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In the Streets

September 25, 2004 - 7:25pm -- Stenglander
Analysis & Polemic
In the Streets

Anonymous Comrade writes, "The following was posted by Christopher Day on the DailyKOS:"


"The Elephant in the Room:
What to do if the GOP Steals the Election (Again)?"

Christopher Day

People have rightly attacked the hand-wringing of some who are asking "what if Bush wins?" when we are still in the midst of the work of making sure that he doesn't. But there is another question that we need to be talking about NOW because if we don't all of the work we are doing may still be for nothing. That question is "what will we do if Bush loses and tries to steal the election again?" This is not a question we can put off until November 3 for the simple reason that if we are not mentally and organizationally prepared for this eventuality, we will lose.

1. The threat of a stolen election is real.

The 2000 presidential election was stolen through a combination of mob tactics and the collaboration of a right-wing Supreme Court. There are many imaginable scenarios in which Bush and Cheney might attempt to steal the election in 2004. These include massive election day disenfranchisement, rigged electronic balloting, electoral college shenanigans and undoubtedly some things we haven't thought of yet. The reality of this threat is attested to by the fact that both campaigns have lawyered up across the country in anticipation of major disputes.

September 25, 2004 - 3:39pm -- Uncle Fluffy
In the Streets

Sarah Kanouse writes:


"Notes for 100 Centre Street"

Sarah Kanouse

Sometime into my 43rd hour in the custody of the New York Police Department, I started to cry. “I just don’t see how we can stop this,” I pleaded with my cellmates through my tears. “I feel this country and myself just sinking and sinking. At what point does this kind of repression stop being proto-fascist and become just plain old fascism?” My cellmates gave me toilet paper to wipe my tears and hugged me until I stopped crying. They had no words of comfort to offer. We all felt the same way.

An hour later, we were banging on the bars and shaking the floor with our chant, “This is illegal! Let us go!” Within minutes, several floors of demonstrators joined in the chanting, and those on vigil below sent their voices up to meet ours. After twenty minutes, the guards promised we’d be next to get our photos taken, another step on the excruciating process of being arraigned and released. After another hour, we were waiting still, seven women in an eight by nine foot cell, taking turns sitting on the bench and stepping over our comrades sleeping fitfully on the cold, concrete floor.

September 23, 2004 - 2:18pm -- jim
News
In the Streets

New York Cops: We'll Break Cycle of Protests

Greg Gittrich and Pete Donohue, New York Daily News

Cyclists and cops are headed for another showdown in the streets tomorrow night.


Bike riders who take part in large group rides called Critical Mass the last Friday night of each month are vowing to pedal the pavement again — even after cops arrested more than 230 riders Aug. 27 for blocking traffic.


The police are ready to crack down again.

September 21, 2004 - 3:40pm -- jim
News
In the Streets

Anonymous Comrade writes:

"Lavalas Braves Climate of Terror to March and Demand for Aristide's Return"

September 11th is a date well-fixed in the consciousness of progressive Haitians. It marks the anniversary of a brutal massacre in Aristide's former parish of St Jean Bosco in 1988 as well as the anniversary of the slaying of Lavalas supporter Antoine Izmery in 1993. To honor the victims and demand the restoration of democracy to Haiti, thousands of Lavalas activists took the streets this September 11th and braved the climate of terror that has gripped the country.

September 21, 2004 - 3:36pm -- nolympics
News
In the Streets

Anonymous Comrade writes

Lavalas Braves Climate of Terror to March and Demand for Aristide's Return

September 11th is a date well-fixed in the consciousness of progressive Haitians. It marks the anniversary of a brutal massacre in Aristide's former parish of St Jean Bosco in 1988 as well as the anniversary of the slaying of Lavalas supporter Antoine Izmery in 1993. To honor the victims and demand the restoration of democracy to Haiti, thousands of Lavalas activists took the streets this September 11th and braved the climate of terror that has gripped the country.

September 20, 2004 - 3:12pm -- Stenglander
News
In the Streets

Anonymous Comrade writes: Not so much "In the Streets" as "In the Barracks" -- 635 soldiers from a South Carolina National Guard battalion have been under a disciplinary lockdown at New Jersey's Fort Dix for the past two weeks preceding their deployment.

S.C. NATIONAL GUARD

Lockdown rankles unit bound for Iraq


Discipline problems, low morale plague 178th

By THOMAS E. RICKS

The Washington Post

FORT DIX, N.J. — The 635 soldiers of a battalion of the South Carolina National Guard scheduled to depart today for a year or more in Iraq have spent their off-duty hours under a disciplinary lockdown in their barracks for the last two weeks.

The trouble began Labor Day weekend, when 13 members of the 1st Battalion of the 178th Field Artillery Regiment went AWOL, mainly to see their families again before shipping out. Then there was an ugly confrontation between members of the battalion’s Alpha and Charlie batteries — the term artillery units use instead of “companies” — that threatened to turn into a brawl involving three dozen soldiers, and required the base police to intervene.

That prompted a barracks inspection that uncovered alcohol, resulting in the lockdown that kept soldiers in their rooms except for drills, barred even from stepping outside for a smoke, a restriction that continued with some exceptions until today’s scheduled deployment.

September 9, 2004 - 1:01pm -- jim
In the Streets

"RNC Arrestee's Update"

People's Law Collective

Friends, comrades, fellow travelers:

We did it! All of us — we rocked in the streets, we fought the law, and it still hasn't won. All of our comrades are out of jail — except for one.


We are still working and in the next few days we will have a full post-RNC statement from NYC-PLC, and some of the other pieces that we're committed to doing. A defendants' listserv was just set up so those of you who gave the jail support greeters email information will be receiving an invite to join the list in the next few days. The purpose of that list is for you — the defendants — to exchange information and strategize around solidarity and how to best support each other.

September 2, 2004 - 11:00am -- jim
In the Streets

Dethroning George II

Union Square, NYC, 2PM Thursday, September 2, 2004

On the day this corporate monarch is expected to receive his coronation, the patriots of Greene Dragon will read and perform their Declaration of Independence from George II, listing the many grievances against him. Like the original 1776 reading, we will topple a statue of the king. Come and sign our thirty-foot Declaration with big quill pens. Dress in red, white, and blue and help us topple George II. 2pm, Union Square, Washington Statue.

September 2, 2004 - 10:40am -- jim
In the Streets

Our Grief is Not A Cry for War!

Candlelight Convergence at Union Square Duirng Bush Acceptance Speech

8:00PM Thursday, Sept. 2

Union Square (14th Street & Broadway), New York City

Download leaflet


This past Sunday, half a million people sent a message around the world that we reject the Bush administration's policies of war, greed, hate and lies. On Thursday evening, as George W. Bush is making his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, exploiting the 9/11 tragedy for political gain in the most crass and cynical possible way, we must continue to raise our voices to say NO to war, and YES to peace and justice.

September 1, 2004 - 9:12am -- jim
In the Streets

RNC Protest Events

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

7:30 AM: EEI Golf Invitational at Bethpage Black.

8:30 AM: WISH List Breakfast honoring Sue Kelly and Nancy Johnson at the
Sheraton Hotel.

11:30 AM: NFIB Wine Tasting Event at Del Frisco's.

12-2 PM, KOMPAC Lunch, Lincoln Center

12 PM: Metlife-AREVA-Chubb-Fidelity-Siemens Luncheon honoring the SEN
leadership at Sky Club.

12 PM: PWC Luncheon honoring Rob Portman at Rainbow Room.

1 PM: Luncheon honoring House Speaker Dennis Hastert's wife, Jean Central
Park Boathouse, Sponsored by: Burlington Northern Santa

2:30 - 5 PM, "A Brooklyn State of Mind" State Fair, featuring Gov.
Huckabee's band "Capitol Offense", Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn, RGA

4 PM: My Southern Celebration featuring Southern food, art, music and
culture at Splashlight Studios.

4:30 PM: Salute to the OH Delegation at the Rainbow Room.

6-7:30 PM, PAC Solutions America, Fresco's

6 PM: SIA-Bond Market Assn event honoring Michael Oxley at Penthouse 15.

6:30 PM: NRSC Dinner at Tupelo Grill.


5:30 PM: Reception to honor Rep. Michael G. Oxley of Ohio, chair of the
House Committee on Finance Services and other members of the committee.
Penthouse 15 at The Loft, 336 West 37th Street, 15th Floor. Sponsored by
Securities Industries Association and the Bond Market Association.
TBD, Frist After Party, Charity for Global HIV/AIDS Crisis, Rockefeller
Center, Sen. Frist TBD, Noche- Williams & Gensen DC. This is a sit-down
lunch for 175 people.

9 PM: Music Event Featuring Marshall Tucker Band, Dickey Betts Band, and
Super Diamond, B.B. Kings, 237 W. 42nd St.

12-2 PM: KOMPAC Lunch, Carmine's, KOMPAC, Speaker Hastert

5 PM: RGA Rocks the Planet in Times Square, Planet Hollywood in Times
Square, 1540 Broadway, RGA

3 PM: "Taste of Brooklyn" - the Republican Governors' Association gala
event and other Republican state leaders.

6 PM: Reception honoring U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM).

8 PM: Jerry Lewis and Duncan Hunter Event at the Intrepid.

9 PM: Magnum Entertainment Night II featuring Marshall Tucker Band, Dickie
Betts and Great Southern and Super Diamond at BB Kings.

9:30 PM: RIAA Enter the Limelight honoring Bill First and Denny Hastert at
Avalon.



10 PM: Another Boehner Party at Tunnel.

10 PM: World of Hope Foundation honors Bill Frist at Rockefeller Center.

10:30 PM: Live from NY It's Wednesday Night hosted by John and Cindy
McCain featuring Darrell Hammond and Joe Piscopo at Cipriani.

10 PM: Crobar, 530 West 28th Street, between 10 and 11 Avenue Sponsored
by: American Gas Association

10 PM-2 AM: "Hispanic" Event at the Copacabana, 560 West 34th Street,
between 10 and 11 Avenue Sponsored by: Coca-Cola

11 PM: Northstar Leadership PAC and Norm Coleman reception at Club Macanudo.

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