By Kevin Gosztola
The atmosphere here is energizing. I
do not know how one could be in Denver right now and not get caught
up in the action. Yet, today while riding on a Denver bus, I spoke to
seniors in high school who told me that they can’t wait for this all
to be over.
You see, they explained that they were
not political. When I prodded at them hoping they would explain their
position, they spoke about all the things I hate about this system.
The two didn’t like it because this
is a two-party system, politicians don’t do anything when they are
elected, they aren’t going to end the war because they can’t since
so much is going on in the Middle East, and the police like to instigate
riots so they are going nowhere near downtown Denver in the night time
when all the crazy shit has been happening.
helping Iraq Veterans Against the War carry out their Operation First
Casualty guerrilla theater event. They moved through downtown Denver
bringing the war home to the people of Denver and America so they could
see why the Iraq War must come to an end.
What was most revealing about the event
was that I overheard a member of IVAW talking about how the people seemed
to be desensitized because all the police were around regulating IVAW’s
action. The police did, in fact, have an effect that led many people
to think, “Oh, this is just another one of those protest events people
have been having.”
The effect that people may have seen
on crowds in YouTube videos just wasn’t happening.
This was a well-planned action and I
was part of the civilian training. I ended up handing out fliers so
that they could have a legal buffer. If fliers are not handed out, they
could be accused of violating anti-terrorism laws. They have to notify
the people that this is not really happening.
Right now, it could, however, because
the military is stationed at Johnson & Wales right now ready to
deploy at any moment. Things could become like Iraq if the authorities
felt they needed to come down hard on protesters. “Gitmo on the Platte”
is ready to welcome protesters with open arms.
Hillary supporters are doing everything
they can to get Hillary more attention. Or, maybe they just want attention.
Several marches have taken place where Hillary supporters march down
Denver’s busiest area for foot traffic, 16th St. Mall, condemning
Howard Dean for asking Hillary’s delegates to be released to Obama.
And, Hillary Supporters for McCain have marched too.
Yet, they aren’t nearly as bad as the
Christofascists. And again, I have another story. While I was on my
way to the bus, I came across a group of them trying to take on Sunsara
Taylor. Taylor was explaining why women should have the right to choose
and why this whole issue of being against abortion goes deeper than
that—It’s really about this whole theocratic program Americans wish
to impose on other Americans and that should not be allowed to happen.
The police created a buffer zone between
the two main groups. The anti-abortion extremists, who have been interrupting
caucuses and delegate events here in Denver, were on one side of the
street while those opposed to the Bush Program stood on the other side.
The police have been infiltrating protests.
My friend Ashley was a part of a protest in Civic Center Park in Denver
last night. She saw a few police with Nikes on who were throwing up
peace signs and not talking very much. Everybody knows everybody at
these protests (so I’m told) and so the fact that nobody knew who
these people were blew their cover.
A First Amendment lawyer, Larry Hildes,
who was among the protesters told the Denver Daily News that the police
mishandled the entire situation.
“I think they created the entire mess
out of nothing,” said Hildes. And he went on to explain that the “cops
are trained in fear-based techniques, which aren’t appropriate for
“peaceful protests.” “This was not a crowd-control situation,
they made it into one.”
So, for all you who updated yourself
on protest news through Google this morning, what happened last night
was instigated. And it’s much like what Paul Joseph Watson over at InfoWars.com predicted.
The Denver Post ticker that runs across
the Denver Post building in downtown reads like this: “Guerrilla theater
shuts down traffic on 19th St.”, “Huge protest sign is taken down”,
“Protesters disrupt traffic flow on Colfax”, etc. These headlines
are intentionally vague.
The Rage Against the Machine Concert
at the Denver Coliseum is tomorrow followed by the Open the Debates
Nader Super Rally.
What’s happening inside the DNC? Politicians
are giving speeches filled with empty rhetoric.
What’s happening outside? Leaders from
the antiwar movement and other social movements are mobilizing people
to insert some moral clarity into the atmosphere in Denver while the
Democrats are in town.
Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College
in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary
filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary
called “Seriously Green” which traces the development of the
Green Party throughout the 2008 election.