative posturing.
"America the beautiful," to the sounds of storm-troopers boots just outside our doors! What the hell has happened to this country? Where are our civil rights? What happened to our civil liberies? What has happened to our freedoms? We are no longer a free people; we are now livin in a police state.
Your civil rights started to disappear when the torture of prisoners became acceptable to the US government. Those who now have a chokehold on the US government formed a vastly disproportionate percentage of the dreaded Cheka (Communist Secret Police), and they well learned their lessons.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. The rights disappeared when THE PEOPLE accepted torture and arrest without trial and spying on US citizens--Have I missed demonstrations against torture?--Are the people out in the streets marching for impeachment? Have general strikes been called to force the government to change its actions? Did I miss it?----------------lizard
We are still free to talk to our friends and family members who aren't paying attention, to wake them up to the reality of what our country is fast becoming. They in turn will soon be doing the same awakening of their friends and family.
I know this because I've been doing just this for the past five or six years, and I've been so happy to see the heads coming out of the sand, and attention being paid to what is going on. And they now spreading the word. It really works.
People accept police state tactics today. Unless people change nothing changes.
The US is not a police state. China does not have a police state. Hitler did not have a police state. Communist Russia did not have a police state.
Have a nice day.
Please realize that this is a "perfect" situation growing,
___ that cannot help but eventually turn about
___ ( to our progressive advantage ).
The more arbitrary police violence and preemptive erosion of people's rights, the sooner more people will realize what's REALLY happening.
___ I'm not in the LEAST apologizing for this vapid rabid criminality
___ America is asleep, as many have been pointing out, and
___ FASCISM is growing rapidly, to occupy more of everyone's experience
¿¿¿ ¿¿¿ ¿ ___ What exactly will it take to AWAKEN USA ___ ? ??? ???
Embrace the "EVIL" as Gandhi suggested to the JEWS, of the NAZIS growing fanaticism -- because disallowing it and/or massive denial of it is futile -- and actually just builds the force we oppose ( and didn't work out too well for millions of Jews either ).
We cannot win a fight <<< against THEM >>>, but
____ WE must focus on fighting for OURSELVES
____ and what we believe in.
Perhaps this subtle difference will be lost on many, but IN THE BIG PICTURE -- we cannot win by FIGHTING THEM -- although of course, some will do so, and that is courageous and has a valuable purpose as well.
___ Imagine that the POLICE surround another bunch of 500 demonstrators,
___ and with their massive manpower and logistics support, this is easy.
___ Imagine NOW that the POLICE are themselves surrounded another bunch of 5,000+ demonstrators,
___ and with that strategic NON-VIOLENT maneuver, the Little Big Horn is re-created.
___ likely the POLICE will grasp the RISK of the impending reality of being OUT-FLANKED, and
___ having NO viable supply lines and NO EXIT strategy ( sound familiar ? )
___ whatever then happens will be VERY BIG NEWS,
___ especially if the people are dissenting with NON-VIOLENT thoughts and ACTIONS
.
Of course we must make continued stands for our rights, dignity, and peaceful honor --- and laugh at their faces and guns and terror with flowers in the rifle barrels ( as done in the 60s ). The American people were viscerally moved by that very powerful image -- it will work again.
Namaste
Well stated. During the violent demonstrations of the late sixties and early seventies there was a group of activists who photographed every violent action by the police against the demonstrators, an action that always provoked an instant reaction by those police, mainly attempting to grab the cameras and those using them. A prerequisite for this sort of political action was to be fleet of foot of course.I am far, far too old for this sort of stuff today, sadly.
Those who cherish the status quo will argue against the destruction of private property, and they will have the law on their side of course. Those who cherish the constitution of this country, who follow the intent of the founders in creating a nation that should have become the antithesis of what has come to pass will understand that these few who attempt violence are simply the vanguard of a great uprising that will sweep those like Snowwolf from its path.
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
Thank you,
See my more current CD posting, on non-violence :
Thousands Expected Today For Protest,
posted on September 1st, 2008 3:58 pm
Namaste
.
http://www.votenader.org/media/2008/08/29/minnealpolisrally/
Fresh from a 4000-person super rally in Denver, the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign team has hit the ground in Minneapolis and will be out in full force over the weekend to focus attention on the need for opening up the Presidential Debates for third party and independent candidates, working towards the crescendo: a star-studded open the debates super-rally on Thursday.
Ralph Nader, Matt Gonzalez, Jesse Ventura, Cindy Sheehan, Justin Jeffre, Nellie McKay, and other surprise guests to be named soon to be announced will all appear at the Nader/Gonzalez "Open the Debates" Super Rally September 4 at 7.30 p.m. at the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.
The Nader/Gonzalez independent presidential candidacy will be on the ballot in 45 states, is polling at 5-6 percent nationally, and a new Time/CNN poll shows Ralph Nader polling 8 percent in New Mexico, 7 percent in Colorado, 7 percent in Pennsylvania, and 6 percent in Nevada -- all key battleground states.
.
Jeevee
GREAT NEWS! Please vote Nader and Independent: This will make the somberly needed beginning of a substantial dent in the power of the Republicrats.
There is an escalating dynamic at work here which needs to be broken, not reinforced. The police nationwide are being directed to adopt a militarized response to demonstrations and civil disobedience. They believe they are developing a science of repression. It is being fueled by massive inputs of federal dollars, which in turn are spent on an growing "industry" which sells repressive hardware (and software) and other services to an offshoot of the "military-industrial complex."
Preventative arrests is one of the standard tactics, even though these are generally held to be unconstitutional and often result in large cash settlements with those illegally detained. It gets the demonstrators off the street and can be effective, if they manage to target the right people, or enough people.
But another tactic is the infiltration of the demonstrators with police agents- both as informants and as agent provocateurs. The damage done by informants can be minimized by avoiding exactly the kinds of actions which agent provocateurs are likely to encourage. While I suspect the report of "buckets of urine" being found in the raids, IF there were such buckets, the people who advocated such tactics are either idiots or police agents. Sometimes it is difficult to tell who is a conscious police agent and who is sincerely advocating foolish tactics, but at some level, it does not matter. Tactics which bring discredit upon the movement serve the interests of the police, whether they were planted by the cops or come from the twisted minds of a self-deluded "street fighting man." And a political organization that allows itself to be penetrated by agent provacateurs needs to take a look at itself. Each org, or affinity group, has a responsibility to know its members and decide amongst themselves on appropriate tactics. If you are not responsible, you are being irresponsible.
I was in a large march shortly after the Seattle anti-WTO actions. A local "Joint anti-terrorism task force" was convened by local, state and federal agencies to plan their repression. They brought in the robo-cops riot gear, made plans for preventative arrests and infiltrated local and national groups they anticipated would be participating. Our side did not allow their insanity to reinforce tendencies on our side to also go insane. We did have a small number of "self-described" Black Bloc-ers, but they did not get carried away with their "revolutionary" fantasies.
When the march was held, I would estimate 15 to 20% of the participants were out of uniform law enforcement and military personnel, especially National Guard, who had been called into duty.
Excellent post! Everyone on here shoud read it.It is not the province of one party--it is pervasive and deadly and breaks people into factions.TheDems approve of Blackwater, and they keep funding it--adn the war--adn the entire fascist machine. No one political party is responsible and no one poliotical party can stop it. That dos not mean I dont detest teh GOP and think that they are a little worse--I was just hoping that, after 8 yrs of Dubya fascist, we could get a real progressive on the balot--if it cant happen now, it never wil. And it cuts to the bone.
Well put! This aggression is not meant to keep the peace - It's meant to eliminate peaceful demonstrations.
Martial law ain't far behind, folks.
Right! And if you do get arrested don't plead-out on a lesser charge. This will just leave you with a conviction and a record, and it's just what they expect and want. If you fight to go to trial, with a public defender, chances are a ALL charges will be dropped---as this is ultimately unconstitutional.