Is This It?

BY EUGENE MULERO, Correspondent

At about 5 p.m. on Thursday I was at the corner of John Ireland Boulevard and Kellogg Boulevard in St. Paul staring at a jumbo-tron screen that featured biased bios of Republican superstars, such as George Tenet. His bio on the screen read: “Knew the dangers of Bin Laden before 9/11”; “Bush Awarded Tenet the Presidential Medal of Honor.”

The torturous sound of police helicopters flying over me clashed with tunes of Neil Young’s anthem about President Bush’s legacy.

I was at the heart of the American political struggle of ideas—at one side of the state capitol hundreds of members of the FBI, National Guard, State Police and local cops prevented demonstrators (with permits) from marching to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the other side of town political junky Chris Matthews pretended to grill former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a makeshift stage MSNBC set up.

The world is now waiting to listen to their big Maverick unite the Republicans. Of course, he’ll succeed. The Republicans never split.

Across from me was the large cathedral that overlooked the state capitol. Onlookers were all around me. Police cars blew right by the intersection.

A young girl—she must’ve been about 10—handed me a gray long-sleeve shirt with the words “I don’t have health insurance” written with black marker.

Meanwhile, my colleague Matt Kennard was about a half-mile away from me inside the Xcel Energy Center. There he confronted the likes of former United States ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, and other newsmakers.

Earlier I saw Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! and she told me police are still charging her and her staff for rioting.

There is something very schizophrenic about the convention. I mean, while delegates and politicos rub shoulders with media elite and power brokers, the peace advocates and riff raffs are contained like lab rats outside.

Everywhere I turned, a man carrying a power-rifle stared at me. And the helicopters overhead reminded me of the horrible music Nurse Ratchet put on for the patients in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”—in time, we get used to the noise.

And that’s what it all is anyway—noise. Nothing is what it seems. The restaurateur across the convention center is making noise to attract business. The demonstrators are clamoring for attention. Police are speaking loudly, asserting their power.

One thing does come across clear to me—the establishment is indestructible and the anti-war movement is over.

As I stared at the jumbo-tron screen, it hit me that this is the best any anti-war leaders can do on the night when Maverick takes over the microphone like the GZA.

Robert Kokott, an English teacher in Minneapolis, came to the state capitol to check out the action. Once police broke up the march he made it to the intersection where I stood.

With an ‘is this it?’ stare he asked me, “I thought something would be going on tonight?”

You think.

Eugene Mulero may be reached at Eugene.Mulero@gmail.com.

Police State

BY EUGENE MULERO, CORRESPONDENT

I remember long ago watching with horror, old movies about World War II which depicted Germany as this horrible, black and white, homogenous place where the military controlled every human behavior.

After walking around St. Paul, M.N. for the past two days during the Republican National Convention, I feel as if I’m trapped in one of those old movies.

Everywhere I turn I see security guards in riot-gear guarding the Xcel Energy Center like a fortress. Thus far, nearly two dozen individuals have been arrested. Other crowds were tear-gassed, and journalists (such as Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman) have been arrested.

On Monday, I was filmed by a security guard at the corner of 12th and Cedar streets while I interviewed demonstrators. Later that night, when my colleague Matt Kennard and I walked around the downtown, military officers stood alongside the convention center preventing the public from catching a glimpse of the building.

I told a friend that I always thought these events were open to the public—a rite of passage in our democratic process.

I was wrong.

These conventions, just like the after-parties that follow the days’ activities, are private gatherings. Everybody has their credentials out—if you’re not carrying the big plastic yellow card around your neck with the proper bar code and the RNC logo, you can’t get in.

Eugene Mulero may be reached at Eugene.Mulero@gmail.com.

Adventure at the RNC March

BY MATT KENNARD, CORRESPONDENT

The RNC march was a pretty standard affair. There were lots of people snaking around downtown St. Paul telling everyone how George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are terrorists—all true, but when you’ve walked for two hours, you’ve heard it all before.

Things got interesting when the police blocked off the bridges dividing St. Paul at the end of the demo. They had submachine guns and big sticks in their hands wearing full riot gear. The people they stopped moving were your usual anti-war types, apart from one disabled guy in a wheelchair who buzzed around telling everyone they were anti-American and should go back to Iran. He told me London had become Islamic, and all the rest. He was like a comedy character Will Ferrell had come up with, zipping around haranguing the protesters and telling the riot police what a great job they were doing.

It was all a bit of fun, but his screeching voice and chubby face really upset a lot of the protesters who were trying to concentrate on taking on the police-industrial complex. They didn’t look too happy themselves as they sweltered in 40 lbs of riot gear.

Basically, you realize that what happens in the Xcel Energy Center, the site of this year’s RNC, is all boilerplate ludicrousness. Nothing of consequence will happen there in the grand scheme. They will continue to perpetuate war and injustice; while the people outside are the ones who can change not the debate, but the terms of debate.

Matt Kennard can be reached at MattKennard@gmail.com.