Activists to Speak about Republican National Convention-Inspired Events
Submitted by joel weisberg on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 9:27am.
Aug 6 2008 - 7:00pm
An informational forum will be held for people interested in learning about alternative citizen-sponsored activities to occur in the Twin Cities in response to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Sponsored by Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill (PPG), the event at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, in the Northfield Public Library will feature short presentations by representatives from five Twin Cities organizations.
- One of these groups is "Peace Island," which plans to provide educational sessions at Concordia College in St. Paul. That speaker also will describe a peace festival that will occur at Harriet Island in St. Paul.
- Another group is "Veterans for Peace," which is organizing a legal march to call attention to the war in Iraq.
- A third group is the "Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War," which is organizing a legal march past the convention site.
- A fourth group, “The RNC Welcoming Committee,” is facilitating a series of protests during the week of the convention.
- Finally, there will be a representative from the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Supporters of Paul plan to hold an alternative convention, separate from the main Republican gathering.
More information is available from Bill at (507) 645-7660 or Joel at (507) 645-9112.
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Peace and Goodwill?
http://www.nornc.org/
From the website above: Crash the Convention - 2008 Call to Action - Who We Are: The RNC Welcoming Committee is an anarchist / anti-authoritarian organizing body preparing for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
P.S. I know the response already - PPG is just providing a forum for information so you can decide, blah, blah, blah. And don't tell me the Ron Paul rep is going to provide balance!
Flame away . . .
Anarchists? Hardly!!!
Anti-authoritarianism is one thing; anarchy is another. Demonstrating one's political predispositions in a peaceful manner is one thing; disrupting public order in a way that inconveniences & burdens the lives of innocent citizens is another.
If the members of the RNC Welcoming Committee plan to disrupt the lives, activities & pursuits of the people on the streets St Paul who have NOTHING to do with this convention then they (the RNC Welcoming Committee) will bring only disgrace & discredit to LEGITIMATE anarchists everywhere. REAL anarchists want to live their own lives unencumbered by the capricious authority of the State -- and they are very happy to allow others to live their own lives also; anarchists typically don't want to bring chaos & mayhem into the lives of others. If the RNC Welcoming Committee's members simply don't give a d*mn about the potential chaos, turmoil & aggravation -- the "collateral damage" -- that they will bring to ordinary citizens in St Paul as a result of their actions then SHAME ON THEM! If the members of the RNC Welcoming Committee want to behave like hooligans, vandals & thugs, then I'd ask them please not refer to themselves as anarchists. And, I say this as someone (Carleton College, 1967) who spent 14 months & 27 days in the jungles around Cu Chi, (South) Vietnam 40 years ago who believes that the current war in the Middle East is as loathsome, irresponsible & imprudent as you believe it is -- and possibly more.
May I ask you, Mr.
May I ask you, Mr. Anonymous, what right you have to lump together some pro-peace folks from our area with the murky, unattributed (anonymous, like you) website you mentioned? More to the point, has it occurred to you that this website may not even be published by someone who sincerely opposes the RNC, but rather by someone with the intent of spreading discord among all of us?
From Wikipedia: Agent Provocateur --- "Traditionally, an agent provocateur (plural: agents provocateurs, French for "inciting agent") is a person employed by the police or other law enforcement body [or perhaps a non-law enforcement body] to act undercover and entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act. More generally, the term may refer to a person or group who provokes another to perform a wrong or rash action, the deliberate purpose being to incite wider conflict or harm."
Could it be that the nornc.org site is playing the role of an agent provocateur?
These thoughts come to my mind because I was doing some research into Gene McCarthy's bid for the Democratic nomination at the Chicago convention in 1968-- you know, the one where the cops beat the crap out of everybody. Well, it turns out that only a very few radicals showed up to fight the cops, and their "leaders" - Abbie Hoffman et al - managed to be nowhere in sight when the violence was going down. Was the whole confrontation the scheme of some agents provocateurs, with the victims being a small handful of misguided souls who were suckered into the streets to take on the cops? Was the intent to keep a tense nation divided and on edge, so that we could not unite and oppose an unpopular war in Vietnam?
This is a concept we should all be concerned about. And if the nornc.org website is just such an "agent provocateur," then you, Mr. Anonymous, have completely fallen for their tactic.
RNC Welcoming Committee Website
I lump together PPG with the RNC Welcoming Committee website because PPG invited the RNC Welcoming Committee!!! The "right" you ask about is freedom of speech.
You must have read some of the website? Pretty peaceful, huh? Was the website so "unbelieveable" you thought, "this can't really be their website - I'll bet the police are setting up innocent citizens to arrest them." You even provide a definition for Agent Provocateur. I know I'm going out on a limb here, but I think this just might in fact be their website. In fact, why don't you ask them youself at the forum tomorrow night? I would, but I have a previous committment watching paint dry on my walls . . .
It is refreshing to know the PPG (middle "P" is Peace) is bringing such a peaceful group into town to explain their "citizen-sponsored activities." Here's another snippet from the RNC Welcoming Committee website, [cough] I mean, Agent Provocateur . . .:
2. Crash the Convention – We didn’t get an invitation, but we’re showing up anyway. This party will be what we make of it. We don’t want to confine our potential by imposing a single vision of what success will look like. We recognize that there will be a lot of people coming with their own agendas and carefully laid plans and want to be open to the diverse tactics that will be necessary to accomplish our many goals. Together, we can derail the purely ceremonial show of this repressive system and remake it with our own hands and according to our own visions.
How we get there (the strategy):
1. Start Strong – Throw all of our energy into the first day. We’ll kick this off right and stretch the militarized police state out so far that it can no longer contain and suppress our voices and desires.
2. Transportation Troubles – This includes blockades downtown (at key intersections), on bridges (10 bridges over the Mississippi River in the metro area), and other sporadic and strategic targets (busses, hotel and airport shuttles etc).
There's a lot more. Just take a look at the website and decide for yourself if you want - or not. If you think it is indeed an Agent Provocateur, then so be it. But that also means you believe their tactics, if in fact true, are not something you would support.
But hey, my name is Anonymous User, so that also means it must not be so - I "have completely fallen for their tactic" as stated above . . .
On September 1-4 of 2008, the Republican Party is coming to Minnesota to celebrate their latest conquests in global domination and exploitation. We of the RNC Welcoming Committee want to make sure that this time the fear-mongers will be met with their own biggest fear: people mobilized, organized, and taking the future back into their own hands.
Give me a break
Anonymous, what country do you live in? Last time I checked, this was a free country. We have something called participatory democracy, here.
Why are you so freaked out about protests? Read your history. Protests are as apple pie as the Boston Tea Party.
If you really are so "concerned," then come to the event this evening and ask a question--that's what it is for. And maybe you'll actually learn something about the different activities that are planned and which one might be appopriate for you and your family to participate in. A veteran, David Harris, who is organizing the veterans march on the Sunday before the RNC starts will be here. Former FBI agent Coleen Rowley will be here.
Come over to the library this evening and we'll go out for waffles afterwards. Come on, quit being such a dipwad!
RNC Welcoming Committee
I'm not "freaked out" by "normal" protests (though I'm not a huge fan, either). And I'm not "concerned" about David Harris' or Coleen Rowley's group / participation in the forum. I've only been providing information about the RNC Welcoming Committee. I just don't think what the RNC Welcoming Committee is planning is a "protest."
http://www.nornc.org/media-faq/
Check out some of the FAQs on the RNC Welcoming Committee website:
4.Why specifically would anarchists protest a largely symbolic convention?
The RNC is a dog-and-pony show designed to put a flashy veneer on this farce of democracy and promote their candidate over the other guy. It is important for us to smash away this facade and present alternative ways of organizing based on honest and fair participation in decision making, not just the symbolism of a once-every-two-years ballot.
5. Why this strategy? Why blockade?
At the first pReNC in August of 2007 groups and individuals from all over the country met to come up with an approach to the RNC. The RNC-WC is committed to helping make their dreams come true. Many liked the idea of blockading for different reasons.
The most “direct” way to oppose a dog-and-pony show is just to stop it. It’s worth recognizing that the RNC is a symbolic event- we all know who the nominee is, and the convention is just a chance for his party to gather and toast themselves at our expense. We will not allow any ruling party in this country to have a celebration after centuries of brutality and exploitation both here and abroad. We wish to both break the spell of the normative politic and demonstrate our rage over the brutality our world has faced.
Maybe you're right - I should come to the meeting tonight and decide for myself which protest my family and I might want to join. It's always good to have choices in these types of things. Maybe you're suggesting the RNC Welcoming Committee might be for the more advanced / seasoned protester, and I may want to have my family and I participate in one of the more "tame" protests. I see in the original PPG post above: "Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War," is organizing a legal march . . . I like legal - legal sounds like something good to me.
Actually - I've already made the decision, on behalf of my family and myself, not to protest this year - maybe next time. Thanks for the invite to the forum and waffles!
[Wow - still trying to get over "Gandhi" calling me a dipwad . . .]
;-)
11. What is “3S”?
Swarm, seize, stay is an updated description of our blockading strategy as consensed upon by those attending pReNC 5.3. While not qualitatively different than the original call to blockade, swarm, seize, stay is a helpful way to talk about this strategy and helps to envision what this might look like in the streets. People will move into/around Downtown St. Paul via *swarms* of varying sizes, from multiple directions, and with diverse tactical intentions. They will then *Seize*space through both hard (e.g., lockboxes) and soft (e.g. congestion), fixed and mobile, blockading methods. With different goals in mind and with different tactics being employed, folks will *Stay* engaged with the situation in downtown St. Paul as long as necessary.
very little "peace" at PPG
Hey "Anonymous User":
You hit the nail on the head with your analysis of the PPG. They're a bunch of hypocritical nut bags that couldn't really care less about peace. They preach pacifism, but their primary goals are the advancement of "economic justice" (read: socialism), the weakening of the USA abroad and an open-boarder (illegal) immigration policy at home.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthfieldPPG/messages
They love Castro and Chavez. They absolutely worship the UN. They hate the military, Israel and any company that might actually turn a profit. They think that Palestinian suicide bombers are just misunderstood and misguided, that Iranian-backed terrorists in Iraq are "freedom fighters" and that "no one is illegal" (even if you've crossed our border without a visa and assumed someone else's Social Security number).
As far as "free speech," look who's trying to shut down the Republican convention. As usual, it's left-wing whackos trying to shout down anyone they disagree with. But that's nothing new for the PPG... they booted me out of their group for suggesting that it was inappropriate for their hero, Dennis Kucinich, to give an anti-American propaganda interview to Syrian state-run media. They want free speech... as long as you only say what they want to hear.
Starbucks!
sour grapes
Boo hoo "...they booted me out of their group..." and now I'm going to say bad things about them! Poopyheads! Socialists! Terrorist-lovers!
PPG hypocricy
Well... like Graucho Marx saying he probably wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would accept him, I can't think of a group that I'd rather be kicked out of. "Poopyheads" might be a little out of bounds (maybe...), but "socialists" is right on the mark, and "terrorist-lovers" ...well, read their posts for yourself:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthfieldPPG/messages
And I think you missed the point. I don't much care that they don't want me as a member. My issue is how hypocritical they are. These are people who claim that any restrictions on protests and "civil disobedience" are violations of their civil liberties by a big-brother government. They constantly complain that their right to voice dissent is being infringed. But... say something that challenges the wisdom of the all-knowing Dennis Kucinich, and you're a heretic that must be excommunicated from this group of "tolerant" defenders of free speech.
My short time with PPG was pretty eye-opening though - I had no idea that people still preached ideas this misguided and radical 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall! The core founders of the group are Quakers (Society of Friends) with a religious doctrine of pacifism. No problem there. But they then morph that principal into a socialist, blame-America, anti-Israel, open border, radical environmentalist, 9/11 conspiracy kind of life style.
These are people who get their "news" exclusively from sources like MoveOn, Common Dreams and al Jazeera (they believe that the mainstream media is in the pocket of George Bush and is too conservative). They won't allow any debate and they really can't afford to have any dissenting opinions contaminating their already pre-determined conclusions.
Just look at the group they're supporting when they come to Minnesota - nothing to do with "peace" but instead it's all about shouting down the free speech of those with whom they disagree.
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