Judge rejects Central Park Rally permit

This rejection should come as no surprise, no surprise at all

A judge rejected a last-minute plea from anti-war activists who sued the city for a permit to hold a massive rally in Central Park the day before the Republican convention, saying they were too late.

The judge blamed United for Peace and Justice for waiting too long to apply for the permit.

State Supreme Court Justice Jacqueline Silbermann ruled on Wednesday that United for Peace and Justice was “guilty of inexcusable and inequitable delay” in bringing the case to court after months of back-and-forth negotiations over plans for the Sunday demonstration.

Had United for Justice and Peace not meekly accepted the West Side Highway rally location that the city rammed down their throats, had they actually stood and fought for a Central Park permit then, quite possibly it might have been granted. But UJP, through their now notorious timidity and too easy capitulation to authority, has, one more time, let the City of New York run right over them - just like they did in early 2003 when they let the NYC deny them a permit for a U.N. rally and then barricade demonstrators into pens all over Manhattan.

I’m told the city of New York routinely refuses important permits to the ANSWER Coalition, and instead “negotiates” with the well-meaning but inept UPJ. The reason why should be obvious.

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RNC. On the ground

From the Media Channel listserv

The signs are up on my block — no parking, no standing, no stopping, (no breathing?) as a police enforced lockdown of New York begins to roll out. Madison Square Garden, is like a crime scene already, flanked by cops galore, trailers and TV satellite trucks as the “load-in” for the RNC intensifies. It is “surrounded” by armed men, shades of Najav.

YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN . . . . .

The New York Post pushed its fog and fear machine into higher gear, reporting without any evidence:

“A number of extremists with ties to the 1970s radical Weather Underground have recently been released from prison and are in New York preparing to wreak havoc during the Republican National Convention.

And the Post spews much more “demonstrators-are-terrorists” right wing propaganda throughout their “news reporting.” These folks would be right at home in Germany in the 30’s, yes they would. 

Alternet is out with one of several guides to the cultural and political activities in the convention period. MediaChannel will have an unofficial media guide available for the thousands of journalist who will outnumber the delegates 5-1.

Medics are in from California to tend to the beaten while hundreds of video cameras are being mobilized to record the expected confrontations. Confrontations feel inevitable . . . . the only question is — what will their political effect be. One senses that the GOP welcomes chaos and images of conflict which they plan to use . . . .

Or major demonstrations with massive brutal overreaction by NYPD could also blow up in the Republican’s faces.

Media Channel Unofficial Guide to RNC

MediaChannel.org and Media for Democracy present the “Unofficial Media Guide” – a resource for journalists seeking a detour from the tightly scripted rhetoric at Madison Square Garden. The Media Guide list hundreds of sources and experts available to reporters seeking to cover events occurring throughout New York’s five boroughs. Inside these pages, you’ll find:

    * Dozens of New York experts, ready to talk on the record.
    * Coordinates for the protest groups active citywide.
    * The lowdown on political bloggers and alternative news outlets.
    * The big media backstory.
    * Ten New York ways to escape the spin

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State court ruling on Central Park rally due this afternoon

A Manhattan judge is set to rule today on whether anti-war activists can hold a 250,000-person rally on Central Park’s Great Lawn.

A Federal judge on Friday ruled against a permit in the park for both ANSWER and UfJP, so I doubt a state judge would rule contrary to that.

ANSWER Coalition response

The spontaneous reaction to the Judge’s decision and the widely publicized response to the Judge ruling from the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition spokesperson - that “Thousands of people are coming, and many of them intend to be in Central Park, and we believe that it is their right to be in Central Park” (from August 24 NY Times front page story) - has made it as clear as day to the authorities that the denial of permits for the August 28 and 29 demonstrations was a huge miscalculation.

Even unnamed police officials are now being quoted in the media that the Mayor and the city made a mistake by denying the permits because the people are likely to assert their free speech rights and descend on Central Park. This is a sign that the powers that be are getting nervous.

ANSWER will have a permitted march Thursday Sept 2 in  NYC, starting at the Israeli embassy and ending at Madison Square Garden as Bush is being coronated, in addition to being involved in many other events and organizing.
 
Not In Our Name

Check their calender of events for the protest week. If no permit is granted for a Central Park rally, it’s a given that many protestors, including NION members who often participate in civil disobedience, will march to the park anyway.

Guerrilla dancing in the NYC streets

Plans evolve to dance in the streets during the Republican Convention, from John Perry Barlow

Music for America

From their listserv

MfA is coordinating 69 workshops, 16 concerts, and 10 Street Action Teams of 10-20 volunteers at key locations throughout the city. We are also coordinating the political outreach efforts for over 90 of the Imagine Arts Festival events taking place next week. If only 15 people come to each training, we will send over 1000 volunteers back to their home states with the tools, skills, and connections to activate their communities and decide which way the election will swing.

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Did Hell freeze over?

Vice President Dick Cheney told voters in Davenport, Iowa, he doesn’t believe there should be an amendment against gay marriage.

His lesbian daughter, who some have bashed for not being more politically active, I would assume, was the major influence here.

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Abu Ghraib report faults Rumsfeld, top officials

U.S. soldiers running the Abu Ghraib prison are mainly to blame for the inmate abuses there, but fault also lies with the Pentagon’s most senior civilian and military officials, according to a report released Tuesday by an independent panel of civilian defense experts.

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