From Denver to St. Paul: From One Twilight Zone to Another

DENVER, August 28 – Welcome to the twilight zone where clouds part, weapons are put away, anarchists weep with joy over electoral politics, Ron Kovic pushes away a Code Pink woman during a photo shoot with riot cops because the shoot “was just for service people—people who've served our country,” riot cops taking group photo shoots of each other, demonstrators congratulating police for their “professionalism” and, amidst the heavenly light, Jesus(!)—no, wait—it's IVAW negotiating with Denver's “finest” in order to deliver a note to the Democrats! For the record, I've decided to eat meat and renounce veganism, vote Democrat, wave American flags, and buy a hummer.

Last night, Iraq Veterans against the War finished their march to the Pepsi Center at which they were able to deliver their demands (health care for veterans, immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and reparations for Iraqis) to Obama’s veterans’ affairs head Phil Carter. They were able to do this in a nonviolent manner without the use of civil disobedience. As one friend said to me last night, IVAW had set goals and were able to accomplish those goals because of good demonstration strategy. The last thing the Obama Campaign wanted splashed all over the front pages of every newspaper in the country were the veterans being tear gassed, pepper sprayed and beat-up by police as they attempted to gain entrance to the Pepsi Center in order to be heard. It was quite the spectacle. IVAW secures their goal of a meeting with the Obama people and the Obama people look good because they appear willing to listen and ready to act. But let's not forget the riot cops; they look good because they restrained their monopoly on violence due to the negotiations between police, Obama people, and the veterans.

My feeling was that the IVAW goal was a small step toward something bigger in the electoral arena—no, the war did not end last night, we did not pay reparations to Iraqis, and health care is still being denied to thousands of veterans (and millions of Americans). For all their “professionalism” the police have tear gassed, pepper-sprayed, beat-up, rubber-bulleted, preemptively arrested, detained, intimidated, harassed, heckled, and controlled demonstrators to the best of their ability, while engaging in public masturbation with their "less-than-lethal" weaponry.

After the veterans announced they delivered their message and were given the possibility of meeting directly with the delegates and Obama himself, people just suddenly broke down and started crying; these were demonstrators of every stripe from anarchists to progressive democrats to the kids who went to the Rage show. The emotional display was replete with tears, weeping, hugging, kissing, people raising the peace sign in the air, people saying things like “We won!” and “Victory!”

We won? Victory?

Isn’t this—the right to petition the government for redress of grievances—supposed to be the rule and not the exception?

Did I miss something? My friend said she felt like she was having a bad trip—the kind where everyone else is high and you're sitting there waiting for shit to kick in and it just doesn't. We've won very little if anything. Folks were grasping at the hope that politicians, corporations, and the military would hear their cries and stop this war. It felt like a last ditch effort to pull the illusion back over our eyes—that because Obama listened to these vets that America, apple pie, pick-up trucks, and capitalist-democracy would all be saved.

I'm not trying to belittle to goals of IVAW; I guess I can understand their tears of joy. I guess it's everyone else that blew my mind.

I've been grappling with these feelings all day. I'm still trying to get a handle on why I feel betrayed. Betrayed? Is that the word? I'm sickened that people seem perfectly able to be at peace with a militarized police force occupying Denver. Worse, they congratulate them, hug them, get pictures; the whole thing was utter spectacle.

Video: DNC PROTESTS BRING THE WAR HOME

I saw a video piece today (see above), a comparative montage of IVAW doing their street theatre and the exact same tactics being used by police in real situations. The two narratives were remarkably similar. Perhaps that's what's disturbing to me? The fact that a lot of IVAW members are not revolutionary means that they could become revolutionary or revert back to a culturally normative lifestyle. They are in fact in opposition to a dominant context that they've been directly involved in—a war they were actively engaged in fighting waged by a government they see as acting illegally. With the changing of the guard—so to say—this means that these former troops may have the ability to be re-assimilated into a culture of domination with open arms. The structures of authority as well as the tactics of control are the same. With some or all concessions met like the end of this war, who's to say what will happen? Perhaps that will be enough for these folks and others to re-assimilate into the dominator culture of American society. My hope is that they keep resisting. Even if the Iraq war ends, there are plenty of other wars and oppressions our fellow human beings are dealing with on a constant basis.

September 2nd: The RNC in St. Paul, MN

With only a few days left of the RNC, I went back to this piece to end it. But it really doesn't end. You see, the war still rages, the police are raiding private residences and work spaces (Video: Police Raid and Detainment of I-Witness Journalists) and snatching people off the streets, various chemical weapons and other forms of torture (Video: Detainee alleges torture in Ramsey County jail) have been routinely used on demonstrators in St. Paul, surveillance cameras used for "quality of life" policing were used to monitor and direct paramilitary forces in the streets, and all the while, the mayor and police chief stood happily in front of their press conference cheerily saying that the "criminal element" has been effectively dealt with and that there has been no excessive force used. Yet, in St. Paul and Denver, we had paramilitary forces working in league with military forces wearing unmarked uniforms, which will make things that much harder when attempting to hold individuals accountable for civil and human rights violations.

So why have these police and paramilitary forces used excessive force with such impunity? Ryan Foley of the Associated Press reported that the city of St. Paul was able to broker a deal with the Republican National Committee whereby the RNC would pay the first $10 million dollars of all civil lawsuits. That’s $10 million in addition to the $50 million federal security allotment given to the city. It’s also a first in the history of convention security.

"It's an extraordinary agreement. Now the police have nothing to hold them back from egregious behavior," said Michelle Gross, who leads Communities United against Police Brutality.

It's actually very hard to describe the fear and feelings of loss of freedom due to the level of repression and stress in this city; at any moment you could be stopped and detained and then arrested, your business or home could be raided as you sleep, your video and journalism equipment could be confiscated, cameras could be legally stolen by police, and, and, and, I could just go on. The point is that the police are no longer functioning as police; they are functioning as military units and treating folks in these borders as enemies.

The IVAW march in Denver and the accolades and emotion after it mean nothing to me. If anything, the march and its limited goals coupled with the aftermath of emotion and joviality with riot cops simply reinforced the desensitization process whereby people become accustomed to surveillance cameras on every light post and riots cops on every corner.

The prevailing logic seems to be: If someone's home is raided or someone is taken out on the street, they deserve it. I see this reaction here, I see it in Rochester, and I've seen it elsewhere. The point, according to one friend, is not to simply "smash the state" and chant "this is what democracy looks like" but rather to create new connections and frameworks with institutions while simultaneously critiquing and self-critiquing our processes, our ideas, and the ways they are implemented. From that position a potentially new kind of society could be created.