Obama. mccain

More Follow-up on Protests and Arrests During RNC by Sonia Silbert

CEM — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:31:58 -0700

Sonia Silbert, Co-coordinator of the Washington Peace Center, wrote last week with updates on the mass arrests and detentions by police of activists during the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities. Here are some more reports from her from later in the week. You can also listen to her interview with us during the RNC on The Marc Steiner Show - click here.

Click here to read more!

In The Jail - treatment and abuse.

Tuesday morning we called the jail and learned that Jonathan and Kari were being held on felony charges, which blew us all away. There was no way they could have the evidence to back that up, so we were sure the charge would be reduced when they finally saw a judge, but it meant that they would be held another night in jail.

As of Tuesday evening, our friends had been in jail over 24 hours. Kari, the 20-year old, had managed to call her mom in Pennsylvania, who called the legal line in a panic. I got her phone number and called her back to reassure her regarding why she got arrested (photographers are scary, I guess), how she would be treated (kept with the protesters, not the general prison population, and I didn’t tell her about the rumors of prisoner abuse that were seeping out of the jail), and what would be the repercussions of this (she’ll be freaked out, but there’s no way she’ll be convicted of a felony…Inshallah).

JAIL SUPPORT

Wednesday afternoon, I went down to the jail where people had been doing a vigil all day. Everyone who had been arrested on Monday had to be charged and released by today since it had been 36 hours – it turned into many more hours than that, but they started the process at least at the 36 hr mark. Our friend Tobin, the minor, had gotten out that morning and his dad had flown him back home. His police report basically just said that he was recognized at an earlier action and that was all the evidence provided – we were all pissed that the public defender didn’t ask for the charges to be dismissed. He has a court date back in Minnesota in October.

There were about 100 activists sitting in the grass outside the jail talking, playing guitar, eating, etc. Needless to say, we were surrounded by riot cops, some on horseback, on all four corners. They continued to group and regroup throughout the afternoon and evening, letting everyone know we could be raided, detained and arrested at any time. Our crimes? Some kind of felony I would guess. Talking too loud or something.

One by one, arrestees were meeting with public defenders, standing in front of a judge, getting (most of) their possessions back and then being released. We went into the court building which was surrounded by wire fencing and guarded by National Guard.

Our friend Aaron, who is an Iraq vet from Chicago, pointed out that even here you could see a huge difference between city cops and the National Guard. The RNC had $50 million to spend on policing the Twin Cities and every cop had brand-new full-body riot gear – padding from shoulder to toe, helmets, gas masks, tools and toys bulging out of every pocket so they had a hard time walking too fast. The Guard, on the other hand, were wearing their camo (so they couldn’t be seen in the city?) and a flak vest without any protection in it. Even in a case like this, the funding doesn’t go to the members of the military. Funny, because it sure feels like a military state out here.

Kari finally went in front of a judge and got her charge reduced to a misdemeanor, just like Jonathan. However, for some reason her judge gave her $300 bail, while Jonathan had none. Some of the main organizers who had been locked up all week were being held on $70,000 bail, which they negotiated down to $1000 bail. Apparently bail bondsmen usually only charge 10% (this is information I now know), but for the RNC protesters they were raising their charges a lot. We were told we’d have to pay $200 to get a bondsman to pay her $300, so the 5 of us from our affinity group went to an ATM and split the amont and pay her bail.

Hours later, I got a collect call from Ramsey Co. Jail on my cell phone from Kari. I knew that I’ll only have 45 seconds before they’d cut me off and demand money, so I quickly told her that we had paid her bail and were all waiting outside for her. She said that the money hadn’t shown up in the system yet and they were transferring her back upstairs to another cell.

She sounded so scared and sad, as if she was never going to get out. I felt the same – if they had lost the bail money (which had to be cash and we had been given no receipt) or were just going to take forever to process it, she’d have to spend another night in jail, this time without many of the activists she had been in with all week.

About half an hour later – about midnight – a group of arrestees are released all at the same time and everyone rushed over to applaud them and see who it is. We are all kinda glum, knowing it wouldn’t be our friends, when through the crowd I see Lily, Ryan and David grinning the most honest and joyful smiles I’ve ever seen, and I peak over the heads and I see Kari! She’s been released and has no idea why and is so happy to be out of there.

Within minutes Jonathan and a group of guys are walking down the fenced walkway and there is a beautiful Hollywood moment when Kari and Jonathan run towards each other and he picks her up and spins her around with one arm while flipping off the jail with the other hand. It was pretty great.

The riot cops have backed off – perhaps we’re not as scary when everyone is so happy. At one point, 2 cops weave their way through the celebration and folks start chanting “You’re sexy, you’re cute – take off that riot suit!”

ABUSE IN THE JAIL

As more people get out, we hear more stories from inside the jail that are pretty awful. There are two guys who have been beaten up pretty badly by the guards inside – one has been released, one they couldn’t find in the system. The one they couldn’t find was James, Lisa’s friend and a member of the Pagan Cluster. Jonathan said the 5 or 6 cops went into his cell with batons and beat him up and then moved him elsewhere.

The one who was released was a 19-yr-old named Elliot. He later spoke at a press conference detailing what had happened. He and others had been chanting for medical attention and 5 or 6 cops came into his cell, punched him unconsceiounce, then banged his head against the floor, waking him up. They took him to a separate cell where they put a hood over his head with a gag and used pain compliance holds on him for about an hour and a half – this included disconnecting his jaw and bending his ankles all the way backwards. He had bruises and scrapes on his face and was obviously still traumatized.

A friend of mine who I was watching the press conference with broke down while listening to Elliot’s testimony – he had had similar pain compliance holds used on him by the cops 4 years ago. I had felt traumatized enough being detained at gunpoint and feeling vulnerable on the streets – this intense torture by government officials is something that I don’t know if you ever recover from.

Watch Elliot's testimony here.

On The Streets: harrassment and more mass arrests

Police harassment and arrests continued throughout the week even though the main protests that were designed to block the conventioneers were only planned on Monday. The police presence and abuse throughout the week is hard to overstate. Veteran activists said they hadn’t been so scared or seen such police activity since Miami in 2003 – the FTAA protests notorious for its brutality. That mobilization sent many activists I know into support roles because they couldn’t be on the street anymore.

This kind of police aggression is not the norm for mobilizations – even when “those scary anarchists” are involved. It’s amazing how quickly it becomes normalized though – just don’t walk alone, take off that black hat, oh, there’s another row of 40 riot cops, let’s cross the street. People get used to everything, but this was a rapid normalization of an extreme police state. “Minnesota nice” was out the window.

TUESDAY

Tuesday afternoon, there was an all day peace concert at the state capital – Rage Against the Machine was going to make a surprise appearance at the end of it, but the cops wouldn’t let them play for some reason. So the band stood in front of the stage and passed one bull-horn back and forth and sang some of the crowd’s favorites… they then led the crowd down to join the Rally for the Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Campaign that was started out further down the hill. The riot cops were out in force and seemed to be looking for a fight I guess. In any case, they tear gassed and pepper sprayed the crowd again – the Poor People’s March organizers got out of there as the cops started escalating their tactics.

I was at an action in downtown Minneapolis at a party thrown by the American Petroleum Institute for Republican delegates and lobbyists. We were doing a parady, dressed up as oil execs and thanking the Republicans for supporting more and more drilling. Billionaires for Bush have now become Lobbyists for McCain and they came to the celebration. A lone polar bear also made an appearance and got in a death match with Sarah Palin who, as all have been hearing, is pretty tough in situations such as this. The bear didn’t fare too well. While we were greeting party attendees, we also were getting text messages that our friends were getting beat up and tear-gassed in St Paul… our crew got out okay. Funnily enough, our cynical chants of “Drill! Drill! Drill!” were echoed inside the RNC later in the week, but I guess those folks were serious.

Later that night we found out that the Bedlam Theater, a local music venue in Minneapolis that had a punk show on that night, was also surrounded by riot cops. I think about 100 people were arrested at that show. It seemed like the cops were using this week to harass local activists or venues they’d had their eyes on for awhile.

WEDNESDAY

I went to Peace Island, a local peace conference, that was perhaps the stereotype of a peace conference – lots of lovely grey-haired aging hippies. One of them raised her hand and said that she was outraged at the police brutality and harassment throughout the week and how they were targeting protesters based on their appearance. She suggested that all the grey-haired folks in the audience put on bandanas and black hoodies and go out in the street and protect the activists! Everyone applauded, but no one rushed outside.

I still felt uncomfortable walking around in my own black hoodie, even though the temperature had dipped into the 60’s and it was needed. The targeting based on appearance was scary and continued all week. I suppose it’s cliché to say, but it’s an amazing reminder of what I think it’s like to walk around as an African-American young man…

RAIDING THE LEGAL OFFICE

As I was leaving the conference, I got a text that the legal office was being raided and was calling for observers. By the time I got there, the cops were gone and media cameras were everywhere. The legal office’s location had been kept pretty secret from the general public – you had to be escorted there by someone who was working there – because the consequences of its being raided would be really awful. They were in the same building as I Witness Video, which was filming the convention. At the RNC in NY 4 years ago, I Witness’s footage had proven the innocence of a lot of protesters arrested by NYPD.

The cops showed up at that building because they claimed they had received a phone call from someone in the building being “held hostage by an anarchist”. They didn’t have a warrant and weren’t let in, but the building almost evicted the legal office and they were restricted to having only 8 people in there at a time after that. Given that the phone was ringing off the hook from calls from the street and the jail, there were piles of info from those calls that needed to be entered into the database, and lawyers were operating out of that office to collect statements, challenge the use of force by the cops and work to get folks released, this was a big hinderance.

MORE ARRESTS

On Thursday, most of my affinity group left town, including Jonathan and Kari. The cops hadn’t returned most of their property, including Kari’s camera, but they had to leave that place. I agreed and avoided downtown St Paul. It was the last day of the convention and there was a student anti-war protest. Apparently they were a little slow on their march and had reached the end of the time on their permit around 5:00 or so and the cops trapped them on a bridge. My friend who was there said he had never seen so many cops – not this week, not at other protests. There were lines of riot cops, cops on horses, bicycle cops, and then a row or two of National Guard, plus snow plows and dump trucks to block streets. The students sat down on the bridge and the cops used tear gas and concussion grenades and arrested about 400 of them. 400! This included about a dozen journalists, including a Democracy Now! producer who who had been arrested at Monday’s protests as well.

That night, IVAW member Adam Kokesh and two CODEPINKers got into McCain’s speech and interrupted him. The CODEPINKers said it was incredibly easy to get into the convention. There was no way they could’ve gotten into the DNC because the security was so tight, but the RNC was a piece of cake. All three interrupted McCain’s speech and none were arrested.

As of Friday, I believe everyone has been bailed out, many though generous donations from allies.

OVERALL

Overall, about 800 people were arrested this week – after seeing the judge, only about 30 of the 130 felony charges are still standing. There are many civil suits being discussed; I think Amy Goodman and the 30 or 40 or so journalists who were arrested are doing their own suit, and the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild are both planning suits as well. It’s funny to think back on Friday night and how shocking that original raid of the convergence space was. It seemed so outrageous and worthy of its own civil suit all by itself. And then the week began and we realized that was just the beginning.

HOW TO HELP

Donate to the legal support fund for general arrestees and for the lead organizers who are being charged with pretty serious charges. Also donate to the Welcoming Committee for organizing all logistics for the weekend. Links to donate are at www.nornc.org.

Get some media attention! The police brutality was barely covered in the mainstream media, even more liberal outlets such as NPR or the NY Times. Call your local station, write a short letter to the editor, and demand coverage of such extremism.

Also, hug an independent journalist! Check out Democracy Now! and your local Indymedia site for the news the other guys don’t want you to hear, then forward all this info on to any other caring folks you know.

Read Sonia Silbert's blog here.

Iraq Veterans Against the War

CEM — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:16:28 -0700

Here's a guest post by Nick Morgan, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator for Iraq Vets Against the War (IVAW.) He was a guest on The Marc Steiner Show while in Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention. Click here to listen to that show.

As a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), my experience in the Twin Cities was a unique one. With our organization on the list of over 200 groups on a list studied by Minnesota National Guard and various police units, it was still no secret that our message was completely non-violent and direct. Our mission was to march in formation and in uniform to deliver a message to Senator McCain informing him of the issues veterans are facing today. As a fellow veteran, we were presumptuous to assume that the presidential candidate would listen to our simple message.

With a permit for our action on the opening day of the scaled-back RNC, no member of IVAW was arrested during our action (or the rest of the convention). We shared a certain level of lateral respect with the law enforcement at the RNC because we have all been placed in similar predicaments in the name of serving our country and democracy. Not to mention the fact that many of them were veterans as well and could relate to our logical viewpoints. The clear difference here is that these men and women are dealing with American citizens on American soil, hired as mercenaries for the RNC to the tune of a 50 million dollar liability insurance policy for their protection.

I have to say that I haven't been in an environment so unsafe for average citizens since I left Baghdad in 2005. One notable difference is that the police in Minneapolis have better body armor and protection than American soldiers and Marines do in Iraq. It is a sad day for the United States when a kid on a bicycle is pepper sprayed in the face by a cop just for riding too close when there where no violent protests taking place. What does it say about this country when the police are arresting people with press credentials hanging from their necks just for recording and reporting the interactions between police and American civilians.

I hung out for a period of time with some independent media personnel who understandably added an additional level of anxiety to the air. Pardon my vagueness as I don't want to divulge too much information about individuals. Many of them were just coming back from jail and were on high alert for near by police activity. At one point, myself and a few of my fellow IVAW members were beginning to loose the battle to subdue our PTSD. We decided it was best that we went on a drive outside of the city to get some fresh air and escape all the violence multiplied by paranoia.

Please take some time to consider the implications of the absolute police state that was enforced in the Twin Cities. When the people making the decisions in this country don't want to hear the voices of the people they are making the decisions for, I am saddened. When the people's voices are silenced with clubs, tear gas, rubber bullets, and zip ties, I am appalled. This concludes my humble testimony of how I experience the RNC.

Thanks,

Nick Morgan
Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator
Iraq Veterans Against the War
OIF II, 458th En. Bn., Ist Cavalry Division

Marc's Reflections on the Republican Campaign

marc — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:06:19 -0700

Besides the usual tax and big government and vitriolic attacks against their opponents, several themes arose last night that may be the battlegrounds of the next two months.

Remember in 1992 when Clinton campaign chiefs Paul Begala and James Carville coined the phrase "It’s the economy, stupid?" It worked for Clinton. They tapped into the American angst of that moment.

Click READ MORE below!

Now I think it is "It's your wallet, stupid." The housing crisis and oil prices have people very worried. People are terrified about the high price of gas, the diminishing value of their paychecks, the insecurity of their jobs, fear that oil prices are being controlled by foreign powers. We are worried about the future.

While polls indicate that most Americans want solar, wind and alternative energy for our future, they also put the need for new energy sources ahead of environmental concerns. Over 60% of American support drilling. So, both McCain and Obama have changed their positions on off shore drilling. At one time, they were both opposed, now they are behind the idea.

Even though our own Department of the Energy says we cannot drill our way of this mess, people are more worried about their wallets, their money, the cost of oil and the Democrats have not made their case about how this new Green Economy will work. Americans are comfortable with oil. It is part of the American persona and mythology. We are addicted to it. We know our cars, not mass transit. We are reluctant to give up our lifestyles. If we think that drilling will make gas for our cars, and oil and electricity for our homes, less expensive, as well as keep us secure from our enemies and provide jobs, then that is what we want. People want to keep more money in their wallets and want to know we will not be at the mercy of "foreign devils" that control our oil.

The Democrats have to make their case, and it can’t be complicated. How do we make this transition to the Green Economy? People want it, but want to understand simply how we get there. How will it work? Is it real or fantasy? What about our jobs?

While most Americans think it was a mistake to go into Iraq, polls show the American electorate is divided on whether the surge worked and whether we should pull out now or stay till the job is done. The Republicans are pushing the idea that the surge worked, that we are winning.

The Democrats' opposition to the war has been tepid, at best. The American people were lied to about why we had to go to war. More and more evidence ties this war to a debatable geopolitical position in the Middle East and to securing Iraq’s oil. Over the last five years the Democrats have not pushed their opposition to the war; they have not demanded investigations of the beginning of the war or the complicity of big oil. Now they have to come up with a plan that stirs as much passion and interest among the people as the Republican message that McCain was right and the surge is working.

So, tonight we hear McCain. We can talk about that tomorrow together, right here.

The Best Response to Palin's Speech

justin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:54:50 -0700

No offense to other responses to Palin's speech at the RNC last night, including all of the great ones on this site, but this one takes the cake. It's a "Reasonably Hand-Drawn Facsimile of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Jet" for sale on eBay, described as follows:

You are bidding on a "reasonably hand-drawn facsimile" of the Westwind II Jet sold by Sarah Palin on eBay in 2007 for $2.1 million.

I look forward to selling my jet on eBay and garnering the same praise and admiration that Sarah Palin received.

ALL the proceeds of this auction will go directly to The Obama/Biden Campaign.

Let's try to raise more than $2.1 million!

The drawing was crafted with crayon, pencil and marker and measures 8.5" x 11". It is hand-signed and dated by the artist and comes in a wooden frame.

Proof of donation to campaign will be provided.

Happy Bidding!

Marc on Wal Mart and Unions

CEM — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:47:48 -0700

When I opened the Wall Street Journal this morning, that centerpiece article Wal-Mart Warns of Democratic Win:

"Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized."

Wow, I just read it and sat there stunned for a minute. Then I woke up,
and wondered what I was so shocked about.

Here we have Wal-Mart, a store, that despite its new green image and it’s pronouncements about the Green economy with SEIU boss, Andy Stern, has a history of abusing its employees, paying low wages and few benefits.

Wal-Mart says they are not telling any employees how to vote or who to campaign for. Right, I am working the cash register at Wal-Mart wearing a big Obama button. Oops, is that a pink slip floating after me?! Who’s to know, who’s to protect my rights. Oh yes, that would be Papa Walton.

Let me be clear about my past. I have been a member of union. I have
been a union organizer. I am one of those who believe that if had not been for unions we would have had no middle class in the numbers that we have in America. They fought to ensure that their working class members had a decent life.

Now, unions have become increasingly irrelevant to life in America. Partially of their own making by becoming lethargic corporate giants themselves. Union leaders got too far away from their own members forgetting what it means to work hard to pay your bills and take care of your families. They stopped organizing. Yes, unions were victims of this economy and of the erosion of the industrial base of America. But they have done little to fight it, to change with the times, to organize new workers, to speak up for the unorganized and to enter the 21st century. They became lethargic dinosaurs.

They became easy targets for onerous laws to destroy or curtail or cripple their power to organize. Unions became the media demon and the business
the clean good guys in white shirts that knew how to run a nation.

Unions are only here because so many employees get screwed. It is
interesting I can think of five friends who own companies that don’t have unions. Their workers don’t want or need them. These owners run the gamut from libertarian to progressive to conservative to liberal. They don’t have unions because they treat their employees right. They offer health care, take care of people, worry about their families and take human beings into consideration. They are small companies, too, from 50 to 200 employees. They do it right.

If business leaders don’t want unions, then treat people right. Meanwhile,
America’s laws should be union friendly. Unions need to be protected while organizing and have the freedom to do so. The Employee Free Choice Act that Wal-Mart and others are so worried about is the least our government can do to protect an employee's right to organize and better their lives.

Senators McCain and Obama, what say ye? We are waiting here.

Marc on Keswick and the media

CEM — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:10:58 -0700

Keswick

When I got back from Cape Hatteras last week, I was driving down Roland Avenue and saw all these signs saying “Stop Keswick.” I thought maybe all the retirees and senior citizens who live at Keswick Multi-Care Center had run amuck in the streets or became merry senior pranksters.

Then I went through a weeks worth of local papers to find out Roland Park was up in arms because the old Baltimore Country Club wants to sell its grounds for $14 million to Keswick Multi-Care Center to build their nursing home on new grounds.

You could dismiss it as wealthy North Baltimoreans whining over losing a bit green space to run their dogs or play Frisbee. It is more than that. Our green space is limited. It keeps getting eaten up by development deals and ever expanding businesses. Yes, we need business but there is plenty of room to expand without eating one more acre of green. Our uniqueness as a town and our quality of life is at stake.

It is not just the neighborhoods of North Baltimore. In the inner city there are vast tracts of brown dirt fields where houses once stood, not to mention the acres of useless and unredeemable housing. Some are whole blocks and some just the width of a house or two. Why not turn these into green spaces as parks or urban farms or unique architectural landscaped oases for people to bask in?

It is all connected. The problem is that our communities are not connected. Each pocket whether in Roland Park, or Hampden, or Guilford Avenue or Forest Park goes it alone. Each fighting their individual battles to save their open space. They often lose because they go it alone.

Leave the green alone in on Falls Road and build gardens in the devastation of West Baltimore. Communities need to come together to support one another and determine what our urban landscape should be.

Media and the Campaign

Most of the political pundits in print and on the airwaves seem obsessed with guessing whom McCain and Obama will pick as their running mates. Take a breath; we will all know that answer right around Labor Day.

Cable talk, radio talk, even respected columnists keep talking about the insult of the week. How much longer can we talk about Wesley Clarke insulting John McCain, or whether Obama is moving to the center and do white men like him, or all the clap trap about Michelle Obama or Cindy McCain, and now we will hear ad nauseum about Jesse Jackson’s latest ridiculous comment about Obama. … STOP ALREADY!

There are serious issues facing America. Our commentators and pundits seem to all have taken the yellow journalism pill of “gossip is the news”. We deserve better. Can my colleagues in the media please focus on issues of substance?

Where is the debate over the candidates positions on FISA and wiretapping American citizens? Our economy is in a tailspin. What are their responses to the ever deepening mortgage crisis? Rising oil costs do not just effect gas prices but the cost of most of what we consume in the carbon powered economy of ours. What are are their plans?

Both candidates tax and spending proposals will drive our nation further into debt. Obama’s less so than McCain’s but who is asking them the tough questions about our future.

Both candidates want to boost military spending, add numbers to the Marines and Army. Ideas may differ on how they spend it but who is asking them about this and its implications?

The chances are we may not get to interview Senators Barak Obama or John McCain (we will try) but we will talk to their issue people and political leadership to hear what they have to say about their candidates’ vision for America. Forget gossip, the horse race and the specious scandal of the week, we need answers about the future of our nation.

What do you think?

-Marc