BREAKING NEWS: WORLD CAN'T WAIT SUPPORTS POLICE

Are you saying that you are accepting the word of this pig propagandist as your basis for condemning these organizers?

They made their intent quite clear, which is one of the reasons so few people turned out, that and a lot of people have issues with the RCP. But what is interesting (and humorous to me) if the conflict between their organizing plans and rhetoric and their support for the police. "Day of Massive Resistance", "General Strike", "Drive Out the Bush Regime", etc. Or how about these:

"Will you participate in this historic day of civilian resistance and solidarity?"
"to create the noise necessary to wake this nation up and never allow our voices to be choked by silence again"

The point is that the organizers are not bad people but rather ineffective organizers. They're choosing the wrong plans and rhetoric for what they actually want to see happen. They would probably do great organizing a family friendly event on a weekend instead of calling for a General Strike in the middle of the week (and to be clear I'm not sure all of the WCW organizers share the same beliefs so this is more directed at the Portland organizers).

Or, in other words, if you don't actually want people to resist the government, don't advertise that you do.

Lessons to be learned all around.

One woman representative from WCW was adament about remaining compliant with the police. She really was upset about the lack of conpliance being shown at the police baricades. She shouted, "You people are fools, these are our friends" several times. She said those people were the problem- ruining the entire march for the rest of us.

I would hope that she does not represent all of WCW's views, but who knows?

Bye the bye, the money spent on the permit could have been better utilized for jail support, etc.
I did not see anyone from WCW at jail support and their permit did nothing to protect the marchers that ended up in jail.
WASTED RESOURCES.

Guess they were too busy or something.
Guess they didn't think the people that were arrested were important enough to support.

I am disconnecting myself from any future affiliation.
With friends like hers ( and possibly theirs) who needs enemies?

What COPS say is what THEY say.

WCW has issued ABSOLUTELY no statement in "support" of the police.

This anonymous piece has an author with every reason to stay hidden. Rumor-mongering after police repression is irresponsible and has no place in a city where the police have been running this same game on several different groups.

I reject this, I know it is a lie - and it's irresponsible to let open-publishing be used for disinformation. No source. No author. No truth at all.

Unity in the face of the enemy.

Yes, a cop said this, but it is not just only the fact that the cop said this that convinced me. All throughout the protest, a significant lack of respect was shown from protest organizers (some not all) to people doing little civil disobediance. In fact, while someone was doing a speech about how civil disobediance was important, organizers of the WCW were booing her. WCW made it clear they would not accept any civil disobediance and would take action to prevent it. During the protest, many of the organizers tried to prevent people from "taking the streets". From drawing all of this information, plus the interveiw by the police, I believe it was highly possible that the some or one of the WCW mai organizers supported the police actions.

I would hope these weren't the veiws, but I am only reporting from what I have heard, and the information collected throughout the protest. If I am wrong, which I hope I am, WCW should deny this.

This was the statement by the police, it may not be trusted, let it be known as that. Although, many protest organizers were shouting at people when they broke away from the protest, one (may or may not have been a protest organizer) screamed on the bullhorn about the action being rediculous and how the police were our friends. Please do not hold this to be truthful, or false, until a World Can't Wait organizer comments about what really happened. I apologize beforehand if any of this information is false. Just reporting what I heard.

I hwole-heartedly respect everyone who attended the demo. And I don't want to criticize, but I'm wondering when (and where) is the right time to reconsider what we're doing.

Unlike Seattle 1999, this demo had no clear target and no goal. Most people in Portland are liberals, so I often wonder who we're demonstrating for. Of course, there are many reasons to demonstrate, including solidarity and letting the world know where the people stand. Still, if we compare these . . .

Even 300 committed people could make a big splash with a lot of thought about where and how to apply their energies. Even 100 or fewer. Looks like we're got committed people--now we need focus, thought and planning. If I spot some forward thinking folks getting together, I'll join them.

Please remove this unsourced police-inspired rumor.

It's bullshit, factually incorrect and has no place on a movement platform like Indymedia.

It says nothing about the character of the day, or the response of organizers to police repression.

Again, this is irresponsible to post - is anonymous, and uses police claims to some unknown person to spread bullshit distrust.

Haven't we seen enough of that here in Portland?

The police beat and arrested anarchist while the RCP blocked people from getting near the police or witnessing the arrest, herded everyone to the stage and talked about unity. WCW = RCP front group. RCP = Police front group.
The RCP is no longer welcome in my community... ITS ON

this was why I went
 http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/10/347034.shtml
I went for one reason
Not sure who really organized it? Nor am I going to sit here and whine or bitch
Not sure why some wanted to do different things and some had other plans?
I went for one reason
Was that not good enough?
Did I not do it "your" way?

As I ask this I reiterate why I went....to say bush should be Impeached and to say No to this war and torture. To help by standing up and get counted to get involved
Did I protest the way you wanted me to? I don't know
But I do know I was there to help stand up ...as I do every day ...to make the statement we need to drive this Bush Regime Out

The whole damn march was good ...in all aspects.....so much negativity from my comrades can not help the anti-bush movement.......new tactics ,.....new plans all can be good .....by why bitch..... we are in this arena for one purpose? we all bring different skills and tactics and energy over many spectrum's

I was present at the protest in Seattle and arrest- this thing on WCW organizers blocking them is just a lie from someone with a pre-existing agenda.(And who is served by these kind of bullshit rumors) What the police did was bullshit and actually just a provacation against the march.

I myself, as a WCW organizer was present protesting what the police were doing,as were others of us, also encouraging people to get us information on those arrested and to contact lawyers, trying to work with friends of the people to coordiante support etc.

Unfortunately, there was a small cabal that tried to narrow the target of the day, which was against all the crimes of the Bush regime and actually mobilizing many, many people against it to speak out and get in the streets- to focusing everything on this one event of the arrest- and had little or no interest in actually reaching out to people on the streets and encouraging them to step forward to oppose the whole fascist direction of things, which if we don't do, will not be stopped.

quite running your negative, rumor-mongering, divisive shit. if you don't, don't pretend you actually want anything in the real world to change

I don't mean to add fuel to the fire but that last post is way off the mark. To criminalize the actions of this "small flock" of radicals, anarchists or whatever the fuck you want to call us is playing directly into the hands of the "fascists" that you disregard so vehemontly. Who are these fascists? Perhaps the very police state you recieve permits from to protest? And so then protest what? Does everything we do have to be "symbolic"?
The fact that we are being coordinated by the very system we reject in which to reject it is blantantly ridiculous.
The Seattle protest is a good reference, various intelligent few who see the connection between the WTO and Starbucks took it into their own hands to do something, even if it was only minor, by shutting the business down for a few hours. It was the majority of the organizers that condemned that "small flock of bad sheep" for going over the top. It's funny how at that moment they alienated those people by using media influenced remarks in which to seperate those people from "the goal" while the media desperately tried to display all protesters as violent types interviewing some dumbass in Arkansas screaming about how their going to "fuck shit up" as he put it. When syndicated shots of a police officer brutalizing an old woman eventually (held back for the obvious implications) was released the media had to switch over to the idea that there were a few bad apples that went "overboard" and the rest of the protesters were simply caught in the middle.
It's the idea of a few bad apples that main stream Democratic organizations like WCW embrace in times of disassembly, voicing like tiny mouths on the ends of tentacular control the desires of corporate alienation thus playing into the hands of the state in which they pretend to reject.

To Joe Anybody:
You're very American.



-B.

Where is the declaration of unity? You all are brothers and sisters on the global village. Why are you people fighting? When I open up the phone lines, you all have your say. I hope one day to see people love and respect each other more.


ALex

From what I've read here, it sounds to me like "World Can't Wait" is part of the controlled-dissent system that uselessly marches people in circles and tries to insure that they don't do anything effective. I think future protests might be more effective if they were less "organized" a.k.a. "controlled."
I don't want anyone to be shot or pepper-sprayed, but what's the use of protesting if the organizers insure that you don't disturb the status quo, and the media refuses to acknowledge that you exist?
A midnight grafitti campaign might have covered the city with a lasting message for a few cans of spray paint, and everyone could have gotten away scott-free. Maybe that's not the best of ideas, but the point is that people on our side are going to have to start using their imagination, because the protest marches that worked well forty years ago are exactly what they police and media are expecting, and it seems they know exactly how to neutralize any effectiveness they might have had in the past.
Rather than big, advertised protest marches, maybe we should form small bands of activists comprised of people who know each other and don't take on new members.(new members will be spies)Operate like small militia groups that can carry out effective actions and disappear before anyone knows what happened.
Just a few thoughts -- one thing I'm sure of is that a new approach is needed.