Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 20:16:47 -0500
From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-tao.ca>
Subject: Fwd: Property deconstruction vs. Pat (kkk) Buchanan




-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Fwd: Property deconstruction vs. Pat (kkk) Buchanan]
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 16:02:00 -0800
From: 2cats <2cats-AT-islandnet.com>
Reply-To: "November 30 International Day of Action" <n30-AT-listbot.com>
To: n30-AT-listbot.com

November 30 International Day of Action - http://www.n30.org

Message-ID: <38530F37.4663-AT-islandnet.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 18:57:59 -0800
From: 2cats <2cats-AT-islandnet.com>
X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0Gold (Win95; U)
To: n30-AT-listbot.com
Subject: Property deconstruction vs. Pat (kkk) Buchanan

Just had to add my 2 bits to this debate on property destruction.

I was in Seattle on N30 and I have to say that I did not find the
graffitti and smashed windows on corporate businesses disturbing in the
least.  The property deconstruction was well targetted, the individuals
doing the mischief were easily identifiable and the entire time (from
9:00am to 5:30pm) I never felt like my safety was threatened by the
black bloc or that they were intent on threatening any other person's
safety. My safety was of course continually threatened by the police.

Lets be clear about this police responce and the media response as well.
The police tear gassed, pepper sprayed and shot at people because they
were interrupting the business of the WTO, not because of graffitti and
broken windows.  

When I got back home from Seattle I watched taped coverage from the
Seattle NBC affiliate on N30.  The media barely mentioned property
destruction the entire day. When they did mention it, it was clear that
they knew it was a small group dressed in black.  What the reporters
kept harping on was the fact that delegates couldn't get through the
blockade.  This was what was pissing off the media/political/business
elites and this is most likely where the pressure came for the cops to
get nasty. The editorials in the Post Intelligencer and in local
Canadian papers focused on the disruption of the blockade and our lack
of civic pride, not on the black bloc.

Don't forget that in Vancouver at APEC the police pepper sprayed
protesters without ANY provocation and arrested activists without
charge. No property destruction here, just more violent cops and the
state doin' its part for global capital.

As far as property destruction dividing the struggle, lets all talk
about that shall we.  Far more disturbing to me than any property
destruction debate is the absence of debate around revelations that IFG
and Public Citizen both courted that fucking racist homophob Pat
Buchanan. While I'm not computer savvy enough to set up a link, the info
I got came from Arm The Spirit (ats-AT-locust.etext.org) and was written by
Dutch group "De Fabel Van De Illegaal".  Now this may be old news to
everyone else on this listserve but I only heard about this 10 days ago.

According to the article "Marriage Partyy of the left and the right"
Mike Dolan of Public Citizen admitted to them in an email that yes they
are courting Buchanan and his supporters because "whatever else you say
about Pat Buchanan, he will be the only candidate in the 2000
presidential sweepstakes who will passionately and unconditionally
defend the legitimated expectations of working families in the global
economy."   

Oh really. Like Jewish families, who according to Buchanan control all
the "big capital" and whose geneocide under the Nazis was wasn't "really
that big of an event". Or maybe those are the gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgendered families whom Buchanan has attacked or maybe the non-white
immigrant families he has attacked.  

To add insult to injury under an article on the Indymedia web site is a
link to Pat Buchanan's web site.  What the fuck is going on here? 

When we talk here about dividing the movement, property destruction
pales in camparison to this bullshit.  Maybe this explains the absence
within DAN of a significant representation of people of colour or
indigenous peoples or why indigenous speakers were tacked on at the last
minute to the labour march even though we are doing actions on land we
currently occupy as decendents and current beneficiaries of
colonialism.  I'm not suggesting DAN is racist but this association with
racists sends a message out to people within and outside our movement
about who is a disirable ally. It sends, at the least, a message of
disrespect to all people attacked by Pat Buchanan.

To the reformist left or those worried about dividing the left, maybe
those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.  No pun intended.

To finish this rant on a positive note.  N30 was the most inspiring day
I have ever had as an activist.  It was a huge victory and we should all
be proud.

As for this racist shit.  I don't know if there is a theme for May Day
2000 but how about "Colonialism and Globalization".  If we are really
worried about mending bridges then lets to build them to the right
places.  Lets build on our acheivement with an effort towards a truly
diverse movement.  I believe acknowledging the role of colonialism in
global capitalism, here on sovereign native land and around the world
gives us an analytical basis to connect with other struggles, not just a
moralistic one that ends up being tokenism.

Anyway, please email Indymedia and ask them what the fuck is up with
this Buchanan web link.  Email Public Citizen if you want but personally
I find their nationalistic shit extremely dangerous and couldn't be
bothered wasting my time with them.

In solidarity 
Mark


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