10 posts tagged “rnc”
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (September 18, 2008) Video released today shows the indiscriminate arrest of a crowd of two hundred at the waterfront across from a concert on Harriet Island Regional Park during this month's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. The video includes multiple angles of the event as well as an interview with the cameraman who buried his footage and was one of almost two hundred people arrested for rioting without probable cause.
More than eight hundred people were arrested in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention. This video shows that at least twenty percent of the eight hundred plus arrested were seized without due cause.
(The video works but the embed code seems to be aligning it wrong)
Faye Palin on John McCain's selection of her daughter-in-law Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick
...Republicans wonder if the rest of America will warm up to the surprise pick from cold country.
...her mother-in-law has doubts.
Faye Palin admitted she enjoys hearing Barack Obama speak, and still hasn't decided which way she'll vote.
"We don't agree on everything. But I respect her passion," she said. "Being pro-life (anti-choice) is who Sarah is."
Faye Palin said the entire family was shocked by the news on Friday.
"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative. Well, she's a better speaker than McCain," Faye Palin said with a laugh...
At the 2:50 mark in the video. Gov. Sarah Palin asks "Just what does the VP do?" Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is Senator John McCains VP pick. Gee Senator I hope you gave her a job description!
I'm watching CNN and they have confirmed Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska is McCains vice president pick.
Obama Crushes McCain in July Fundraising
August 16, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama raised more than $51 million in July, the AP reports. His campaign began August with $65.8 million on hand and has had more than 2 million donors.
In contrast, Sen. John McCain raised $27 million in July and had just $21.4 million in cash on hand. He has had approximately 600,000 donors.
Troops Deployed Abroad Give 6:1 to Obama
By Luke Rosiak - August 14, 2008 9:52 AM
...According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul...
...members of the armed services overall -- whether stationed overseas or at home -- are also favoring Obama with their campaign contributions in 2008, by a $55,000 margin. Although 59 percent of federal contributions by military personnel has gone to Republicans this cycle, of money from the military to the presumed presidential nominees, 57 percent has gone to Obama...
...Individuals in the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps have all leaned Republican this cycle, but the only branch in which that ideology has carried over to the presidential race is the Marine Corps, where McCain leads Obama by about $4,000. In each of the other branches... Obama leads by significant margins...
...Only the Coast Guard prefers Democrats across the board, with 78 percent of employees' total federal contributions going to members of that party, and Obama beating McCain $7,795 to $250. Navas anecdotally confirmed that soldiers are often conservative but that many are making an exception in the presidential race. "Most of my friends are conservative Republicans and they say, 'I'm voting for Barack.' McCain does not have a lock on the military vote, that's for sure," he said. "We'll complete our duty -- I'm deploying next year -- because it's a commitment I made to the nation, not to a president. But we all know that Iraq was a big mistake"...
(I'm a Democrat but I have to wonder... If this was a lawsuit against the RNC would the ACLU willingly drop the lawsuit?)
ACLU ends its legal challenge to DNC restrictions
By P. Solomon Banda – 11 hours ago
DENVER (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday it will not appeal a federal judge's ruling that upheld the city's decision to limit protests during the Democratic National Convention to a fenced-in demonstration zone, and to end all marches more than a quarter-mile from the site.
Judge Marcia S. Krieger had ruled Wednesday that the restrictions do not infringe on protesters' free-speech rights. Mark Silverstein, ACLU-Colorado legal director, said that since the Sept. 11 attacks the law has shifted to favor security over First Amendment rights.
"That's sad, but that's the state of the law," Silverstein said.
Silverstein said the lawsuit yielded several victories, including getting the city to issue parade permits in a timely manner, install a public address system in the demonstration zone so delegates can hear protesters and allow protesters to put literature on tables along a sidewalk for delegates.
Glenn Spagnuolo, co-founder of protest group Recreate 68, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said his group was still considering its response.
"Basically the way we'll be appealing it is we'll be appealing it in the streets," he said.
Protest groups had complained the demonstration zone and march routes keep them out of earshot of delegates.
The 47,000-square-foot demonstration zone that protesters call the "freedom cage" will have a chain-link fence atop concrete barriers on three sides. The fourth side will be open to pedestrians on a street south of the Pepsi Center, where the convention will be held Aug. 25-28...
Sen. Stevens indicted: 7 false statements counts
By Lara Jakes Jordan – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, was indicted Tuesday on seven counts of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.
The first sitting U.S. senator to face federal indictment since 1993, Stevens has been dogged by a federal investigation into his home renovation project and his dealings with wealthy oil contractors.
The investigation has upended Alaska state politics and cast scrutiny on Stevens — who is running for re-election this year — and on his congressional colleague, Rep. Don Young of Alaska, who is also under investigation...
...Matthew Friedrich, chief of the Justice Department's criminal division, said prosecutors followed the department's policy to keep politics out of the decision-making process.
"We bring cases based on our evaluation of the facts and the law," Friedrich said. "We bring cases when they are ready to be charged and that's what happened here."
Prosecutors said Stevens received more than $250,000 in gifts and services from VECO Corp., a powerful oil services contractor, and its executives. From May 1999 to August 2007...
...Justice Department said Stevens will not be arrested and will be allowed to turn himself in...
...Under Senate rules, Tuesday's indictment will require Stevens to give up his post as senior Republican on the Appropriations Committee...
...Prosecutors said Stevens "took multiple steps to continue" receiving things from oil services company VECO Corp., and its founder, Bill Allen. At the time, the indictment says, Allen and other VECO employees were soliciting Stevens for "multiple official actions ...
...The Justice Department has closely followed that money, looking for where it intersects with the senator's son, Ben.
A lobbyist and former state senator, Ben Stevens was paid as a consultant for many in the fishing industry who benefited from legislation his father drafted. When Ted Stevens created a $30 million marketing fund for Alaska seafood, Ben Stevens helped decide which companies got the money. Some were his clients.
Ben Stevens also had financial ties to a company that stood to make millions off a piece of federal legislation his father wrote...
And for all our Republican friends this video is dedicated to you...
A Radical Transexual group, Bash Back! , is planning on trying to shut down the RNC (Republican National Convention) and possibly the DNC (Democratic National Covention). The groups "Points of Unity" are listed at the bottom of the post. Concerning their "Points of Unity"... I'm not sure what they have against Capitalism.
From Infoshop News:
...In 2004 the party conventions were nothing more than disempowering for queers and transfolk. Boston turned out a large, festive, yet nearly invisible queer kiss-in. The Gays Against Bush Contingent of the UFPJ march in NYC was hurried to the cattle pens and filled its place at the very end of a 500,000+ person march. Queer Fist's Queer Kiss-in saw extreme police brutality and the arrests of nearly everyone involved. If radical Trans-Folk, Queers and Allies are to confront the oppression we face on a daily basis in the streets from Memphis to Denver to Minneapolis/St. Paul we must learn from the past, plug into the pre-existing overall strategies and be prepared to Bash Back!..
From The Windy City Times:
..."Bash Back!" is a radical trans/queer/anarcha-feminist group that started in Chicago. The group's main goal is to fight for liberation while rejecting all forms of state power. It rejects all oppression and believes in a diversity of tactics to achieve equality...
...The group's current focus is an upcoming Radical Trans and Queer Convergence that will be held in Chicago Sat.-Sun., April 5-6...
... Another focus of the convergence will involve devising a strategy to “crash” the Republican National Convention ( RNC ) and, possibly, the Democratic National Convention. The organizing session will take place Sun., April 6, and isn't open to the public, but is open to like-minded activist groups....
... The group takes inspiration from the days of ACT UP, Queer Nation and the Gay Liberation Front. They feel that these groups were really effective in bringing about change...
... Bash Back! feels that the community
currently focuses too much on lobbying and mainstream tactics, which it
feels makes LGBT people appear invisible and weak. It also feels that
there is too much apathy in the community, and many people think that
writing a check to HRC or voting is all they need to do to make a
difference...
From Unconventional Action News:
...Those attending the, “Bash Back! Convergence” organizing session for Crashing the RNC must agree to the Points of Unity...
...POINTS OF UNITY
Members of Bash Back! must agree to:
1. Fight for liberation. Nothing more, nothing less. State recognition in
the form of oppressive institutions such as marriage and militarism are
not steps toward liberation but rather towards heteronormative
assimilation.
2. A rejection of Capitalism, Imperialism, and all forms of State power.
3. Actively oppose oppression both in and out of the “movement.” Racism,
Patriarchy, Heterosexism, Sexism, Transphobia, and all oppressive behavior
is not to be tolerated.
4. Respect a diversity of tactics in the struggle for liberation. Do not
solely condemn an action on the grounds that the State deems it to be
illegal.
...
