Every Time I See That 'Internment Camp' (i.e. Free Speech Zone) I SPIT!

[matcom]

that damned thing is SO F*CKING DISGUSTING!

folks, living in Boston, i have been following this thing VERY closely

if you haven't seen this 'camp' yet just wait.

8 ft high fencing, concrete barriers, RAZOR WIRE atop the NETTING that covers the "roof" and if you are over 4ft tall, you'll have to crouch because of the old steel beams overhead.

its a fucking pen. and frankly, IF A RIGHT WINGER WANTS TO START A RIOT, IT WILL BE A DEATH SENTENCE

:grr:

[Jack_Dawson]

1. Please Post Pic

[matcom]

here

[homelandpunk]

27. OH MY GOD!!! This can't be real!!!!!!!!

GOD DAMN IT!!!
I FEEL LIKE CHARLTON HESTON LOOKING AT THE THE HEAD OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY POKING OUT OF THE SAND AND KNEELING ON THE BEACH AND SCREAMING "THEY DID IT....THE SONS OF BITCHES FINALLY DID IT!! GOD...DAMN...YOU...ALL TO HELL!!"
I am not trying to be funny, though you might think I am. I really feel that way. GOD DAMN!!!

[Enraged_Ape]

43. Unfuckingbelievable

Oh, no, these are not Nazis we're dealing with here. Oh, no, not at all.

[jimshoes]

46. Could they have made that

any more gulagish? I'm sure they went for the most negative visual imaginable. Who says they lack imagination.

[TryingToWarnYou]

58. Im sure a little electricity would be a nice addition

[tnlefty]

2. Is this a brain child of Homeland Security, the city of Boston or who is

responsible for this thing? I thought it was disgusting and it just doesn't represent America to me.

[Philostopher]

3. I'm kinda' curious to know ...

who picked that spot? Is that the only place close to the Fleet Center they could have chosen? I saw some shots of it on The Daily Show last week, you're right -- it looks frightening. Just wondering if they had other choices, or if somebody was actually misguided enough to think that spot was a good idea, I guess ...

[spanone]

4. I saw that...looked like Guantanamo Prison.

[izzie]

5. I think this stuff they are doing is crazy.

And I hear Bush will have the streets empty for him in NYC. Please tell me bin Laden did not win. How can sane people act like this from what one nut with his 1000 players half killed off. are we crazy or what?

[matcom]

6. Bin Laden is victorious

game over. we lost.

[homelandpunk]

31. I agree it is over. I have very little hope Kerry might speak out, but

I think it is just plain fork-stuck over. Without Kerry raising hell, any last fighting spirit to the idea of America within our government will be snuffed. It was a bold experiment. I wonder why I had a kid. I hope living in a fascist state will be tolerable for her.

[kentuck]

7. Have Repubs ever been put into these "free speech zones"??

Usually, as best I recall, it is Democrats that are put into these spaces?? If the Repubs wanna protest, it might be good for them to get a little taste of their fascism??

[tom_paine]

8. Please. Busheviks will be allowed to walk free as always

What part of "Imperial Amerika is a Totalitarian BushPutin Managed Democracy" don't you understand?

Would you expect the Soviet Union to pen in Communist Party Members.

You have the exact same chance of seeing Busheviks penned in.

THE EXACT...SAME...CHANCE.

[kentuck]

16. How many Dems plan on protesting in Boston??

I thought if anyone is going to protest the Dem convention, it would probably be Repubs or Naderites..:)

[tom_paine]

20. Well, I'll believe it when I see it and not a moment before

Sure, the Greens and other Lefties will be brutalized, teargassed, "preemptively arrested" (this was already coming into vogue in 2000 even BEFORE the Old Republic died), etc.

Show me a photo of a Bushevik in a protest pen, and I'll believe it, not one second before.

Sorry, that's just how I feel.

[G_j]

48. other activities planned

From the website of United For Peace and Justice, the same group organizing in NYC.
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2426

Demonstrations and Activities During the Democratic National Convention


A range of activities are being planned before and during the Democratic National Convention (July 26-29). Below is a list of some of the events in place, with links for information. Please note, this list is not comprehensive, and details do change, so please check back. This is intended as a calendar of events, this is not a list of UFPJ-endorsed activities.

VETERANS FOR PEACE: 2004 CONVENTION
Annual National Convention, July 22-25 at Emerson College in Boston
July 22: Get-Together Cruise on Boston Harbor
July 23: "Veterans Address the Nation", Faneuil Hall
July 24: Reception and Banquet, Boston Public Library
July 25: Peace Rally on Boston Common

"WE THE PEOPLE: Defeating Militarism and the Politics of Fear"
Veterans for Peace has taken a leading role in the movement to end the war and occupation of Iraq. Their annual national conference is being held in Boston right before the Democratic National Convention in order to send a strong message to the Democratic Party. Many of the activities during the Veterans for Peace Convention will be open to the public. For more information about the ongoing work of Veterans for Peace and for details about this convention, click here: http://www.veteransforpeace.org

BOSTON SOCIAL FORUM
Friday July 23rd, Saturday July 24th and Sunday July 25th at the University of Massachusetts at Boston

A coalition of Boston area, progressive community organizations, non-profits, and unions will be hosting what promises to be an exciting event—the Boston Social Forum (BSF). A forum within the World Social Forum process, the BSF has been called to help progressive activists to begin to answer some very basic questions: What kind of future do we want for Boston? For our region? For our nation? For the world? What is our vision of a better society?

Through a series of workshops, cultural events, plenary sessions, and giant convocations of the entire forum, we are encouraging progressive organizations of all kinds to showcase their best analysis of the present, and their best ideas for the future, across the breadth of human knowledge—politics, economics, science and technology, culture and faith—in the context of corporate globalization.
The goals of the event are simple: encourage various social movements to exchange information, network with one another, form new alliances, and push our movements forward a bit more towards the next stage of our development.

We invite all progressive activists, interested community members, and delegates to the Democratic National Convention, to come to the BSF and become part of the global process to build a better, more human-centered society. The forum is governed by a Planning Committee that sets policy. Organizing is carried out by Working Groups and a Secretariat (or Admin Team). Organizations that would like to become involved in the BSF may also participate as Allied Organizations.

For more information and to get involved, click here: http://www.bostonsocialforum.org

INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE, at the Boston Social Forum
Friday July 23rd, Saturday July 24th and Sunday July 25th

The American Friends Service Committee and the European Network for Peace and Human Rights are working together to organize an international peace conference at the Boston Social Forum. Leading figures from European and U.S. peace movements will be joined by their counterparts from Asia, Africa and Latin America with the goal of reinforcing our movements through sharing analysis, strategies and priorities; networking; and developing joint campaigns and solidarity.

For more information, click here: http://www.afsc.org/pes.htm or call AFSC at 617-661-6130

PEOPLE'S PARTIES
Sunday, July 25th - in neighborhoods around Boston and around the country

Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston is hosting neighborhood parties for the delegates to the Democratic Nominating Convention on the day before the DNC opens. On July 25th Mayor Menino will use this parties to "show off" the successes of his administration. A Boston-wide planning process has led to the plans for People's Parties around Boston, and near where the delegates' parties will be happening, offering an opportunity for the people of Boston to let the world know what's really going on in their neighborhoods. All the parties will have a "Fund the Dream" umbrella theme, but each party will also be unique and will put front and center the community's understanding of what the "dream" is -- what they want their communities to look like, what the important struggles are for them, etc. To read more about Fund the Dream, and to download petitions, etc., please see http://www.fundthedream.org.

The Peoples' Parties are also an opportunity to be part of a national mobilization in your own community! Plan a People's Party for Sunday, July 25th in your neighborhood or community. Make it big or small. Start meeting with other grassroots groups in your area. Get neighbors, friends, kids out to barbeque, visit, listen to music, share the arts, play games, and raise consciousness about the campaign to Fund the Dream. This is a national campaign to shift the money from the military budget to meeting human needs. It is anti-war and pro-community. It is a chance for you to *build relationships* with other groups and with other people -- so that we can big enough and strong enough and *connected* enough to meet whatever challenge lays ahead of us on the day after the election.

Let's send a message to the Democrats and to whoever is elected in November, that our movements are growing in numbers, that we are aiming to stop the war(s) at home and the war(s) abroad, and that we believe another world is possible and that we are going to fight for it!

For more information, contact [e-mail]

Information on how to organize a People's Party can be found by clicking on this text link.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

Rallies, marches, teach-ins, forums and other activities are in the planning stages. Some of the events planned include:

Monday, July 26th

Rally against Police Brutality, Prison Abuse and the Patriot Act
sponsored by the Black Tea Society
10 am to 12 noon on the Boston Common, followed by a march to the Fleet Center
for more information: http://www.blackteasociety.org

Speak Out on Civil Liberties
sponsored by the Kucinch Campaign
12 noon at St.Paul's Church on Tremont Street

Alternative Freedom Trail - tour through Boston
sponsored by the Mass. Civil Liberties Union
2 pm to 5 pm

Dump the Democrats
sponsored by the Socialist Party, USA
2 pm
Government Center
for more information: http://www.sp-usa.org/democracy/

Rally against the Occupations of Iraq and Palestine
sponsored by Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights and United for Justice with Peace
5 pm to 7 pm


Tuesday, July 27th

Calling All Delegates: People's Solutions to National and Global Crisis
10 am to 2 pm
Faneuil Hall

Really REALLY Democratic Bazaar
sponsored by Black Tea Society
12 noon to 8 pm
Boston Common
for more information: http://www.blackteasociety.org

Eyes Wide Open Exhibit opposing U.S. war in Iraq
sponsored by American Friends Service Committee
9 am to 9 pm, program with speakers and music starts at 7:30 pm
Copley Square


Wednesday, July 28th

Rally against Detainee Abuse from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib Prison
sponsored by United for Justice with Peace
12 noon to 2 pm
Copley Square
for more information: http://justicewithpeace.org or call 617-354-2169

Demonstration to protest plans for a Bio-Terror Lab in the heart of Boston
sponsored by ACE
3 pm to 8 pm
Roxbury/South End (exact location TBA)


Thursday, July 29th

Anti-War Rally and March
sponsored by Black Tea Society
10 am to 12 pm at Copley Square followed by march to Fleet Center, return to Boston Common for rally
for more information contact: http://www.blackteasociety.org

Rally for Peace and Justice
sponsored by United for Peace and Justice, in cooperation with AFSC, United Progressive Alliance and Great Boston United for Justice with Peace Coalition
5 pm to 11 pm
demonstration zone near Fleet Center


Friday, July 30th

Kick Off of DNC2RNC March
sponsored by the Next Step Collective
10 am gather, location TBA


Other activities during the week are being planned by the Black T(ea) Society, by 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, and others. Please check this site regularly for more information and updates.

www.unitedforpeace.org

[rocktivity]

60. I know you're kidding, Kentuck

but I want to make sure that people understand that there IS a point. If any violence or mass arrests occur, it will be because John Kerry "endorsed" the nazi-like opression of any Repub/Nader protestors. The mainstream media will be only too happy to run with that story instead of doing convention coverage (while completely ignoring the fact that Bush protestors have been suffering the same treatment for years)!

That is why we MUST contact the Kerry campaign and urge him to publicly speak out against the zone before the convention starts (preferably on site). Then if anything goes wrong, he can say, "Well, helloooo--I said it was a dumb idea, didn't I?"

You can reach Kerry's DC office at 202-712-3000, the Mass. office at 617-367-1551.

:headbang:
rocknation

[2Design]

62. anti abortion people plan on being there with their

pictures of "feces", as bush calls them

[Murdock]

40. Apparently...

The Anti Abortion Right are starting to get upset as well.. Witness:

Update: Christian Group Plans to Sue Secret Service
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Correspondent
July 23, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - On the day the Democratic National Convention opens in Boston, a pro-life group will be in federal court suing the U.S. Secret Service for the restrictions imposed on its planned protests.

The Christian Defense Coalition will file its lawsuit Monday in response to the Secret Service barring the coalition from demonstrating in front of the residence of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Boston's Beacon Hill. The pro-life group was told it could not demonstrate even after it had already obtained a permit from the city of Boston.

Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, told CNSNews.com that the group had planned to hold a prayer vigil at Kerry's home Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. He said the group also planned to leave behind one dozen roses each night "to encourage him to remember to protect America's greatest natural resource: her children." Kerry supports abortion rights.

Mahoney called the protest restrictions "very troubling."

(snip)

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200407\NAT20040723b.html

[plurality]

9. Pictures of the fascism zone

http://parkerpettus.com/fleet/index.html

[gpandas]

50. thanks for the perspective view...

this is so crazy,could it mean the end of right to assemble?

[rocktivity]

55. How did you and Matcom manage to take pictures

without being dragged off?

It's an absolute disgrace--I can't believe this is the best Boston can do. Kerry--that's right--Kerry should publicly condemn it!

:headbang:
rocknation

[AlienGirl]

10. Tinfoil hat here...

If they wanted to round up everyone who might protest, anyone who might be trouble to the regime...what better way than designing these traps, waiting till they're full, and taking everyone away? :tinfoilhat:

Tucker

[Jack_Dawson]

11. Wouldn't that be where the Repugs are housed...

since this is the Democratic Convention? Or am I missing something?

[Catt03]

12. I thought so too

Saw a commentary on Television the other night where the RNC was walking around with the judge who was going to decide the case filed against the free speech zone.


I think it is for the Republicans and if true...it is about time they experience what we have for the last 3.5 years.

[plurality]

15. the group you saw was not RNC people but UFPJ

Otherwise known as United for Peace and Justice, an anti-war group.

[Catt03]

18. And the following

Black Tea Society

http://blackteasociety.org/index.php

Anarchists? at the Democratic Convention?

[plurality]

14. believe it or not, but anti-war people plan to protest the DNC as well

But even if it were limited to Republicans would that make it right?

Is it ok to squelch free speech if the person speaking doesn't agree with you?

[Jack_Dawson]

21. Perhaps they should save their energy for the RNC?

Just a thought. And actually I would find it pretty funny to see Freepers locked up like dogs for once. I think it would be a first.

[Sterling]

25. Some will be pukes most will be greens or WTO people.

They will mostly be Americans and they will all be human beings worthy of much much better than this.

[papau]

13. Razor wire is never less than 5 ft 9 inch above the ground - what is

the problem?

sigh.....

They need to use TV and broadcast and put the protesting area on a big screen across from the Fleet so convention goers can see the protests - safely away from the protestors.

:-)

[kentuck]

17. I hate these fucking Nazi camps !!

:mad:

[matcom]

22. amen brother

:grr: indeed

[Cleita]

19. I think you gotta start thinking of another way to protest.

How about helium filled balloons with built-in slow leaks timed to fall over whatever place you want to protest? The balloons could carry anti-war phamphlets or anti-Bushevik flyers that would rain over everyone you wanted to reach. Just a suggestion. I'm sure imaginative protesters could think of a dozen peaceful ways to catch the Busheviks off guard, if floating balloons would seem too intimidating to the targets.

[homelandpunk]

32. That's a good idea as long as you are willing to serve time for

civil disobedience. In a <spit> "post 911 world" balloons with THINGS in them released over crowds will surely be covered in the <spit> Patriot Act. Somehow.

[Cleita]

64. I kinda thought of that too, but I didn't want to post it right away.

I could be a way to deliver Anthrax, but I didn't want to say it right away until the post was on its way to the archives. The suggestion really was for others to start thinking outside of the box for other peaceful ways to protest that would circmvent free speech zones. I wouldn't doubt that even the most harmless way will come under the Patriot Act one way or the other. About civil disobedience, if Bush somehow gets another term this is going to have to become a reality, if we want to pass a democracy on to our children and not a dictatorship.

[Zomby Woof]

23. let's send them these!

[Danieljay]

24. I'm normally a peaceful person...but something about this

makes my blood boil. This just plain creeps me out. Something has to be done about this...where the hell is the coverage? Is this what this country is really about?

[homelandpunk]

28. It is wrong on the most fundamental levels.

Free speech is not contained. FREE speech is provided for the open streets. To say "You can say whatever you want, as long as you do it in this container, cage, prison" IS NOT FREE SPEECH.
PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF _ANYONE_ FROM THE _KERRY_ CAMPAIGN READS THIS THREAD, PLEASE PASS IT ALONG. For God's sake, Kerry must agree with Ben Franklin that "he who gives up freedom for security is neither free nor secure"???
Why is none of our leaders quoting this most fundamental principle of Franklin's, in light of this horror? If this is allowed to stand, then I will know America is truly a dead idea.

[LibDemAlways]

26. Rove will make sure that the

networks give the "Internment Camp" plenty of airtime. He'll also make sure some God-fearing pro-life groups - groups that include plenty of crying children - are photographed inside. The Dems are making a huge, huge mistake if they don't come out forcefully against this.

[homelandpunk]

29. Physical Harm Zones

They are physicaly and psychologically threateing.
The city cannot CANNOT guarantee anyones safety in those things.

Oh the irony. In Boston. You know...tea party.

If you come and have anything to say, you're already judged guilty of anarchism. And here's your cage.

[BattyDem]

30. The Kerry Campaign better do something ... fast!

We all know what's going to happen:

Repugs will fill the zone, making sure that the children and the seniors are standing right next to the fences so the media can get a good shot of them. Of course, the media will be broadcasting the images 24/7 and accuse the Dems of denying American citizens their rights by locking them up. Then the Repugs will say, "See? The Democrats hate America and they hate freedom. They're just like the Nazis!" Rush will have a field day.

Mr. Kerry ... WAKE UP! This is going to be a PR disaster for the Dems. :-(


On edit:
July 26, 2004 - The Democratic National Convention begins.
July 27, 2004 - Non-stop images like this one:




Damn! The fence surrounding that camp looks exactly like the one in Boston. :scared:

[LibDemAlways]

33. Don't think for a second

that the pic you posted won't be broadcast side by side with pics of good Republican Christians in the "Democrat Internment Camp" as it will quickly become known.

What the hell is wrong with the DNC planners? This is a total Rove trap, and the Dems are falling right into it. Next week they'll be apologizing all over the place, but the damage will have been done.

[BattyDem]

34. That's what scares me.

Apologies won't mean a damn thing after the images of the two "camps" become interchangeable in people's minds. Kerry will be finished.

[Occulus]

36. WAIT a minute! THINK

for a moment!!

The Pugs etc getting their panties in a bunch- cry your pardon, ladies- and splashing this all over the country would be nothing but good for us.... because then we could point out all the times they've been used against us with nary a peep.

[LibDemAlways]

38. Talking about 1st Amendment Zones

used to keep protesters away from the chimp will not have the impact or receive the attention of the whores - who will gladly interview God-fearing middle-class Americans herded like cattle behind razor wire at John Kerry's party. This is the stuff of Hannity wet dreams.

[StClone]

54. Yes and more

Why did it take Repugs behind FSZ barriers to suddenly get attention to this when Dems/Libs have been screaming about these on-line for years?

This is a Rep angle pumped by the likes of CNN. It is going to get big play.

[Occulus]

35. We need to start destroying these.

We, as a People, need to dismantle these. NOW.

[wtmusic]

37. Un. Fucking. Believable.

And the zones get just a little bit farther away from anywhere, and people stop speaking because frankly no one's listening...they can't hear you anymore.

[WilliamPitt]

39. Looks a lot like the cage they had in L.A. in 2000

Did you all miss that monstrosity?

[shance]

52. Heres an article for you to write WP

This is so insulting and heart breaking to see.

Fear is overtaking rational thought.

The level of disconnect and division between citizens (and economic class)is creating some real social insanity these days.

[LiberalPersona]

41. What the hell?

Does this mean that I can expect to see the establishment of the "thought police" if Bush is re-elected?

[underpants]

42. Sadly this is how most 'Murkans will be introduced to "Free Speech Zones"

I am certain that the "liberal media" will make it seem like this is the creation of the Dems.

I'll give $100 to any charity/campaign if there is any kind of in depth report on how and when these "Free Speech Zones" originated- yes I know they have been an option to Secret Service for a while but they were used sporadically at best if at all before W seized power.

Remember the elderly Floridians who got arrested for going to a celebratory event for W with anti-W signs? That was the first I had heard about them and the excuse above was promptly given-thus implying that it was developed to "protect" Clinton who we all know was hated by 110% of Americans yet was elected TWICE.

[LibDemAlways]

47. The "liberal media" will

have no shortage of coverage.

Expect a CNN Question of the Day: "Razor wire in the free speech zone. Have the Dems gone too far?"

Every network anchor will report from the "pen" and will interview groups like Citizens for Lower Taxes and Christians for Life - who've made their way in there.

The repuke "truth squad" will also pay a highly publicized visit to condemn this "Democrat Internment Camp."

The history of this shit and repuke involvement will be completely ignored by all. Any similar measures taken by the repukes in NYC will receive no coverage at all.

No good can come of this. None.

[underpants]

49. don't forget"Americans for Good Things and Against Bad Things"

AGTABT they call themselves for short. :eyes:


I think they are going to have to wall the Repubes IN one of those in NYC-you can't wall off the whole city.

[thecrow]

65. When King George Travels, Liberties Suffer

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0513-11.htm

SNIP
"There's a pattern of harassment of free speech here that really concerns me," says Guy Wolf, the student services coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. "If they're going to call it a presidential visit, then it should be a presidential visit - where we can hear from him and he can hear from us. But that's not what happened here, not at all."

Wolf and other La Crosse area residents who wanted to let the president know their feelings about critical issues came face to face with the reality that, when King George travels, he is not actually interested in a two-way conversation.

Along the route of the Bush bus trip from Dubuque to La Crosse, the Bush team created a "no-free-speech" zone that excluded any expressions of the dissent that is the lifeblood of democracy. In Platteville, peace activist Frank Van Den Bosch was arrested for holding up a sign that was critical of the president. The sign's "dangerous" message, "FUGW," was incomprehensible to children and, no doubt, to many adults. Yet, it was still determined sufficiently unsettling to the royal procession that Van Den Bosch was slapped with a disorderly conduct ticket.

Up the road in La Crosse, the clampdown on civil liberties was even more sweeping. Wolf and hundreds of other Wisconsinites and Minnesotans who sought to express dissents were videotaped by authorities, told they could not make noise, ordered not to display certain signs and forced to stand out of eyesight of Bush and his entourage. Again and again, they were told that if they expressed themselves in ways that were entirely protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, they would be "subject to arrest."
SNIP

[kentuck]

44. Friggin' concertina wire !

Around the top of barbed fence! Can we get armed guards in towers? How much more can people take of this bullshit! :mad:

[name not needed]

45. What the fuck?

Free Speech Zone? The WHOLE FUCKING COUNTRY is a free speech zone! You shouldn't have to be in a cage to excersize your constitutional rights. This is the United States, not The Soviet Union.

[w4rma]

51. BAD, BAD, BAD MISTAKE IN THE MAKING HERE.

Kerry's people need to get down there and deal with this. This WILL be a disaster. The networks WILL cover this and it will likely get more airtime than the convention itself.

This trap is the end of this election if the Democratic leaderhip fall into it.

[rocktivity]

59. Here are the phone and fax numbers for Kerry's DC and MA offices

DC
202-712-3000
202-712-3001 (fax)

MA
617-367-1551

The zone photos have got to get over the web the way the "This Land" video did. We MUST pressure Kerry into making a public statement. I've already e-mailed his web site. Now I'm going to call these offices at my own expense.

:headbang:
rocknation

[TahitiNut]

53. Some thoughts ...

Since protesters will cover nearly the entire political spectrum, such protest kennels are almost guaranteed to result in some serious injuries, if not fatalities. It seems to me this might be intentional.

While I believe the 'audience' for such protests should be assured of their own safety and freedom to enter and exit a venue such as the convention center, such liberties should be assured by protected rights-of-way, not by preventing them from being an audience.

We already have abundant laws by which those who assault others or block traffic can be arrested and prosecuted. This reeks of 'prior restraint' and that's antithetical to a free society.

[KG]

56. why is anyone surprised?

didn't the deaf ear turned by the dems to 1 million people in the streets before the invasion give you a clue?

the leadership of niether party is interested in what the people think or have to say.

it's all over but the shouting, people, democracy in america is dead.

the deals have been struck, the oligarchs are in control.

(well actually it's been that way for some time, but now they don't even have to go thru the truoble of pretending.)

[blm]

57. I think the Secret Service is behind this so they have an excuse for

the tactics Bush wants employed in NYC. The DNC is just their test run, imo.

[TriMetFan]

61. Yes its Fucking Disgusting.

But as some one that lives in a city (Portland OR.) were we like to Protest and were some Protest have turn ugly, there is a reason for the fence. From the looks of the pics. it looks like the "Free Zone" is just 100feet from the convention center. Then you have all that construction for the (Boston Freeway). That whole area looks very small. So what I don't get is why in the Hell Boston! The Democratic Party could have done this in Florida and should have done it in Florida.

One thing we should all ask our selfs is what can we do? Look at what is happening:

1. even though the protesters are fenced in, they are just across "the street" and are in a pen for their safety.

2. The Repuks like to put protester a couple of miles away from them. Or at least here in Portland they "Bush & Co." do that to us.

3. This is what we get for not doing anything until it is about to late or is it?


Its Time To Take Our America Back.

[Fleshdancer]

63. I just woke up and read the news about this crap

:wtf: ??????????????????????????

Who thought this was an acceptable idea? Who sat around the table at the security brainstorming session and thought "I know, let's cage the protesters!"?

I've heard of people going to jail for protesting, but this is honestly the first time I've heard of someone going to jail TO PROTEST.

Seriously, the only difference I see between this cage and an actual jail cell is 3 hot meals and health insurance.

[wicket]

66. I went and checked it out the other night

It is very disturbing.

[bvar22]

67. Don't carry a sign! Wear RED!

People carrying traditional protest signs (poster paper on a stick) are identified by the storm troopers and herded into the zones. (Been there; done that)

To avoid the pens, we need to be more creative. We are smarter and more flexible than the system protecting the slide into corpo-fascism.

There is already a small movement to wear red on Fridays.This could be extended to protests. WEAR RED. Red T-Shirts, red arm bands, red caps, red handkerchiefs, red tissue streamers, etc. This should allow us to avoid the pens, and still identify each other for on-sight chanting or even collective silent dissent.


Don't go into the pens! If we allow ourselves to be treated like cattle, THEY WILL TREAT US LIKE CATTLE!

Fuck them and their cages.
We are "WE THE PEOPLE"!