Thursday, August 21, 2008

Gitmo on the Platte, a DNCC Update

We returned a couple of days early from Bonneville (damaged engine) just in time to see another return to Denver. This was the reappearance of the six black helicopters full of armed commandos. As before, the “official” line is that it’s part of the ongoing war on global terror. No connection whatever to the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The Pentagon thinks that we’re all idiots, and for once they’re right about something. We are idiots.

Local news has been buzzing for a week, now, about something they’re calling, “Gitmo on the Platte.” It’s a giant warehouse that has been filled, from one end to the other, with cages made from electrified chain-link fence, and topped with razor wire. This is the temporary holding facility for protesters who are arrested during the convention. Two weeks ago, the DNCC and Denver city authorities denied that any such place existed. Now they are giving television news teams guided tours of the place. The warehouse itself used to be (30 years ago) part of the U.S. Air Force Accounting and Finance Center, so I guess you could say that it’s always had a connection with that macho, we’re-the-baddest-thing-on-the-planet fraternity known as the U.S. Military. Who knew?

DNCC spokespeople are, of course, rosy and upbeat, but a lot of us in Denver have a bad feeling about this convention. It has Chicago 1968 written all over it.

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