Democracy for New Mexico

"Security" Thugs Strike Again: Taser Student at FL Kerry Event

A University of Florida student was roughly seized, handcuffed, tasered and arrested yesterday by six campus police officers during a campus forum in Gainesville. Journalism student Andrew Meyer, 21, was grabbed after asking Sen. John Kerry a series of questions about documented election fraud in 2004 contained in Greg Palast's book Armed Madhouse, impeachment and Kerry's membership in Skull and Bones. According to an article in the Florida , Meyer was charged with a third-degree felony for "starting a riot." (Click to see more citizen-produced videos of events surrounding this arrest.)

What's particularly disturbing to me is how Kerry continued to hold forth on stage while this was going on and how most of the students sat there like sheep. Some even applaud the arrest. I guess the unending quest for "order" trumps any right folks may think they have to say what they want at an open mic at a public question and answer session at a public university.

This fiasco comes on the heels of the recent arrest of activists putting up signs about the DC antiwar March in DC, the tackling and arrest of Rev. Yearwood at the U.S. Capitol outside the Petraeus hearing, the Elevator 9 trial in Albuquerque and the nasty treatment given peaceful demonstrators in Albuquerque last Saturday. Of course there have been many similar incidents during Bush's time in office, from banning mildly critical teeshirts at presidential events to setting up "free speech zones" miles from presidential appearances.

I guess the message is that everyone should keep quiet (even at college student forums), acquiesce immediately to any and all orders from "law enforcement," no matter how out of line, and refrain from gathering peaceably to challenge the government. I'm willing to bet this is just the beginning of the clampdown to come as Bush and his cronies prepare to attack Iran. How about you?

Of course when you have The Decider and his cronies wantonly trashing the Constitution, Geneva Conventions and any number of laws, it communicates down the chain that lawlessness on behalf of the "authorities" is perfectly all right. Ignoring first amendment rights becomes standard operating procedure. Refusing to see any difference between passionate but protected speech and "terrorism" or "inciting riots" becomes the norm. Rough arrests replace handling incidents with any degree of discretion or restraint. Anyone daring to express themselves in ways not to the liking of those in power is viewed as dangerous, disruptive and subject to the kind of treatment usually reserved for violent criminals. And even prominent Democrats stand idly by as it happens. Drip, drip, drip.

ABQ Cops Bait, Badger, Ticket Peaceful Protestors

Lots of reports circulating about Saturday's peaceful demonstration against the Iraq occupation near the Truman gate at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. Mounted police push abruptly into the crowd on the sidewalk. Cops yell out childish insults like "take a bath" and "shave your armpits" at the perfectly legal demonstrators, many of whom were seniors, exercising their first amendment rights. Read all about it.

One officer with a juvenile taste in messaging shouts "Go Bush" from the loudspeaker of a squad car. Goons ticket only those vehicles that bear bumperstickers on a street where people have often parked during previous demonstrations in the same location, and where no signs prohibiting parking were evident. A man is arrested and held for a long period in a squad car with all the windows closed and no AC.

Albuquerque police overstep their bounds and acti like boorish louts, even after demonstration organizers had reportedly negotiated and cooperated with law enforcement officials on all aspects of the demonstration.

Who gave the order to antagonize and bait peaceful protestors this time around? Hey Mayor Marty Chavez, know anything about this? Most all, what are you going to say and do about it? Especially on this day -- Constitution Day? Click to contact Mayor Chavez or members of his staff.

This isn't professional law enforcement, it's harrassment and mean-spirited, in your face citizen baiting. Public officials take oaths to serve and protect the Constitution, not impose their own particular political prejudices on citizens exercising their rights. Clearly, the perpetrators of this latest law enforcement outrage should be called on it and reprimanded by their superiors, in no uncertain terms, as quickly as is humanly possible. No excuses.

NM ACLU Reacts to Sweeps of Border Immigrant Communities

From the American Civil Liberties Union of NM:
LAS CRUCES, NM—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico condemned recent immigration raids by Otero and Doña Ana County Sheriff's deputies in the border towns of Chaparral and Vado today. The local police agencies are assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to conduct sweeps of immigrant neighborhoods, knocking on doors and checking identification. Authorities also are stopping motorists and entering private businesses. 

The ACLU is investigating multiple reports that sheriff's deputies retrieved children from schools and entered homes without consent or warrants. The ACLU has filed public records requests with both sheriff’s departments seeking information about the collaboration with federal immigration agencies.

“This is irresponsible policing,” said Maria Nape, Director of the ACLU's Border Rights office. “Immigrants in these communities may never again trust that they can report crimes to sheriff’s deputies, even if they are the victims. When local police become border patrol agents, it rips a hole in the fabric of public safety that takes years to mend. It’s not just immigrants that are affected.”

The raids stem from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program called "Operation Stonegarden" which gave New Mexico roughly $1.6 million in support of local law enforcement participation in immigration enforcement along the border. In total, the four Southwest border states received $12 million in grant awards.

“These raids are symptomatic of the same reactionary policies that have failed to address nationwide concerns about immigration for decades,” Nape said.  “Do we want to live in a country that makes life so intolerable for hundreds of thousands of families who live and work here that they leave? Or would we rather live in an America that brings immigrants out of the shadows of society and enables them to be taxpaying, contributing citizens?

Download the public records requests: https://www.aclu-nm.org/News_Events/news_9_14_07.html

The mission of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is to maintain and advance the cause of civil liberties within the state of New Mexico, with particular emphasis on the freedom of religion, speech, press, association, and assemblage, and the right to vote, due process of law and equal protection of law, and to take any legitimate action in the furtherance and defense of such purposes. These objectives shall be sought wholly without political partisanship. For more information, visit us on the web: www.aclu-nm.org.

Visit the ACLU of New Mexico's new blog. To donate to the ACLU of New Mexico securely online, click here.

Weenie Cops. Weenie Skelton. Too Many Weenie Dems.

Remember when they used to be called "peace officers"? That was back in an era when many cops saw their job as doing just that -- keeping the peace. Now too many, even among the U.S. Capitol security force, apparently just look for excuses to gang tackle people and knee them while they're down. And do they really have to tightly handcuff everyone they are arresting or escorting out? That used to be reserved for legimately dangerous people. I guess anyone with enough gumption to mention they have rights is considered a dangerous person now. Unfortunately the really dangerous people are in the White House and the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House and the Department of Justice and testifying before Congressional committees.

Peaceful Reverend Gang Tackled
This makes me hissing mad. The video above captures the incredibly rough arrest of Rev. Lennox Yearwood outside the Petraeus hearing room today. Here's an account of what happened. He was doing absolutely nothing threatening that I can determine. He was merely asserting to the officers that he had a perfect right to be in the hearing room after waiting all morning in line. Which he did. I wonder who made up the arbitrary rule that no more than seven "peace people" could be in the hearing room. I wonder who defined the characteristics that define "peace people" and who told the cops to gang tackle Yearwood. Was it Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton? Was it other Dems on the committee? Or did they just sit idly by and ignore it?

Ike Skelton, Friend of the War Profiteers
Of course it's not unexpected that Skelton, long in the pocket of the defense corp profiteers, would rather have "peace people" manhandled and would rather say dismissive things to citizens against the war in the crowd than call out Petraeus and Crocker as the spinners and yes men they are.  Skelton was more than happy to get people tossed out of the hearing room with a scowl and a grumble. We aren't "his people" -- those in the "defense establishment" are.

I don't begrudge him having the protestors escorted out after they were warned about outbreaks, but he could have done it with respect for those working so hard to get our troops home and some meager sense of sanity restored in Washington. He or another Dem on the committee could have said something like, "I regret being forced to have you removed because I identify with your frustration and anger with an administration and its spinners who have lied us into war and who are continuing to distort the truth." But no, instead he praised Petraeus and Crocker like they were saints and reserved the dirty looks and nasty treatment for the citizens. Us.

They're Supposed to Work for Us
These members of Congress and their Capitol police thugs think we work for them and not the other way around. I think too many believe they are royalty instead of public servants. They need to be reawakened to what their true duties and responsibilities are in a democracy. Like defending the Constitution, just for starters. Like treating people who dissent with respect. Like demanding that the Capitol cops behave like humans instead of thugs. Every Dem in Congress should be shown the video of the gang tackle of a man of the cloth in the halls of our Capitol merely for asserting he has a right to attend a hearing. And every Dem in Congress should protest the action.

I know that's probably too much to ask when massive defense appropriations are at stake in an era so full of hubris and corruption and lies from on high like this one. But it's displays like today's that show the people who their friends are, and who are more concerned about keeping the defense spending earmarks flowing, the status quo going. I predict this kind of rough treatment of our citizens will become more and more the norm as frustration and anger grow on the part of a majority of Americans about a horrible, futile occupation, about the Republicans who put Party loyalty before country, about the Democrats too stuck in the rubble of their own egos to do what they certainly must know is right. Is this the tipping point?

The Domenici Angle
Meanwhile I see that Sen. Pete Domenici is more upset about a MoveOn ad criticizing Petraeus than he is about the continuing slaughter being kept in place to protect Bush from admitting reality. Domenici is showing his usual skewed sense of priorities. As for Petraeus, he declared he wants to withdraw troops next year because things are going so peachy. Oops, I guess he forgot that knowledgeable people on both sides of the aisle have repeatedly said we don't have the troops to continue beyond that point. Spin, General, spin. That fourth star came with a price.

No, Sen. Domenici, we have a right to criticize anyone in our government. Anyone. As for the MoveOn ad, that was paid for by thousands of ordinary people all over the country, not the Democratic "leadership." Just more hypocritical Republican spin. Time to retire, Pete. You're not getting anything right anymore....

First Amendment Rights? What Are Those?

Read the post and watch the video. The horse charge is particularly educational as to what Bush can be expected to do as things worsen: Cops Shut Down Anti-War Press Conference in DC 9.6.2007

Elevator 9 Trial: Guilty

I hope Sen. Pete Domenici, his staff and the federal government feel proud and powerful today after the "win" against Domenici's constituents. For irony's sake, it's just too bad the case wasn't tried in the new federal courthouse instead of the old one. The new one is named after Domenici. As reported in an article in the Albuquerque Journal:

A federal magistrate handed down guilty verdicts Thursday against six anti-war activists who occupied an elevator for more than five hours last year at a federal office building in Santa Fe. Magistrate Don Svet ruled that the activists "unreasonably" blocked access to the elevator when they tried unsuccessfully to deliver an anti-war message to the office of Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

The six defendants were among nine activists who remained on the elevator at the Joseph M. Montoya Federal Building from about 11 a.m. to after 5 p.m. on Sept. 26, 2006. Security guards cut power to the elevator as the activists tried to reach Domenici's third-floor office, witnesses testified.

Each faces a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail and a $5,000 fine for the class C federal misdemeanor offense of failing to comply with signs and directions. Svet said he will hold a sentencing hearing within 30 days. Svet also accepted negotiated plea agreements Thursday from two of the nine activists and ordered each to pay a $25 fine. The two are Bruno Keller and Jan Lustig, both of Santa Fe. Federal prosecutors dropped charges against a ninth activist because he is a juvenile.

The Rev. John Dear, one of the six found guilty Thursday, said Svet's ruling is an attempt to silence anti-war protest. The ruling "sent a very strong signal to people who care about" the Iraq war, Dear said outside a federal court building in Albuquerque after the daylong trial. That message is, "don't speak out against the war," Dear said.

... An attorney for the co-defendants, Todd Hotchkiss of Albuquerque, said in closing that he was "surprised by the pettiness" federal officials showed by cutting power to the elevator when the activists tried to visit Domenici's office. "That response does not speak to the heart of democracy," Hotchkiss said.

... The co-defendants testified that they intended to visit Domenici's office as a group. Guards turned off power to the elevator after the nine entered the car, they said.

I'll bet if a group of Domenici's deep pocket campaign donors wanted to ride up in the elevator to express themselves, his staff would have fallen over backwards to accommodate them. Apparently constituents have to pay to get the Senator's ear. You know how he is.

See our previous post for more info on this case.

Lawless: Tell Congress to Do Their Damned Job

Raise a ruckess. If we don't do it, who will?

American Democracy: Time Has Come Today

I often feel speechless these days, which isn't a natural state for me. But what more can really be said about the eternal, unabated horrors of the Bush administration and its assaults on government accountability, reason, democracy, the Constitution, civil liberties, the rule of law, the environment, the economy and even common decency? It's all been said -- the savaging of so much has been documented infinitely clearly, repeatedly. And there's more new evidence every day.

What's needed is some listening and, most of all, action on the part of people who have the power to do something about this lawless demogogue and his complicit cronies. We need them (if there are any) to get real -- to be as serious about their opposition as BushCo is about its relentless assault on justice and democracy. Without that, we are dead. Our democracy is dead. Our future is dead. The planet is dead.

Instead, we have business as usual in the Congress, business as usual in the traditional media, business as usual in the citizenry, business as usual everywhere. Are we really supposed to content ourselves with weak, toothless, picky complaints about minor, peripheral matters as the infrastructure of self-government implodes in full sight of anyone willing and able raise their eyes to it?

I do it myself. Busy myself with political day-to-day, with the latest wrinkles in the latest political maneuverings, with the minutia of the machine. I convince myself that doing things that might possibly help to mitigate the worst of BushCo's impacts is worth it, at least for now. But with almost zero in the way of genuine, effective or honest responses from our "leaders" and "representatives," how much longer can I keep it up?

I'm sure many of you reading this can relate. We can't afford any more beating around the bush, literally or figuratively. What we need is for people with real power to wake up and use it on behalf of the people and the democracy. As ex-Marine Bruce Clark (whose son is stationed north of Baghdad) said at the recent Iraq Summer event -- this is TREASON, this is TYRANNY. More and more of the people -- some in relatively high places -- are admitting it, yet our public figures and power brokers limp on, murmuring platitudes. We raise our voices, we protest, we petition, we build cases, we attempt to apply pressure but no matter how convincingly or loudly we do these things, the status quo is allowed to carry on or worsen.

There is a sort of deadly paralysis infecting those who should know better, those who know in their hearts they must act now or forever be silent. We can only do so much out here in the hinterlands. Those in the circles of power are the ones who must, at last, LEAD. They must take it all seriously, for what it is: a no-holds-barred attack on our democracy and everything positive it has ever achieved or can achieve. But is it already too late for even that?

Eloquent critic and writer Chris Floyd says it is in his very long, chilling, but eminently logical piece entitled, "Post-Mortem America: Bush's Year of Triumph and the Hard Way Ahead." I can't possibly quote enough for you to get the full flavor, so please do read the entire post. Here are just a few nuggests, to lure you into reading the whole thing:

The Republic you wanted -- and at one time might have had the power to take back -- is finished. You no longer have the power to keep it; it's not there. It was kidnapped in December 2000, raped by the primed and ready exploiters of 9/11, whored by the war pimps of the 2003 aggression, gut-knifed by the corrupters of the 2004 vote, and raped again by its "rescuers" after the 2006 election. Beaten, abused, diseased and abandoned, it finally died. We are living in its grave.

The annus horribilis of 2007 has turned out to be a year of triumph for the Bush Faction -- the hit men who delivered the coup de grâce to the long-moribund Republic. Bush was written off as a lame duck after the Democrat's November 2006 election "triumph" (in fact, the narrowest of victories eked out despite an orgy of cheating and fixing by the losers), and the subsequent salvo of Establishment consensus from the Iraq Study Group, advocating a de-escalation of the war in Iraq. Then came a series of scandals, investigations, high-profile resignations, even the criminal conviction of a top White House official. But despite all this -- and abysmal poll ratings as well -- over the past eight months Bush and his coupsters have seen every single element of their violent tyranny confirmed, countenanced and extended.

What can we do? What can we do? What can we do? Does anyone know the answer? How can we get those in positions of power to act -- appropriately, strongly and now?

In certain circles words like rebellion and revolution and anarchy and resistance are bandied about as necessities, as the only ways to counteract the forces of high tech fascism. But even in these enclaves, there is no movement strong enough to make a dent. There is only more hand-wringing, criticism, fatalism, empty gestures, rote responses. I suppose this post is just more of the same. The truth is, no-one seems to know what to do or how to do it or how to foment it or how to shape it and inspire it.

The war which we were told the Democrats and ISG consensus would end or wind down has of course been escalated to its greatest level yet -- more troops, more airstrikes, more mercenaries, more Iraqi captives swelling the mammoth prison camps of the occupying power, more instability destroying the very fabric of Iraqi society. The patently illegal surveillance programs of the authoritarian regime have now been codified into law by the Democratic Congress, which has also let stand the evisceration of habeas corpus in the Military Commissions Act, and a raft of other liberty-stripping laws, rules, regulations and executive orders. Bush's self-proclaimed arbitrary power to seize American citizens (and others) without charge and hold them indefinitely -- even kill them -- has likewise been unchallenged by the legislators. Bush has brazenly defied Congressional subpoenas -- and even arbitrarily stripped the Justice Department of the power to enforce them -- to no other reaction than a stern promise from Democratic leaders to "look further into this matter." His spokesmen -- and his "signing statements" -- now openly proclaim his utter disdain for representative government, and assert at every turn his sovereign right to "interpret" -- or ignore -- legislation as he wishes.

What we lack are leaders up to the task, no matter where we look, whether within or without. We need a new Martin Luther King, Jr., a new Mahatma, a new Mother Jones, a new Jefferson, a new suffragette city of sorts. I don't sense anything or anyone like that on the horizon, do you? And I certainly don't sense anything truly up to the task within myself. How about you? Can we the people rise at last, bidden or unbidden, and make any difference at all? Isn't there at least intrinsic value in trying something? But what?

Again, as Floyd writes:

... there is no place left for the kind of [civil disobedience] action that Thoreau advocated. His way – and that of Gandhi and King, who took so much from him – envisions a state opponent which one could hope to shame into honorable action by the superior moral force of principled civil disobedience. But the very hallmark of the present regime is its shamelessness, its utter lack of any sense of honor or principle, its bestial addiction to raw power.

Still, there is this, if only this:

So whatever we can do, we must do it ourselves. If we have no power or influence, if we cannot take large actions, then we must take small ones. Every word or action raised against the overthrow of the Republic will find an echo somewhere, from one person to another to another to the next -- each isolated, individual voice slowly finding its way into a swelling chorus of dissent.

We Can't Make It Here Anymore: Labor Day Edition

The mood of the country this Labor Day seems ripe for a little James McMurtry. A house of cards collapsing in on itself because of crooked deals and unpayable debt. "Free" trade robber barons piling up their tax-free bloat. Criminals in the board rooms and government and K Street. We're entrenched in one corporate quagmire war, while another threatens as Bush plots ways to attack Iran. Oh, and here's what our Democratic "leaders" are saying about continuing funding for Iraq. Happy Labor Day 2007. Think I'll head to the mountains, for some grounding.

Visuals: Iraq Summer 'Take a Stand' in Albuquerque

I haven't had a chance to report on the moving and well-attended Take a Stand Town Hall organized in Albuquerque by the Iraq Summer campaign and others. The August 28th event at the UNM Continuing Education Auditorium attracted more than 300 people to hear Albuquerque City Counselor Martin Heinrich; ex-Marine Bruce Clark (videos above), the parent of two sons in the military, one of whom is stationed north of Baghdad right now; Major General Mel Montano, US Air National Guard, Retired, and former Adjunct General of New Mexico; Judy Pratt, activist, former NM State Senator and 1984 U.S. Senate candidate against Pete Domenici; and Greg Richardson of the Iraq Summer campaign.

Both Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson were invited to participate, but refused the invitation to speak with their constituents about what they plan to do to end the carnage in Iraq.

I've compiled images from the Albuquerque event in this photo album for you to check out.

City Councilor Martin Heinrich speaks to crowd

The videos at the top of this post are excerpts of Bruce Clark's extremely emotional and passionate speech. They're of rather poor quality, taken with our little digital camera, but I hope you'll listen to Bruce's words about the real intent of Bush, his cronies and his supporters like Domenici and Wilson. If everyone in New Mexico could hear Bruce speak, I know that most of them would have a clear picture of what's truly at stake here. The other speakers were also excellent, and I'll cover more of what they had to say later. For now, please listen to Mr. Clark and do what you can to convince Domenici and Wilson to do what's right for the country, not what's right for the GOP or the Bush administration.

The event was moderated by Carter Bundy of AFSCME, who did a bang up job, and began with what seemed like an eternity of total silence as we watched a slideshow with the faces and names of members of the military from New Mexico who have died in the war. Lives are at stake. Time is of the essence. And still Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson won't vote to stop the deadly and damaging occupation.

By the way, Iraq Summer, MoveOn, True Majority and others helped organize similar events in many other states around the nation that day. Click to see a slide show of photos from other states.

Help Elect Replacements for Wilson and Domenici
The Beat Back Bush New Mexico page was created at Act Blue to counteract Bush's recent visit to Albuquerque to raise money for Pete Domenici. It's designed to raise donations from New Mexico's progressive netroots-grassroots for candidates who will run against the Republicans here. If you haven't donated yet, there's still time. Contrbute a few bucks to Martin Heinrich and Don Wiviot -- candidates who want to get rid of Heather Wilson and Pete Domenici once and for all in November 2008.

Click to read our previous posts about Beat Back Bush New Mexico.