Republican Doublethink
The last night of the Republican Convention was probably the most vivid exercise of George Orwell’s theory of Doublethink, in the modern political era. As Orwell wrote,
If one is to rule, and to continue ruling, one must be able to dislocate the sense of reality. For the secret of rulership is to combine a belief in one’s own infallibility with the power to learn from past mistakes.
As the hall monitors from The War Party handed out the Peace signs, the lines from Orwell’s 1984
His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully-constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them; to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it.
In 2004 when Karl Rove was able to get George Bush reelected, a certain cynicism descended over the propaganda arm of the Republican Party. The belief that Americans could be sold any lie if was packaged correctly. “War is Peace”. “Surveillance is Freedom”.
And now the ultimate Orwellian con job, “Keep our party in power so we can change Washington.” I know that John McCain and his handlers must think the American people just fell off the turnip truck to buy lines like this.
“I promise you, if you’re sick and tired of the way Washington operates, you only need to be patient for a couple of more months,” he told supporters in O’Fallon, Mo., on Sunday. “Change is coming! Change is coming! Change is coming!”
For a man who voted with Bush 95% of the time and can only point to one election reform bill passed 7 years ago as a reform credential, this “maverick” label is a total myth. The next nine weeks will be a case study at Schools of Communication like mine in the Republican Party use of Orwell’s principles of mass persuasion.
Walter Lippmann wrote in 1922 that elites can “manufacture consent” because the average American is like a “deaf spectator in the back row” at a sporting event: “He does not know what is happening, why it is happening, what ought to happen.”
Is the average American still so easily manipulated?
I really hope that the answer to that last question is a resounding no.
As I was listening to excerpts of some of the speeches at the RNC, I heard one person speaking about the Democratic majority congress as the least popular congress in history with no mention that the Republican president is also the least popular president in history. Not only that, he’s the worst president in history and this candidate votes with him 95% of the time.
Truly, we are approaching Orwellian standards.
I really hope that the answer to that last question is a resounding no.
As I was listening to excerpts of some of the speeches at the RNC, I heard one person speaking about the Democratic majority congress as the least popular congress in history with no mention that the Republican president is also the least popular president in history. Not only that, he’s the worst president in history and this candidate votes with him 95% of the time.
Truly, we are approaching Orwellian standards.
couldn’t have said it better, jon. i watched the convention with total stupefaction and begrudging respect, if that’s the right word. the stasis=change gambit has got to be one of the ballsiest in american political history.
couldn’t have said it better, jon. i watched the convention with total stupefaction and begrudging respect, if that’s the right word. the stasis=change gambit has got to be one of the ballsiest in american political history.
how do guys like Mitt Romney (a Fortune 500 heir) & Rudy Giuliani (a former drag queen impersonator) have the nerve to thumb their noses at the “Eastern Elites”. One more lie for the gullible out there who like Sarah Palin because “she’s a mom, like me and we have shared experiences and values.” See her at the PTA meeting and not at the White House. And what about all of those Republicans who used to say that unwed pregnant teens was a sign of moral decay brought on by the Sodom & Gomorrah that is Hollywood and a further sign that liberal parenting was bringing on the destruction of our country. Now they’re saying it’s a personal family matter showing the strength and compassion of the family. The lies and distortions don’t stop.
how do guys like Mitt Romney (a Fortune 500 heir) & Rudy Giuliani (a former drag queen impersonator) have the nerve to thumb their noses at the “Eastern Elites”. One more lie for the gullible out there who like Sarah Palin because “she’s a mom, like me and we have shared experiences and values.” See her at the PTA meeting and not at the White House. And what about all of those Republicans who used to say that unwed pregnant teens was a sign of moral decay brought on by the Sodom & Gomorrah that is Hollywood and a further sign that liberal parenting was bringing on the destruction of our country. Now they’re saying it’s a personal family matter showing the strength and compassion of the family. The lies and distortions don’t stop.
I think the Daily Show has been great at pointing out the hypocrisy that the MSM won’t touch. . .
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=184086
I think the Daily Show has been great at pointing out the hypocrisy that the MSM won’t touch. . .
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=184086
Thank you Jon. I saw the Peace signs (on red backing BTW) and thought that my head was going to spin off. It was like one of those moments on the three stooges when Currly, flumoxed, slaps his face repeatedly and then widens his eyes; it was an ALT – SHIFT – DELETE moment for me.
I would love to hear what you would have to say about how we can combat this type of psychological ploy/Republican strategy.
Arianna Huffington wrote a good post on this subject, one that I happen to agree with.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/mccain-is-running-on-the-_b_124135.html
Thanks again Jon.
Thank you Jon. I saw the Peace signs (on red backing BTW) and thought that my head was going to spin off. It was like one of those moments on the three stooges when Currly, flumoxed, slaps his face repeatedly and then widens his eyes; it was an ALT – SHIFT – DELETE moment for me.
I would love to hear what you would have to say about how we can combat this type of psychological ploy/Republican strategy.
Arianna Huffington wrote a good post on this subject, one that I happen to agree with.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/mccain-is-running-on-the-_b_124135.html
Thanks again Jon.
zak – great link, and yes, this goes way beyond McC/P.
The 1984 line is a suburb illustration of what, exactly, goes in the minds of the people being called out here. What Orwell didn’t add to that passage (not overtly, at least) was the profoundly corrupting influence that Doublespeak has on those that practice it. And of course, the point of the regimes that practice it is to debase those they rule to the point where they stop resisting, and actually come to embrace the distorted constructs as truth itself.
That is absolute, and ultimate power, which , as Orwell notes, is the singular pursuit of those governing his world.
The most conspicuous example is ‘The War’, which we need to ‘Win’. Reality is that we won the war we declared in a matter of weeks, and did so because we encountered no meaningful resistance. Not long after that, we fished our enemy’s leader from a hole in the ground, and ultimately saw him hanged by his own countrymen. His sons were killed for good measure, and his entire governing structure – military and civilian parts alike – was disbanded completely. His Sunni tribe was put on the defense, menaced by the Shiite majority they’d spent decades bullying, torturing, impoverishing and generally humiliating. It would be hard to imagine a victory more complete.
The Pentagon, it seems, didn’t imagine anything at all, and had no plan whatsoever for dealing with the effects of leaving a crater this big. The civil war that erupted within it caught them totally by surprise.
Shock and awe, yes, but only at the colossal stupidity this represented, and absolutely criminal levels of incompetence that exacerbated the fallout to a horrific degree. ‘Winning’ at this point, was now a matter of saving face; of altering the narrative – several times, if need be – until the US reached some exit point it could then claim had been the object of the game from day 1, and that, accordingly, we had ‘won’.
There are a great many other lies, yes, but the biggest one is that we didn’t win. We did. And in doing so we revealed the gross incompetence of our leadership. The last 5 years have been a single-minded exercise in covering up this fact. Reminders like Katrina didn’t help, but the big lie continued. At this point, it’s virtually impossible for the GOP to say anything that doesn’t contradict something they’ve already said in the advancement of the big lie.
Now they want to tell the biggest lie of all – having failed to do their own jobs, they’re asking for another four years, by telling us that that they’re cut out to do the job of the opposition party.
Nevermind that this is manifestly untrue. The proposition itself is outrageous.
zak – great link, and yes, this goes way beyond McC/P.
The 1984 line is a suburb illustration of what, exactly, goes in the minds of the people being called out here. What Orwell didn’t add to that passage (not overtly, at least) was the profoundly corrupting influence that Doublespeak has on those that practice it. And of course, the point of the regimes that practice it is to debase those they rule to the point where they stop resisting, and actually come to embrace the distorted constructs as truth itself.
That is absolute, and ultimate power, which , as Orwell notes, is the singular pursuit of those governing his world.
The most conspicuous example is ‘The War’, which we need to ‘Win’. Reality is that we won the war we declared in a matter of weeks, and did so because we encountered no meaningful resistance. Not long after that, we fished our enemy’s leader from a hole in the ground, and ultimately saw him hanged by his own countrymen. His sons were killed for good measure, and his entire governing structure – military and civilian parts alike – was disbanded completely. His Sunni tribe was put on the defense, menaced by the Shiite majority they’d spent decades bullying, torturing, impoverishing and generally humiliating. It would be hard to imagine a victory more complete.
The Pentagon, it seems, didn’t imagine anything at all, and had no plan whatsoever for dealing with the effects of leaving a crater this big. The civil war that erupted within it caught them totally by surprise.
Shock and awe, yes, but only at the colossal stupidity this represented, and absolutely criminal levels of incompetence that exacerbated the fallout to a horrific degree. ‘Winning’ at this point, was now a matter of saving face; of altering the narrative – several times, if need be – until the US reached some exit point it could then claim had been the object of the game from day 1, and that, accordingly, we had ‘won’.
There are a great many other lies, yes, but the biggest one is that we didn’t win. We did. And in doing so we revealed the gross incompetence of our leadership. The last 5 years have been a single-minded exercise in covering up this fact. Reminders like Katrina didn’t help, but the big lie continued. At this point, it’s virtually impossible for the GOP to say anything that doesn’t contradict something they’ve already said in the advancement of the big lie.
Now they want to tell the biggest lie of all – having failed to do their own jobs, they’re asking for another four years, by telling us that that they’re cut out to do the job of the opposition party.
Nevermind that this is manifestly untrue. The proposition itself is outrageous.
JT
This thing about Orwell is true.
I think that America is still a young country and I dont think that a 72 years old president will make it.
JT
This thing about Orwell is true.
I think that America is still a young country and I dont think that a 72 years old president will make it.
Alex-In “1984″, The War was some foreign conflict that had seemingly been going on forever. The public was disconnected from it, but it was always used as the excuse why the security measures were necessary.
Alex-In “1984″, The War was some foreign conflict that had seemingly been going on forever. The public was disconnected from it, but it was always used as the excuse why the security measures were necessary.
Oh I know Jon. That’s the (dark) genius of a war on terror (or on drugs, for that matter). Nouns can’t surrender, sign treaties, and accept defeat.
By trying to recast the conflict in Iraq as ‘the central front in the war on terror’ the administration has been able to re-frame whatever happens there in the context of something entirely abstract.
And that, of course, makes it easy to say that anything you do is ‘necessary’.
Obviously, we’re not living in Orwell’s world. I think he was imagining what may happen in the event that folks telling a Big Lie like the one we’ve seen were able to get away with it.
Were he to write a prelude to 1984, I imagine it would feature a leader who promised to do the opposition party’s job for them, selling ‘reform and transparency’ while tolerating complete opacity from those he was partnering with.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/05/no-questions-palin-wont-t_n_124256.html
Oh I know Jon. That’s the (dark) genius of a war on terror (or on drugs, for that matter). Nouns can’t surrender, sign treaties, and accept defeat.
By trying to recast the conflict in Iraq as ‘the central front in the war on terror’ the administration has been able to re-frame whatever happens there in the context of something entirely abstract.
And that, of course, makes it easy to say that anything you do is ‘necessary’.
Obviously, we’re not living in Orwell’s world. I think he was imagining what may happen in the event that folks telling a Big Lie like the one we’ve seen were able to get away with it.
Were he to write a prelude to 1984, I imagine it would feature a leader who promised to do the opposition party’s job for them, selling ‘reform and transparency’ while tolerating complete opacity from those he was partnering with.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/05/no-questions-palin-wont-t_n_124256.html
great blog – been lurking the last week or so and really love it.
This Orwell analogy is so true its scary. I’m thinking of having a bumper sticker made:
“Doublethink Republican”
great blog – been lurking the last week or so and really love it.
This Orwell analogy is so true its scary. I’m thinking of having a bumper sticker made:
“Doublethink Republican”
You always hear the Republican talking point that the Democratic Party-controlled Congress is even more unpopular than Bush with the American public. But you never get any discussion or background as to why that is.
Senate Republicans used cloture (the threat of filibuster) which requires only 40 votes, to block more legislation than has occurred in any any other two year period. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could, and should, have made the the Republicans filibuster but he decided it was more important to keep trying to get legislation passed.
Has the mainstream media ever tried to explain this fact the the American public?
Little “d” democracy requires a free and independent press. All we have is corporately owned news organizations . And they are controlled by the same corporations that “own” Congress.
Let’s hope they never gain control of the internet.
You always hear the Republican talking point that the Democratic Party-controlled Congress is even more unpopular than Bush with the American public. But you never get any discussion or background as to why that is.
Senate Republicans used cloture (the threat of filibuster) which requires only 40 votes, to block more legislation than has occurred in any any other two year period. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could, and should, have made the the Republicans filibuster but he decided it was more important to keep trying to get legislation passed.
Has the mainstream media ever tried to explain this fact the the American public?
Little “d” democracy requires a free and independent press. All we have is corporately owned news organizations . And they are controlled by the same corporations that “own” Congress.
Let’s hope they never gain control of the internet.
Ugggg, please, let’s not reference huff-a-puff.
We are witnessing the fractures, fissures and dislocation as a result of 30 years of failed moral leadership exacerbated by a rabid, over-networked, greedy, global capitalist network, which as you know Jon, you were a huge supporter of.
So let’s not get all “rational” when “walled gardens” exists first and foremost in our mind, as Castells ‘Power, Counter-Power” paper stated in its moving ending.
The spiritual crisis proceeds the material one; it’s great your blog is blowing up, but plzzzzz, let’s not be surprise that people are scared, angry, uncertain, anxious when they don’t have the comfort of the “ivory tower” or cushy phd, mcm, ma, ba, bs “luxury” educations…
uggggggggggggggggggggg.
It’s global as this YouTube from a disturbing Portugual soccer game, turned police brutality case, turned herd mentality rushing the field with an essentially “mob lynching” in the end.
Human nature has not changed since the 60s; it’s just got more plugged and f-cked up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws-mn3M23dc
Your messiah, Obama, has a synthetic feel; clearly part of his “spirit” is tied to the glamour/magic of the 60s “kennedy” great man fantasy.
The way he positioned himself as their “heir” is creating legitimate blowback.
It’ll be a tight, hot fall.
Ugggg, please, let’s not reference huff-a-puff.
We are witnessing the fractures, fissures and dislocation as a result of 30 years of failed moral leadership exacerbated by a rabid, over-networked, greedy, global capitalist network, which as you know Jon, you were a huge supporter of.
So let’s not get all “rational” when “walled gardens” exists first and foremost in our mind, as Castells ‘Power, Counter-Power” paper stated in its moving ending.
The spiritual crisis proceeds the material one; it’s great your blog is blowing up, but plzzzzz, let’s not be surprise that people are scared, angry, uncertain, anxious when they don’t have the comfort of the “ivory tower” or cushy phd, mcm, ma, ba, bs “luxury” educations…
uggggggggggggggggggggg.
It’s global as this YouTube from a disturbing Portugual soccer game, turned police brutality case, turned herd mentality rushing the field with an essentially “mob lynching” in the end.
Human nature has not changed since the 60s; it’s just got more plugged and f-cked up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws-mn3M23dc
Your messiah, Obama, has a synthetic feel; clearly part of his “spirit” is tied to the glamour/magic of the 60s “kennedy” great man fantasy.
The way he positioned himself as their “heir” is creating legitimate blowback.
It’ll be a tight, hot fall.
Romney’s speech was the DEFINITION of doublespeak. He even mentioned not wanting Big Brother in control! It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen from a person in the public realm in years.
Romney’s speech was the DEFINITION of doublespeak. He even mentioned not wanting Big Brother in control! It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen from a person in the public realm in years.
@john: it was also poorly researched. He said that if we really wanted to do something about global warming, we should ask Al Gore to ground his jet.
Gore’s spokespeople said this wasn’t going to make any difference at all – because Al Gore doesn’t have a jet.
@john: it was also poorly researched. He said that if we really wanted to do something about global warming, we should ask Al Gore to ground his jet.
Gore’s spokespeople said this wasn’t going to make any difference at all – because Al Gore doesn’t have a jet.
sorry, @josh, not john. And Mitt was going on about energy conservation, not climate change. Still, no word on how he got to St. Paul. I suspect it wasn’t Amtrak.
sorry, @josh, not john. And Mitt was going on about energy conservation, not climate change. Still, no word on how he got to St. Paul. I suspect it wasn’t Amtrak.
The Big Lie. Done like the classic newspaper headline mistake. Retraction at the bottom of the classifieds next week in a 4 point font, if any retraction is printed at all…
The Big Lie. Done like the classic newspaper headline mistake. Retraction at the bottom of the classifieds next week in a 4 point font, if any retraction is printed at all…
No retraction at all.
At first I was impressed when McCain started lacing into his own party for corruption. But then I realized he wasn’t talking about the really big stuff, just the kind of self-serving crap Abramoff was facilitating.
More insidious forms of GOP rot – particularly within the DOJ – went completely unmentioned. Not that I expected him to take it this far when accepting his party’s nomination. Realistically, a neutral stance would have sufficed. Unfortunately, that’s the last thing that others on the stump – Rudy and Palin in particular – were offering.
Either he’s speaking from both sides of his mouth, or his memos aren’t circulating properly. Seeing how scripted he became in the recent Time interview, I’m beginning to think it’s the latter. The guy really isn’t in control of his own message, and the handlers are busy handling.
Of course, they’re panicked and operating on the fly. The whole thing is one big hot flaming mess, kind of like an asteroid headed straight for Earth.
Will it hit the White House? Maybe! Find out – 11.04.08
One thing’s for sure. The media is going to be working triple-time to keep an already excited populace absolutely glued to every development.
No retraction at all.
At first I was impressed when McCain started lacing into his own party for corruption. But then I realized he wasn’t talking about the really big stuff, just the kind of self-serving crap Abramoff was facilitating.
More insidious forms of GOP rot – particularly within the DOJ – went completely unmentioned. Not that I expected him to take it this far when accepting his party’s nomination. Realistically, a neutral stance would have sufficed. Unfortunately, that’s the last thing that others on the stump – Rudy and Palin in particular – were offering.
Either he’s speaking from both sides of his mouth, or his memos aren’t circulating properly. Seeing how scripted he became in the recent Time interview, I’m beginning to think it’s the latter. The guy really isn’t in control of his own message, and the handlers are busy handling.
Of course, they’re panicked and operating on the fly. The whole thing is one big hot flaming mess, kind of like an asteroid headed straight for Earth.
Will it hit the White House? Maybe! Find out – 11.04.08
One thing’s for sure. The media is going to be working triple-time to keep an already excited populace absolutely glued to every development.
Alex-Your last point about the media’s need to keep this race close is critical. If Obama starts to pull ahead, even MSNBC will try to tear him down.
Alex-Your last point about the media’s need to keep this race close is critical. If Obama starts to pull ahead, even MSNBC will try to tear him down.
I just hope the folks in the press box read that VF article, and that they agree with Murdoch: Obama needs to win, because, in the end, he’s going to sell more papers.
I just hope the folks in the press box read that VF article, and that they agree with Murdoch: Obama needs to win, because, in the end, he’s going to sell more papers.
There’s another element to 1984 that isn’t being discussed here: doublespeak is the ideological element of control and it was in full effect at RNC, but it is always backed up up by brute force – especially against dissidents. I was in St Paul working for i-Witness video to document police brutality against protesters at the RNC, and my ears are still ringing from concussion grenades, my eyes watering from tear gas and pepper spray, and I’m sad because I saw freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press brutally stomped in St Paul. I’m cutting and pasting more below… sc
–
I was in St Paul /minneapolis last week to help New York-based iWitness
video document the protests against the RNC. During the time I was
there, I personally witnessed and documented with video numerous
incidents of police brutality and unlawful use of tear gas, pepper
spray, explosive devices (‘concussion grenades,’ I don’t know the
technical term), and other forms of chemical and less-lethal weaponry
against completely peaceful protesters. I personally shot footage of
police firing tear gas and concussion grenades into a completely
peaceful crowd of about one thousand people, chasing us down a street
past another line of officers who indiscriminately sprayed us with
pepper spray as we ran past them. I did not personally witness but have
seen clear video of police tasering an already immobile man, of several
officers kneeling on top of a detained person while another officer
delivers a hard punch to their kidneys, and a number of other similar
incidents of obvious excessive force and brutality. Also deeply
troubling was coordinated repression of independent journalists,
including the iWitness video team of which I was a part. Please see the
following press release for more information, and please circulate to
your contacts.
Also, if any of you have suggestions for a good way to turn this into a
specific legal demand around accountability please contact Eileen
Clancey from iWitness video (info below).
peace
Sasha Costanza-Chock
–
costanza AT usc.edu
607 351 5559
–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Olivia 646.361.1986 Olivia [at] glassbeadcollective.org
Vlad 917.650.2486 Vlad [at] glassbeadcollective.org
Eileen Clancey 646.944.1181 iwitness [at] iwitnessvideo.info
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE TARGET AND OBSTRUCT INDEPENDENT PRESS COVERAGE IN THE
DAYS LEADING UP TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
Repeated attacks on the civil liberties of independent press and
activists before and during the election process emerge as a pattern
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (August 30, 2008): FBI and Minneapolis police
continued attacks on independent journalists in the days leading up to
the Republican National Convention, obstructing coverage of important
concurrent events. On Saturday morning an FBI officer and a chief deputy
from the Douglas County Sheriff’s dept. along with approximately 30 St.
Paul police officers bearing firearms, tasers, pepper spray and at least
one AR-15 surrounded a house where members of I-Witness Video Collective
and journalist Elizabeth Press from Democracy Now were meeting. National
Lawyer’s Guild Legal Observer Sarah Coffey was detained in handcuffs
outside the building while acting as a liaison with the police.
Occupants of the building did not consent to a search and were forced to
lock themselves in the building. At approximately 3:00 p.m. (CDT) police
officers tried to serve a warrant that had the wrong address. After
being denied entry they stormed the building through the attic by
gaining access to an adjacent property. The warrant covered all of
journalistic equipment including privileged notes, computers, cameras,
video tapes and communication devices. People inside were forcefully
detained, photographed and police made a record of their names and
addresses. After a 45 minute search the police released all detainees
and left without seizing any of the equipment. Five other members of
I-Witness video who were not present at the house were also
simultaneously detained. Three of them detained as they were riding
their bicycles a mile away from the scene of the search and the other
two as they were driving in a car. The three-hour detainment stopped the
media group from documenting three other raids happening simultaneously
against activist groups in Minneapolis and St Paul.
This follows an incident from earlier this week when three members of
Glass Bead Collective were illegally detained and had their equipment
and notes confiscated by the Minneapolis police.
Other incidents of press repression during the RNC include the arrest of
Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, two AP reporters, several (two, possibly
three) Indymedia journalists, at least three journalists with St Paul
based TheUptake, a WBAI reporter, and other independent journalists as
well as (possibly, this is unconfirmed so far) two Fox news reporters.
I-Witness Video is an independent media group using video to protect
civil liberties. During the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC,
video evidence provided by I-Witness Video exonerated 400 arrestees by
exposing lies stated by the NYPD in sworn legal affidavits.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/01/18531661.php#18531697
There’s another element to 1984 that isn’t being discussed here: doublespeak is the ideological element of control and it was in full effect at RNC, but it is always backed up up by brute force – especially against dissidents. I was in St Paul working for i-Witness video to document police brutality against protesters at the RNC, and my ears are still ringing from concussion grenades, my eyes watering from tear gas and pepper spray, and I’m sad because I saw freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press brutally stomped in St Paul. I’m cutting and pasting more below… sc
–
I was in St Paul /minneapolis last week to help New York-based iWitness
video document the protests against the RNC. During the time I was
there, I personally witnessed and documented with video numerous
incidents of police brutality and unlawful use of tear gas, pepper
spray, explosive devices (‘concussion grenades,’ I don’t know the
technical term), and other forms of chemical and less-lethal weaponry
against completely peaceful protesters. I personally shot footage of
police firing tear gas and concussion grenades into a completely
peaceful crowd of about one thousand people, chasing us down a street
past another line of officers who indiscriminately sprayed us with
pepper spray as we ran past them. I did not personally witness but have
seen clear video of police tasering an already immobile man, of several
officers kneeling on top of a detained person while another officer
delivers a hard punch to their kidneys, and a number of other similar
incidents of obvious excessive force and brutality. Also deeply
troubling was coordinated repression of independent journalists,
including the iWitness video team of which I was a part. Please see the
following press release for more information, and please circulate to
your contacts.
Also, if any of you have suggestions for a good way to turn this into a
specific legal demand around accountability please contact Eileen
Clancey from iWitness video (info below).
peace
Sasha Costanza-Chock
–
costanza AT usc.edu
607 351 5559
–
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Olivia 646.361.1986 Olivia [at] glassbeadcollective.org
Vlad 917.650.2486 Vlad [at] glassbeadcollective.org
Eileen Clancey 646.944.1181 iwitness [at] iwitnessvideo.info
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE TARGET AND OBSTRUCT INDEPENDENT PRESS COVERAGE IN THE
DAYS LEADING UP TO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
Repeated attacks on the civil liberties of independent press and
activists before and during the election process emerge as a pattern
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (August 30, 2008): FBI and Minneapolis police
continued attacks on independent journalists in the days leading up to
the Republican National Convention, obstructing coverage of important
concurrent events. On Saturday morning an FBI officer and a chief deputy
from the Douglas County Sheriff’s dept. along with approximately 30 St.
Paul police officers bearing firearms, tasers, pepper spray and at least
one AR-15 surrounded a house where members of I-Witness Video Collective
and journalist Elizabeth Press from Democracy Now were meeting. National
Lawyer’s Guild Legal Observer Sarah Coffey was detained in handcuffs
outside the building while acting as a liaison with the police.
Occupants of the building did not consent to a search and were forced to
lock themselves in the building. At approximately 3:00 p.m. (CDT) police
officers tried to serve a warrant that had the wrong address. After
being denied entry they stormed the building through the attic by
gaining access to an adjacent property. The warrant covered all of
journalistic equipment including privileged notes, computers, cameras,
video tapes and communication devices. People inside were forcefully
detained, photographed and police made a record of their names and
addresses. After a 45 minute search the police released all detainees
and left without seizing any of the equipment. Five other members of
I-Witness video who were not present at the house were also
simultaneously detained. Three of them detained as they were riding
their bicycles a mile away from the scene of the search and the other
two as they were driving in a car. The three-hour detainment stopped the
media group from documenting three other raids happening simultaneously
against activist groups in Minneapolis and St Paul.
This follows an incident from earlier this week when three members of
Glass Bead Collective were illegally detained and had their equipment
and notes confiscated by the Minneapolis police.
Other incidents of press repression during the RNC include the arrest of
Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, two AP reporters, several (two, possibly
three) Indymedia journalists, at least three journalists with St Paul
based TheUptake, a WBAI reporter, and other independent journalists as
well as (possibly, this is unconfirmed so far) two Fox news reporters.
I-Witness Video is an independent media group using video to protect
civil liberties. During the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC,
video evidence provided by I-Witness Video exonerated 400 arrestees by
exposing lies stated by the NYPD in sworn legal affidavits.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/01/18531661.php#18531697