As California's 54 electors met upstairs to cast their ballots for Al Gore, the voices of democracy activists filled the chambers of the Capitol Building. Over 200 demonstrators chanting "Our democracy is under attack, what do we do, Rise up, fight back!" marched through the building where California's legislature meets.

Demonstrators, representing groups like the Green Party and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), raised more than just the issue of an election stolen by or from a particular candidate. The unifying issue for these demonstrators was a corrupt U.S. electoral system that they say keeps their voices from being heard. Signs such as "Abolish the Electoral College" and "Demand Real Democracy Now," were a common sight during the rally.

Demonstrators seemed particularly concerned about racial issues raised in Election 2000. The NAACP has documented accounts of the disenfranchisement of black and Hispanic voters across the country. Chanting, "Stop racists at the polls, the system is full of holes" and "Jim Crow has got to go," activists stayed in the rotunda for about ten minutes.

The situation became momentarily tense when officers from the California Highway Patrol blocked off the stairs leading to the second story of the building. Demonstrators had spent the first few minutes marching around the rotunda and through a designated area of the building. When the peaceful marchers returned to the rotunda, they attempted to climb the stairs to the second story.

Officers immediately blocked the demonstrator's passage, first on one set of stairs, then on the other. Citing a fear that the peaceful demonstrators were too rowdy, officers blocked the stairway, thereby disallowing the people the right to peaceably assemble and to petition their government for redress of their grievances.

Medea Benjamin led the rally and demonstration. Medea is no stranger to controversy surrounding elections. As co-founder of Global Exchange, she has acted as an independent election observer in several Central American elections. She had just recently returned from Florida, where she had assisted in recounts in the contested presidential election. Her recent bid for the U.S. Senate as a Green Party candidate in California saw her closed from debates, ignored by the corporate media, and arrested.

The crowd cheered when Media told them that, "I think that even though we didn't get all the way upstairs, the electors heard us."

If the electors were listening, the final chant let them know that this was only the beginning of the new democracy movement in the United States. "We'll be back" filled the rotunda as the demonstrators marched back to the stairs on the West Side of the Capitol building.

The demonstration was winding down when an activist who identified herself as Marla emerged from the building. She stated that she had seen the Governor upstairs and had asked him to come out and talk to the people. He refused and brushed past her. A few minutes later she was accosted by security, which asked for her ID. She told them that, since she does not have the millions of dollars needed to make an appointment with the governor, this was her only chance to speak to him. She was released, and so no arrests were made.

The rally was followed by an electoral reform strategy session held in the Capitol Building.

Does anyone know of any protests being held soon against the Supreme COurt decision?

As a child of the '60's I watched nightly both the protests of the peacelovers and the body count rise. Both of these numbers seemed to swell both independantly of each other yet parallel.. They were analogous each other in another key correlation- the people watching this madness unfold on national television every night became anesthetized to both the numbers of dead (unless of course it was Your son, grandson, etc) and to the sight of another screaming horde of the young enveloped in clouds of teargas supplied oh-so-generously by the stormtroopers.
In a visual medium such as television, one green body bag looks the same as every other- as does each throng of a thousand marching hippies with signs. It began to seem as if the stations were simply replaying the news from the night before, the only changing aspect being in location.
The extraordinary became mundane - until Kent State.
As I watched the film clips of the Seattle protests I felt transported back in time. Many survivors of the '60's felt the same. There were two noted differences though between then and now. Then there was a common focus- a laser beam of energy, action and thought directed at a discernable end point. The other difference is that somehow the stormtroopers are much more frightening in deportment, arms, and strength. It is as if they have been trained for this for years and years in expectation of an eventual rebellion by people who are waking up to the truths of the world. Perhaps they have been.
Unfortunately for the peacelovers, we have not. What we can do at this point is look to the mistakes made- and learn from them. Another mass of screaming protesters will not make a statement on the national conscious. It simply gives the fascists more ammunition to use against us- as they have so many times... and gives the infiltrators an opening, as happened at the RNC.
Many who are holding center stage currently are the ones who years ago began the process leading up to this point in history. Understand that they have decades of experience in handling us. They look at us as children tossing tantrums in the corner. And when we have seemingly disparate issues-we are in several corners, divided; all too predictable in our actions.We need to close these gaps- womens rights, the environment, economic imbalance, sweat shops, race etc. etc. and realize that all of these issues add up to One issue. That issue is the same as the one fought for in the 1960's -
Life vs. Death.
The ones who have orchestrated this coup are Pro-Death.. Let this be our focus:
The Death of democracy, the Death of Freedom. The same bell is being tolled for us all.
That being so- then I propose a March of Mourning- a Funeral dirge.
The protestors in Washington and elsewhere should - EN-MASS - dress in black from head to toe, paint thier faces white in unity, and walk in TOTAL silence -carrying no banners, no posters.. Instead, carry coffins: coffins draped in black cloth bearing one word -DEMOCRACY- in letters as scarlet as the blood of those who have died in defending it.
At the moment of the Coronation of King George the thousands of protestors should - as ONE body- silently turn thier backs on the scene of the crime.
I can think of no stronger visual or visceral impact than this. A silent, unified condemnation that would be utterly horrifying to the Pro-Death people.
This way there can be no infiltration of ranks - there can be no censure by those who would want to call us 'rioters' and 'anarchists'- and no arrests or beatings that 'they' seem to delight in.
And for those watching, an indelible image to contemplate.

Yes, there will be a massive demonstration against not only the Supreme Court decision, but the entire coup now successfully achieved by the Bush family and the military corporate complex that is behind it. Planning meetings are now underway for anti-inaugural events in Los Angeles for J20.....the next meeting being held at 7 PM on Weds. Dec. 27th at the community room of Lafayette Community Center, 625 Lafayette Park Place in LA. (between Wilshire and Hoover). Already on board are the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Americans for Democratic Action, Arts In Action, various labor unions, the Int'l Socialist Organization, the Campaign to End the Dealth Penalty and the LA Weekly. Those that have shown an interest in this action are: People for the American Way, the Sierra Club, NOW and the NAACP. We are just awaiting official word on their involvement....difficult with the holiday in between. This will probably make the DNC look tame in comparison. Please pass it on!

As the original designated moderator of TrustThePeople-Sacramento and co-organizer of our first two successful demonstrations on 11/11 and 18, I must add to the above article....

Yes, the rally and demonstration on 12/18 was absolutely a tremendous success! The speakers and various orgs' representation was absolutely uplifting after such a long haul post fraudulent elections. I made some wonderful contacts, too, for our cause.

I must admit that the resouding voices chanting all the way to the top of the Capitol Dome was exhilerating; HOWEVER, our entry into the inside of the building WAS NOT included in the Demonstration permit and therefore could have jeopardized future permits being issued. I have already spoken with the officer in charge of issuing permits and have promised adherence to the standards of public demonstrations in the future.

We are in extremely treacherous times today in this post faux-election and must take care to follow the law to the tee, whether or not our adversaries care to or not. Personally, as co-moderator of TrustThePeople-Sacramento, I imp;ore upon all of you to use our Democracy AND MAKE IT WORK!... the way it is supposed to.

It ain't over till it's over and the fat lady has cancelled ALL of her rehearsals!....

Feel free to contact me; you have my e-mail address and phone/ fax #.

Be wary!
Billy Downing