The Tumbleweed Cabaret: A Peace Revival with Scott Ritter, Medea Benjamin, Ronnie Cummins, Dragon Jane, Ray McGovern and more. Hosted by Lizzie West & Baba Buffalo. At the Lowry Theater 16 W. Fifth Street St. Paul, MN.

Stop Corporate Manipulation of American Culture!

Money For Health Care and Housing! Not For War!

Republican National Convention In our backyard September 2008

Now is the time to get involved and do something!

Resisting the RNC: Minnesota Town Hall Organizing Meeting

Sunday, July 13, 1:30 pm
Rondo Community Library
461 North Dale Street, St.Paul

Co-hosted by: Protest RNC 2008 and the RNC "Welcoming" Committee

Join us and plug into the organizing efforts of those who have already started putting plans into place to resist the RNC. This will be a space for people to come together, share ideas, plans and energy, and participate in the process.

- Discuss why the RNC is coming, what it means for our community, and why resistance is necessary

- Updates on the plans groups have for the convention

- Network and organize with others who are organizing to protest the RNC.

Contact Kim: kimdefranco@yahoo.com or Nathan: reallysubsumed@riseup.net to reserve an information table, present your "already underway" plans, and/or volunteer to help with the
event.

Please RSVP ASAP.

Childcare and snacks provided.

ACTION ALERT: Call on St. Paul Mayor & City Council to support Permit Appeal by the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War

On Wednesday, May 14, the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War received an alternate permit for our demonstration on September 1, 2008. This alternate permit was provided because both the route and the time in our permit application were rejected by St. Paul Police.

Thanks to public pressure from you, and pending legal action in federal court, we now have a permit that will take our march up to the Xcel Center.

However, the terms of the alternate permit will not accommodate the large, national demonstration we are planning. The space and time limitations are unworkable, and are designed to limit the impact we can have on the RNC and its media coverage.

Every street around the Xcel Center will be closed, to provide security to the politicians who will meet inside to congratulate themselves on 5 years of a brutal war on Iraq. Two parking lots adjacent to the Xcel are reserved for media trucks, which the RNC will rely on to broadcast their message of war, trying to convince the people of this country to cast their votes for more years of war and human suffering in Iraq, and more years of ignoring human needs here at home.

The alternate permit grants our Coalition the small space that remains: A 2000 square foot triangle, across the street from the Xcel Center. Our permit allows the use of that space for less than 2 hours, and requires that the march proceed along a 1000-foot long turn about, then turn back on itself, and return to the State Capitol Building on the same road we marched in on. This limited time and space cannot accommodate 50,000 protesters.

The alternative permit effectively protects the Republicans and their message of war, while restricting the rights of common people to demand peace, justice and equality. Limiting both time and space for the march – ensures that only some protesters will have a chance to raise their voice at the site of the Convention, while thousands may never even see the building. This is a plan we cannot accept.

According to the City ordinance, permit decisions can be appealed to City Council. This week, we will ask St. Paul City Council members to overturn the police department's decision, and grant our original permit request for September 1, 2008. We will also raise our objections to the alternate permit that was granted.

Moreover, the St. Paul Police Department is required to demonstrate a substantial public safety interest that necessitates rejecting the original request. We have received no explanation of how the alternate route satisfies any concerns raised by our original route. City Council members can get real answers.

We ask you to call on the St. Paul City Council to stand on the side of peace and justice, to issue the permit we applied for, to ensure a successful March on the RNC to stop the war on Iraq.

We expect our appeal to be heard at the City Council meeting on Wednesday, May 21, 2008, on the 3rd floor of City Hall at 15 W. Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul. The meeting begins at 3:30pm, and public hearings are scheduled for 5:30pm - it is not clear when the Permit appeal will be scheduled on the agenda. Please attend the meeting if you can, and contact St. Paul City officials beforehand.

Ask them to approve the original permit application, including a later and longer time, and a route that physically accommodates more protesters and provides more space at the Xcel Center. They can also help by getting the police to answer some of these questions:

1. Why was the original permit denied? What specifically about the route and time would create the traffic and safety issues stated as the basis for denial? How does the alternate permit avoid these issues?

2. Why does the March have to clear the Xcel by 2:00 p.m.? Will all demonstrators be banned from the "soft security zone" after 2:00 p.m.? If not, why can't the March go later in the afternoon? Can the March starting time be moved back to accommodate people from out of town who will be arriving? If not, why not?

3. Why do the free speech rights of the corporate media take precedence over the rights of the people? Two parking lots adjacent to X-Cel are both being given to the media, can't one of them be given to the people? Either parking lot would not be any closer to X-Cel than the demonstration zone, but would greatly expand the ability of people to reach the Xcel and turn around without problems.

4. When will the delegates arrive on 9/1/08? Is the plan to make the March pass by X-Cel center by 2:00 p.m. just so that it will be gone by the time the delegates start arriving?

Debbie Montgomery (Ward 1) * 651-266-8610

Dave Thune (Ward 2) * 651-266-8620

Pat Harris (Ward 3) * 651-266-8630

Jay Benanav (Ward 4) * (651) 266-8640

Lee Helgen (Ward 5) * 651-266-8650

Dan Bostrom (Ward 6) * 651-266-8660

Kathy Lantry, President (Ward 7) * 651-266-8670

Also, please contact Chris Coleman, Mayor * 651-266-8510

Background:
See a map of the City's proposal on-line here - http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_9262346
See the Coalition's proposed route on-line here - http://www.protestrnc2008.org/node/39

Federal Courthouse, 300 S. 4th St., Mpls.

St. Paul city officials have not yet granted permits for the anti-war march on September 1. A federal judge will consider our case, and we need supporters there. We'll have a rally/press conference outside at 1pm, and then go inside for the hearing at 2pm.

Sisters and Brothers,

On May 16 the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War will be in Federal Court. We are seeking an injunction that forces the City of Saint Paul to issue permits for our anti-war march on Republican National Convention September 1. We need your help. Contact Saint Paul's mayor and send letters to the Twin Cities press.

Starting May 12, we need our supporters and fellow protesters to contact Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. Urge him to deliver a final permit to the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, for us to march from the State Capitol to the Xcel Center on September 1, 2008. Email Mayor Coleman at mayor@ci.stpaul.mn.us or call him at 651-266-8510. Feel free to use the talking points mentioned below.

We began seeking permits for this demonstration days after the Republicans announced they would hold their national convention in Minnesota. While we have a permit to assemble and rally at the State Capitol, the City of Saint Paul continues to withhold a permit for a march on the Xcel Center, where the convention will be held. Saint Paul city government is now saying "wait and see what we give you on May 31." This is unacceptable.

No important social question is ever settled in the courtroom. Issues that matter are settled in the streets and in the court of public opinion. We need folks across the U.S to demand that we get a permit to go to the Xcel Center - the site of the RNC. The eyes of the world will be focused there September 1.

In addition to calling and emailing the Saint Paul mayor's office with the demand to issue the permits, writing letters to the local newspapers would really help. We want to make it known that people from all around the country are coming here and insist that Saint Paul city officials give permits for our anti-war protest.

The two main local 'mainstream' newspapers are the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) and the Pioneer Press St Paul). Here is the information on sending letters.:

Star Tribune (250 word maximum)
Submit from their website
OR... Fax to 612-673-4359
OR... Mail to Editorial Department, Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av., Minneapolis, MN 55488.

Pioneer Press (150 word maximum)
Please send your letters in the body of an e-mail, not as an attachment, to letters@pioneerpress.com. Include your full name and your city of residence for publication. For verification purposes only, and not for publication, include your street address and daytime telephone number.

Please keep you letters short and concise. If you only send a letter to one paper, the Star Tribune is the more important of the two. If you send the same letter to both, send separate emails.

We recommend a few talking points for your letters:

1) Denounce the war. The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War is planning a major anti-war demonstration and the city of Saint Paul is refusing to grant a permit to go to the site of the RNC - the Xcel Center.

2) We are planning to march on the RNC. We expect / demand to be at the Xcel Center September 1.

3) The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War is getting the runaround from the city of Saint Paul. Permit applications have been in since days after the convention was announced. We have a right to protest the war. We need the permits now.

You efforts will help to create the political climate where we get the permits we need.

Sincerely,

The Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War