I turned 50 in 2007, so I'm practicing curmudgeon-like behavior by stressing, "whatever it is, I'm agin' it!" Call me anarcho-syndicalist or progressive, except I think most anarchists and progressives are as annoying as neocons. I like to point folks to way-outside-the-mainstream literature and music, while grumbling about everything else.
I guess we should thank the Denver cops for being honest and revealing their true feelings. What, I have no sense of humor? Look, the police union can say what it wants, but if the Denver cops are being asked to sit on a commission to critique the response of St. Paul cops at the RNC, they'd better show a little more professionalism. This is perverse. As a respondent in the Denver Post said, if we walked around with a T-shirt saying, "Pork, the other white meat" with a picture of a burning cop, how long would it be before we arrested or beat up? These freaking pigs are assholes.
To understand the different strategies of protest throughout the day on Sunday, you have to grasp what happened to Democratic National Convention peace-protest organizing. Recreate 68 was the first on the scene, but the organization was heavy on the radical-macho side. They moved to a more explicitly "avoid violence" position later in the game, but several peace and environment groups felt uncomfortable with where things were headed, and split off to form Alliance for Real Democracy. On Sunday at 9 a.m., Recreate 68 held its kickoff protest led by one of my favorite singers, David Rovics:
Yeah, those are bodyguards, and that's what makes the R68 effort aggravating. Many speeches were good, including ones from Cindy Sheehan, Ron Kovic, and Ward Churchill, excerpted here, and a Cynthia McKinney speech and Dead Prez performance which I didn't record. I was put off by Cynthia's running mate Rosa Clemente, and by an African-American radical in dreadlocks, not just because they romanticized violence, but implied that those activists who use nonviolence as a strategy are wimps, no better than Democrats (gasp). No surprise Rosa still idolizes Weather Underground, that's how asinine some positions were. The R68 march from State Capitol to Pepsi Center was fun, however, which you can see here and here.
In the early afternoon, ARD, Code Pink and other groups held a Funk the War march to dance around the streets of downtown Denver. One anarchist group called Unconventional Denver split off to do a running street blockade. There was a near confrontation with police near the State Capitol, but all was resolved without violence. It's interesting to note that the middle-aged speakers at R68 all talked of being tough, but the real street activists in the afternoon were all teens and early 20s. Talking vs. doing, I guess. The initial march video is below, and you can find the next sequential steps at Blockade 1, Blockade 2, Blockade 3, Cop Response 1, Cop Response 2, and Blockade Ends.
Finally, ARD and the affiliated Tent State University held a late-afternoon rally at Cuernavaca Park, where Amy Goodman spoke, Jonny 5 of Flobots offered poetry (below), and many Denver groups talked organizing. I grabbed a quick comment from Frances Mendenhall, coolest organizer in Omaha. Later this week, we have Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, Flobots, Nader speaking with Nellie McKay and Jello Biafra, and on and on and on. Bill Sulzman and I will be giving a "class" at Resurrection City Free University on Thursday.
The Democratic Convention in Denver this summer already was shaping up to be an ugly affair, what with the DNC canceling the hotel reservations of Michigan and Florida delegates as a means of "punishment."
Now, the city of Denver is working overtime with Democrats to deny a protest group, Recreate '68, any rights. A lottery for the use of parks, held on March 18, was so rigged it had to be stopped. And on March 20, the city "awarded" the Democrats the use of Civic Center Park over several civil groups. Organizers of Recreate '68 said they will protest at the convention site even if police confrontation is guaranteed. Even though Mayor Hickenlooper said he is liberal, he's beginning to look more like Richard Daley Sr. every day. And even though I'll probably vote for the Democratic candidate that wins, the party convention is shaping up to be a shameful affair.
I guess we should thank the Denver cops for being honest and revealing their true feelings. What, I have no sense of humor? Look, the police union can say what it wants, but if the Denver cops are being asked to sit on a commission to critique the response of St. Paul cops at the RNC, they'd better show a little more professionalism. This is perverse. As a respondent in the Denver Post said, if we walked around with a T-shirt saying, "Pork, the other white meat" with a picture of a burning cop, how long would it be before we arrested or beat up? These freaking pigs are assholes.
