Rossputin.com Rational Thinking About Our World

For those of you who are interested and have the time, please tune in your radio or your web browser to listen as I guest host the Luke Shiltz Program on Newstalk 1310 KFKA in Greeley, Colorado this afternoon from 4 PM to 6 PM Mountain Time.

I'll discuss my experiences during the past week, including a few minutes in the Pepsi Center, walking along with various protest marches and interviewing radical lefists, attendance at a couple of big parties, watching Obama speak from high-up seats at Invesco Field, and, of course, the great work done by the Peoples Press Collective bringing you coverage of events surrounding the DNC with more depth (and humor) than any other news source.

I expected to be joined by Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave from Colorado's 4th Congressional District at 4:30 PM.

On Thursday, members of the Peoples Press Collective along with Hot Air's Jason Mattera caught up with a fairly large march of illegal aliens and their supporters marching to Denver's Lincoln Park.

The park was led by Indian- or Aztec-style dancers wearing feathered costumes, followed by hundreds of people carrying signs in English and Spanish such as "We Are America" ("Sonos America" on the back of the sign), "Legalizacion si, Deportacion no", "Nosotros hacemos el cambio" (meaning "we make the change", showing a picture of a woman who looked very much like Nancy Pelosi, though I can't believe it actually was) and wearing t-shirts such as "Legalize L.A."

Jason is with the cause...or might be if he read Spanish.

There was a Hispanic-looking man wearing a German SS uniform carrying a sign saying "SStop the RaidSS" (with the S's in the well-known font of the SS insignia) who posed for a photograph in Hitler-style salute.

When the speakers were about to come on stage, one of the female emcees asked for the crowd's attention and requested a moment of silence "for the thousands who had died in the desert". Both my Peoples Press Collective colleague and I were somewhat surprised to hear that sort of support for our troops in that crowd, and our surprise was proven correct when she continued by saying "And the five hundred who were just arrested in Mississippi that nobody wants to talk about." What a let-down...just when I thought there was something redeeming about the day's message.

In addition to the many immigration marchers (quite a few of whom didn't speak English, unsurprisingly), there were dozens of people handing out fliers for events supporting marijuana rights parties (not sure if that means people having rights to use it or it having rights in the way that PETA believes animals have rights.)

On Wednesday, I had the chance for a little DNC fun, acting as camera man for Hot Air's Jason Mattera who had dressed up for the day in an orange Guantanamo prisoner jumpsuit and walked around asking people to sign a petition demanding certain things for our terrorist guests at Gitmo.

The petition asked for better health care, but then quickly devolved into brighter lights, ESPN 1 and ESPN 2, MSNBC, a subscription to Netflix, a gift certificate to Radio Shack, and a "Jihad Olympics" to be organized for for the prisoners.

I took video from a distance while Jason wore a hidden microphone and discussed the petition and other terrorist benefits with various leftists standing around in lean-to tents they'd set up for such things as Veterans against the war, legalizing marijuana, and a model of a Guantamo prison set up by Amnesty International.

The things that the leftists will say or agree to when they think they're among friends are truly remarkable. Here are a couple of short video compilations of our day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZiUhSsBmOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n16p-jmUYQg

Those of you who read these pages will have seen the first few paragraphs before, but please read my latest article at Human Events about the communists, anarchists, environmental radicals, and just plain-old freaks surrounding the Democratic National Convention:

"Ringling Bros. Presents: Outside the DNC"
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28259

Matt Welch of Reason TV interviewed several members of the Peoples Press Collective on Tuesday in Denver's Civic Center Park.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDT8u3z2Sn4

After a bit of a late start yesterday, I spent most of the afternoon with other members of the intrepid Peoples Press Collective, looking for activists and protesters who were particularly interesting.

Hot Air's Jason Mattera did some great under-cover work dressed as an anti-Guantanamo protester, in an orange jump suit, and got into some typically hilarious and revealing conversations. (I'll link to some videos when they're up on the web.)

We had gone out to "Tent State University", which looked something like the way a low-budget street fair would look just before it was about to end. That is, some bored looking liberals (Veterans for Peace, Amnesty International, random stoned 20-something white kids) waiting around for something to happen.

Some people were setting up a stage for someone to give a talk...I overheard something about the subject of "the racial income divide", but nobody was around to care.

Amnesty International had set up a model Gitmo cell, which Mattera proceeded to occupy as if he belonged there.

After returning to Civic Center Park, I interviewed some protesters and activists but there wasn't a lot to choose from during a very quiet day.

One man, a 69-year old poet/activist named Rick Burnley, was selling t-shirts that said Gulag Amerikkka which, despite the three K's obviously plagiarized from Jeremiah Wright, did have a message that I had some sympathy with. Namely, that America imprisons too many people, particularly for minor drug crimes. Despite our disagreement on some political issues, Burnley was a very pleasant guy.

I can just picture him sleeping in his car in Brooklyn, as he described, without two nickels to rub together, trying to make enough playing music and reading his anti-establishment poetry (which wasn't too bad if you're into that sort of thing.)

I spoke with some 50-ish year old women imported from San Francisco working at the Amnesty International tent. They were certainly committed radicals, self described "radical socialists leaning toward communism."

Like many of the protesters I've spoken to or overheard, they're not much more interested in Obama than in McCain, thinking that Obama isn't enough change. One woman said her favorite choice right now is Cynthia McKinney, running on the Green Party ticket. When I suggested that she was a racist, they said that was just the media's biased portrayal. (I beg to differ.)

One of the San Fran ladies said "What's wrong with socialized medicine? Congress has it and it works great for them. Now I want mine!" She wasn't kidding, and within her own deluded mind I suppose I can see her point. When I asked whether she was worried about the cost, she gave the usual answer: Just stop all wars and stop maintaining a military and we could then afford health care. When I suggested to her that Medicare was already going to bankrupt the country and was much more expensive than the War in Iraq, she didn't even comprehend what I was saying, and not because she's stupid. Her mind is simply closed to anything based on fact.

One woman said that capitalism has a fatal flaw and that it tends to "eat itself alive from the inside." I asked "hasn't Communism done exactly that every time it's been tried?"

Her answer, the answer of leftists from Dewey to Marx to Mao throughout history, was that "Russia and China were dictatorships, not truly communism" and that "it needs to be done with more of a scientific approach". Is it not amazing that they don't see the connection between forcing people to adhere to somebody's "scientific approach" and the dictatorship that such force must inevitably become?

I jumped into the middle of a protest march in downtown Denver on Monday morning, then spent some time in Civic Center Park, the main coordinating point for the various socialists, anarchists, communists, stoners, and morons who have descended on our city for the week.

Please read my whole report, complete with pictures at Human Events:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28209

Late Sunday afternoon I had the opportunity to be given a guided walk-through of the Republican National Committee’s Denver headquarters, called “Not Ready ’08 Central” by many of the RNC staff manning the battle stations.

Walking into the building, one is surrounded by the RNC’s new poster based on their current tag line for the Democratic nominee-in-waiting: “A Mile High, An Inch Deep”. The poster is complete with a digital-esqe picture of Barack Obama next to a (not to scale) ruler section measuring Obama at a firm 1” of height and proclaiming “Not Ready 08”, which is not coincidentally the name of a new web site (www.notready08.com) which the GOP will be using to get out this particular message.

The facility walk-through was given to a small handful of journalists and guided by RNC Chairman Mike Duncan. We viewed the “war room” full of televisions and work spaces around a large desk where about two dozen Republican staff, including their top communications people, will be watching the Democratic National Convention, laptops at the ready, handling “rapid response and fact checking” of statements made inside the Pepsi Center, not least about Obama’s “lack of record.”

They will also be breaking other news, such as their involvement today in getting out the story that one of Joe Biden’s sons is a top partner at a lobbying firm representing universities, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, among others, and which has even lobbied Senator Biden himself. That will be an interesting twist in a campaign where the presidential candidate decries lobbyists and seems to hate drug companies.

The RNC has also rented their own satellite communication truck and have set up a 20-seat press briefing room, complete with professional lighting and video equipment, inside the building, which is walking distance from the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.

Chairman Duncan answered a few political questions, in addition to discussing the effort that went into selecting and preparing “Not Ready 08 Central”. Duncan continues to believe that energy continues to be a (or the) key issue in the race, but believes that Obama is vulnerable on essentially every area of policy from national security to taxes to, of course, experience: “John McCain has lived a life of service, working across the aisle to make things happen…to accomplish things. Barack Obama hasn’t been able to accomplish anything.”

Duncan discussed how Republican Party fundraising has been much better than recognized, and that the GOP has more than enough cash on hand to fight the well-funded Obama campaign (even with Obama reneging on his promise to remain in the public election financing system.)

Duncan also described the “buyer’s remorse” among some Democrats who still want Hillary to be their nominee and others who wanted her to be the VP selection, noting that the Democrats’ division bodes well for Republican electoral success.

Overall, Chairman Duncan recognizes that it remains a very difficult year for Republicans but believes that the party’s prospects are improving weekly and he is optimistic that “things won’t be nearly as bad as people have been expecting”, adding with a hint of a smile “I still don’t expect us to regain the majority in the House.”

During the course of the week, prominent Republicans and other McCain supporters will operate from the facility (and elsewhere), giving press conferences as well as interviews with various local and national media outlets.

On Monday, RNC Victory Chairman Carly Fiorina (notice none of that PC stuff like “Chairwomyn”) will speak, as well as several prominent Democratic activists who are publicly coming out to support John McCain.

On Tuesday, the featured “surrogate” is Mitt Romney, followed by Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday and Tim Pawlenty on Thursday.

Overall, the walk-through gave an impression of a well-designed, well-managed operation with staff who will certainly make the most of any opening the Democrats give them. Each member of the RNC team seemed enthusiastic and anxious to get to work trying to demonstrate to Americans that in 2008 Barack Obama is Not Ready.

just testing the new category in preparation for the DNC