Category Archives: Democratic Convention
More video of yesterday’s protest
No spin, just raw video…unlike Fox Noise below..
The Video below is longer and from an anti-war group:
Tags: Denver Protests,
The Protests have begun in Denver.
And of all the media outlets to give it coverage..Faux Noise! Hat tip to Nicole over at Crooks and Liars for having this puppy up. The marchers refused to speak to the Faux Noise goon…which might or might not be a good thing…but anywho…check it out..its short enough!
Will the Iraq War affect the Convention as much as the Vietnam War did in 1968?
My knee jerk reaction is nope. The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago was a watershed moment in our history and it appears the various law enforcement groups have taken steps to insure nothing even close to the melee in Chicago will occur in Denver. The Denver Police have issued a bulletin, according to RawStory, that alerts all officers what to be on the look-out for. It is a real hoot, check it out. Meanwhile the ACLU has been busting their asses trying to get the courts to support our rights to free speech and assembly, but they haven’t made much headway.
Forty years ago Chicago itself was a battleground, a warzone as the police never issued the permits requested by the various anti-war groups. The police in Denver, the federal government and the DNC have already laid down the ground rules for protests and the courts have backed them up for the most part. The ACLU has tried on several occasions to get the rules changed to allow protestors to gain closer access to the Pepsi Center where most of the ‘festivities’ will be held..but to no avail. From the NYT article linked in this paragraph:
A federal judge in Denver ruled against the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit challenging the government’s security rules for the Democratic National Convention here later this month. The judge, Marcia S. Krieger of Federal District Court, agreed with the group that the security plans — including a fenced perimeter and a parade route away from the Pepsi Center where the convention will take place — did affect the ability of protest groups to engage in “expressive activities.” But Judge Krieger disagreed that the affect rose to the level of an infringement of free speech because other means of expression were available and because the Secret Service and Denver Police had shown that the restrictions were “content neutral,” and thus not intended to quash a particular opinion.
Its a damn shame the feds, the Dems and the Denver police are afraid of allowing people the
right to express their personal grievances with the election process in general and their elected representatives regarding the war in Iraq in particular. The Denver Police have issued a ‘flyer’ that you can check out here (pdf) which tells people what will be tolerated and what will not. Not to be outdone, the Secret Service has declared both conventions to be…cough..National Special Security Events..and given both cities $50 million in federal funds for ‘security’. Protesters will be in a huge pen in the Pepsi Center parking lot..like animals. For pictures of the area protesters will be confined to..click here.
The group Recreate 68, their logo graces this post, has plenty of plans for events during the convention. These include music and protests, street theater and major anti-war figures will be speaking at rallies. The following is from their website:
The Re-create 68 Alliance also announced that anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Rosa Clemente will be joining their historic line-up of speakers who include Ida Audeh, Kathleen Cleaver, Ward Churchill, Mark Cohen, Chairman Fred Hampton Jr., Larry Hales, Larry Holmes, Ron Kovic, Glenn Spagnuolo, Pamela Africa, King Downing, Jenny Esquiveo, Mumia Abu Jamal – Current Political Prisoner (Recorded from Death Row for the DNC), Gloria Estela La Riva, Ricardo Romero, Natsu Saito, Ann Erika White Bird, and others.
Of course if any of the protesters get a little..cough.. feisty, there is the Gitmo on the Platte facility. Video below is courtesy of Denver’s Channel Four.
http://www.divshare.com/flash/video2?myId=5230223-b53
What a grand example of American’s exercising their civil liberties, to be displayed to the world next week in Denver and to be repeated during the Republican convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the first week in September.
Bullshit..its all bullshit designed to keep us from exercising our civil rights. Assholes..
Tags: Democratic National Convention, Civil Liberties, Anti-war Protests, Gitmo on the Platte
The DNC Rules committee is haggling as I type this..
I slept in damn it, I nevah evah do that!!! MSNBC is showing it live and as I suck down a cuppa coffee, the FL chair is pleading his case.
Looks a little like an inquisition to me, except for the audience seated there are clapping and screaming like its a sports contest.
I will report on the outcome later..need more coffee.
Ok, its later…HuffPo is reporting a backroom deal was already reached for the FL delegates last night..all will be seated but each only has half a vote. No word on their Super’s however.
So, its all a show that I am watching now…fuck that is bullshit..I hate backroom deals…reminds me of the Rethugs ya know..
About that Rules committee meeting this Saturday…
From Chuck Todd’s blog First Read on MSNBC:
A packet sent around to members of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee has some neutral opinions about the various challenges. One thing folks ought to not miss is the fact that the DNC rules had called for an automatic 50% delegate cut for states that violate the window. The Rules committee went beyond that — which was within its rights — and took away ALL of the delegates. Doesn’t this provide the blueprint for what’s likely to happen on Saturday — a reinstatement of 50% of the delegates in both states? In fact, if we’re interpreting this right, and if the Rules committee follows the letter of the law on this issue, they can’t reinstate 100% of the delegates because of the initial violation. For those following the FL/MI fight closely, realize that a Florida compromise seems to be fairly easy to come to; frameworks are being developed as you read. But Michigan is the real riddle. The biggest impediment there are those “uncommitted” delegates; If the Rules committee decides to accept the January primary results then it’s not clear, via the DNC charter, that it’s within the party’s rules to assign uncommitted delegates to Obama. Of course, as multiple members of the Rules committee told NBC News, there’s such a thing as “political will,” which could trump the DNC charter. Oh, the joys of what we’ll be watching on Saturday.
yep, Saturday, as Elton John once said…is alright for fighting. The DNC lawyers have told them to just seat the suckers but remove half their votes..sounds good to me dudes. But it ain’t over until I scream at a cat for doing something wrong while I try to pay attention to this bullshittery come Saturday morning… 😉
Its my Right to be Left of the Center 