I was just informed of this. PRO-BUSH THUGS ARE BEATING PEOPLE UP.

I repeat: a week ago Saturday, at the Westwood (L.A.) Federal Building, FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN WERE BEATEN UP BY PRO-BUSH THUGS. YES, THE CHILDREN WERE BEATEN UP TOO. I was just told this by an eyewitness.

THERE WAS NO MEDIA COVERAGE. THERE WAS NO MENTION OF IT ON ANY "PROGRESSIVE" LISTSERV I KNOW OF. I just found out today, a week after the fact.

WHERE IS THE MOVEMENT??????

This is now a FREE-SPEECH issue. This is like 1932, in that gangs of thugs are being encouraged by their apparent "success" in shaping the course of events. Intimidation in Miami-Dade, outright violence here!

In January, people stood up for Food Not Bombs at Pershing Square. In August, people stood up for the right to demonstrate at Staples Center. This is NOT less important!

NO ONE must EVER be physically assaulted at the Federal Building, EVER AGAIN!!! Brave words, let's make them true!

Yes, I know people are still mad about the DNC. Yes, I know people are still angry about how the Gore campaign treated the Nader campaign. Yes, I know many activists in L.A. are anarchists or socialists or somethingorotherists who don't believe in "bourgeois majoritarian elections." Yes, I know many people (including me!) think Gore deserves whatever he gets. But do WE, THE PEOPLE, deserve this??? NO!!!!!

This is NOT a time for revolutionary elitism, or for childish peevishness! Do not consent in the withdrawal of democratic rights from the millions of men and women who are not leftists and still believe (the silly suckers!) in voting and elections!

Just today I talked to someone who is just back from Cuba. The Cubans are amazed that there aren't thousands of people shutting down the streets right now!

After all, if the proto-fascists disguised as conservatives can steal the country, WHO DO YOU THINK THEY'LL COME FOR FIRST?

In the 1930's, the German Communist Party under Willie Munzenberg refused to make common cause with the liberals and the socialists in order to stop the Nazis. They would not ally themselves with the "social-fascists." At that time the fascist thugs were big, powerful and had a lot of "street power," just as they do now. They clearly needed to be stopped. But Willie and many or most of his comrades ended up dying in the concentration camps. Enough said.

If anybody out there agrees, throw me an e-mail. A few of us want to hold some fair elections protests that are not dominated by Nader-baiting Gore-ites.

Do you believe everything that you hear?

I've been at the Westwood Federal building for the last five weekends drumming with the Urban Rhythm Volunteers

http://www.rokcircle.com/rhythmvolunteers.htm and from what I've witnessed and heard the Rethuglicans have not physically beat anyone up. They have, however, through their extreme right cultish organization Free Republic, been outnumbering democracy advocates and the "count every vote" people by 10 to 1.

It shouln't take hearsay and rumor to engage the Spirit of Seattle over this voting issue. I don't consider myself left or right, but I will fight for what's left of democracy in North America and unite in solidarity with democrats over the importance of fairly counting every vote. I hold direct democracy as a vision, but untill it is a reality in this country I intend to resist the Republican efforts to defeat what democracy we do have, even if it's representational. The Free Republic Resmuglicans have witnessed a very poor showing by the Left in Los Angeles regarding this issue. As someone who marched every day during the DNC protests, who wore an anti-Gore Oxy Out of U'wa Land T-shirt, and as a green anarchist who somehow found himself poking out the Green Party chad (I think!) on my computer punch card, I will continue to drum and chant and resist the growing anti-democracy movement in America... in solidarity now with Democrats. The true freedom of anarchism, in my mind, will never be achieved without building bridges and creating solidarity with all people willing to fight for democray. The shadows of election corruption are surfacing, both Democrats and Republicans guilty of casting them, but when the line is drawn in the dirt, as it's now being drawn in our partisan courts, I stand on the side of counting every vote. I have heard more than once from Free Republic star spangled mouths that "America is a republic not a democracy". Them's fightin words to me! (Non-violent, that is.) They are correct, but is it something to be proud of? To wave a flag about? The American Revolution is not yet over, nor will it ever be over, till American IS a true democracy. That's when you'll find me waving its flag. Till then, let's count the damn votes!

I agree that we need a coordinated movement within the Left to counteract the Right's movements. Why hasn't this happened already? Why can the Right galvanize people, materials and media coverage in a short time, while the Left has to struggle to gain a coalition and has to fight tooth and nail to get any type of coverage?

I argue that we have to use the Right's tactics against them. For once, the fractured Left has to come together under a common cause, setting aside our differences with the realization that IT'S OKAY TO DISAGREE. Here's the process as I see it:

(1) Pick the cause. The cause du jour is voter disenfranchisement and the Republican swiping of the election. I think most of the Left can agree on this issue.

(2) Form a single coalition. One must realize that soveringty is not yielded when you enter into a coalition. This means Greens, Dems, Anarchists, social justice groups, etc. all have to work together, using everyone's resources. Remember, disagreement can be respectful and helpful. Greens, don't hate the Dems for their treatment fo Nader. Anarchists, don't look at this as an endorsement of the power structure. LEt's work together first to see what we can accomplish.

(3) Structure, structure, structure. The advantage of the Right is that they have well-structured organizations. That means that orders pass through a strict hierarchy, which each individual having a specified task. They have a cadre of spin doctors. They have journalists working on a common issue.

I'm not saying we need a strict hierarchy, but we need focus. We need things like a group of media representatives. We need to have an individual who can represent our view on a particular issue to the media in a clear and articulate way.

The problem as I see it is that we're all talking at once, saying different things. Imagine the impact of a single message delievered by a majority (Nader voters + Gore voters) of Americans.

(4) Tools of the Trade. Protests do not seem to be working. The mass media can ignore us by "fetishizing the irrelevant" (Ted Rall). This means they can marginalize us because we don't wear suits and have funny hair. Through the Dems we have political access. Through the Greens and social justice groups we have grassroots access. We lack a public relations wing that can rival the Right's ability to disseminate misleading information in a short period of time. This does not mean endorsing the mass media, but ather recognizing the influence it has and using it to our advantage. WE MUST FOSTER CONTACTS WITHIN THE MEDIA!! We must have a recognizable person or group of persons available to talk to the media whenever we need to disseminate something. We must look camera-friendly (nicely dressed, well-articulated positions). Again, this is not to say that conformity is good or even desirable, but in order to get in on the ground level, we have to play by certain rules.

We also need a cadre of lawyers who believe in our cause and are willing to be available on a moment's notice. As we have seen, the judicial branch can be used against us.

(5) Respect for authority. We are also going to have to foster relationships with the police. The antagonistic methods used thus far have sparked violence, but this has failed to cause a shout or whimper of protest to rise up from the masses. Instead of viewing the police as the enemy, we should view them as another tool. Much like the media can be manipulated, we can manipulate the police forces as well. Why aren't there any riots when the Right has a protest? Close ties with the police, and they give them respect.

(6)Shout early, shout often. We are far behind the Right in their vocal opposition to counting votes. We need to get up to speed quickly. Once we have a coalition formed, we must raise our voices often. It must be a drumbeat that sounds throughout the land repeatedly. Repetition is the most basic form of propaganda, something which the Right is quite adept at (listen to how many times they say there have already been so many recounts). Focus allows us to hone our message and to repeat it so that everyone UNDERSTANDS our position.

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I know that there are thousands of issues more pressing than this one that weigh heavily upon us. Listen, those issues must and will be addressed. But we need a forum in which to raise these issues. Forming a coalition around a single issue lays the foundation for further discussion on these more pressing issues. We don't know how strong we are. We don't know who are friends are. This is an issue the Left can rally around without too much dissent (*I think*).

We need this to happen fast. Start contacting everyone within a group that you know. Contact SOMEONE. Tell them to contact people in other groups. It'll spread across the country.

LET'S GO!

My source was someone who I regard as a trustworthy source--someone who is truthful and, in fact, is disdainful of hyperbole and propaganda (and didn't vote for Gore).

This person also has a tendency to show up late at rallies--not just a little late, but OBSCENELY, CHRONICALLY LATE. In fact, this person more often than not shows up at the end of rallies, after most witnesses have gone home and the people who are left are most vulnerable.

At the END of rallies is when people get surrounded, outnumbered and beat up. It always happens that way. That's how even a person who attends every rally may not get to see it....but a latecomer might.

COME ON PEOPLE!!! Is it SO hard to believe that the Republicans and conservatives have beaten people up at their demonstrations? THEY HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT.

They beat up dissidents at Reagan re-election rallies in Orange County in '84.

They skinned my elbow at a pro-police rally in Riverside in '96.

They beat up anyone they even SUSPECTED of being pro-Vietnamese government in Westminster in early '99 (and the media winked at it). Same thing in Miami during the Elian crisis.

The anti-immigrant VCT would always physically assault people with dissenting voices (and that was BEFORE they claimed they were "attacked" by leftists in Westwood in '96).

It's not a stretch when somebody tells me they're doing it now as well. I believe it, and I'm as outraged as ever, but more outraged over the quiescence of the "movement."

This type of brutal, vicious behavior is all too typical of the right-wing mindset. The proof is that liberals and mild socialists do NOT get violent when conservative dissidents try to infiltrate their rallies. For instance, at the very FIRST post-election Westwood rally, which was nearly all liberal or leftist "Count Every Vote" protesters, there was a lone young man supporting Bush. He was verbally harrassed, made fun of, and argued with, but nobody touched him. (And he attracted a disproportionate share of the media coverage.)

STOP THE RIGHT-WING THUGGERY NOW!!!!!!

Tom,

I was there at the Federal Building a week ago Sat.,

from 1:30PM till dark, long after all the Free Republic and Bush supporters had left. We had that night a candlelight vigil. There was no mugging that day or night by either side. If the Bush league had beaten up on children, believe me, we would have quickly reported it to the Federal Police who were also there the whole time. And we would have gladly reported it to the news agencies.

That day did have it's angry confrontations, from both sides, and a bit of shoving in front of the news cameras. But nothing on the level of children getting beaten up. It seems to me that you are stoking the wrong kind of fire here. My thought is that if you care to further stoke it, then get a written deposition from your source, with specifics of time and place and post that. I will then pass it on to the others who were there to see if they can verify it as witnesses.

respectfully,

Jon Sherman

The left used to be powerful, before I was born. Apparently the right had to try harder to neutralize what they saw as the evil of the New Deal, then in the 60s they were handed the two hot-button issues of abortion and school prayer that allowed them to use the churches to organize. You can't underestimate the importance of having this existing infrastructure in place. The churches also had a lot to do with organizing the early Civil Rights Movement.

More recently, the right has taken over AM talk radio, largely because nobody else wanted it. Even more recently still, the right has taken over most mainstream media by promising a business status quo for the economic rapacity of its huge owners.

This history is just to show that the left is now in the position where it has to try harder. We've seen the response to Seattle, which is paramilitary oppression by the police everywhere anyone bands together in the street to exercise their right to dissent. Seattle was good, but there has to be more.

The left should define several priorities. As I see these, they are (in order):

Take back the language. Neutralize the right's deconstruction of the words we use. Make English communicate real information again.

Agree to disagree. Define an agenda, develop arguments and tactics, then execute them. For example, I'm a technogeek and I don't agree with a lot of what anarchists have to say, but I consider myself in common solidarity and struggle with enough of their agenda that if anyone asked, I'd naturally say I supported them.

Get people mad at the real enemy instead of at the left. We're in several crises right now. Besides the constitutional crisis brought on by the exposure of what a sham American "democracy" is, there's also a huge energy shortage nobody's talking about, even though it's the direct consequence of corporate greed and bogus advertising claims. We own both of these issues, and they are huge issues.

Get the media involved. As I see it, the situation resembles what happens when UCLA plays football in Nebraska. They play the referees along with the football team. They have to try much harder than the home team. The media's the same way. They're whores, but like all whores they can be co-opted.

Struggling on,

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