Press enter after choosing selection

Rainbow Nation News

Rainbow Nation News image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
July
Year
1972
OCR Text

RAINBOW NATION NEWS

THE BATTLE OF '72

Image Caption: At the Democratic Convention in Chicago, 1968

1968 was a good year for Conventions, and 1972 promises to surpass it in excitement and revealing incidents from the people in power. Until last week it seemed certain that George McGovern, fresh from "unexpected" victories in state primary after primary, had won enough delegates to get the Democratic nomination. But the bigwigs of the Democratic Party, led by Hubert Horatio Humphrey the sore loser himself, have moved in to stop McGovern any way they can. They claim that his views are "too radical" so they've decided to keep the nomination away from him even if it means breaking their own rules to stop the "radical" who keeps getting most of the votes.

After winning the giant and crucial California primary McGovern announced that he had enough delegates for a first ballot win at the convention. Before the primary all segments of the Democrats ruled that whoever won would get all of California's delegates automatically. But soon after the votes were counted Humphrey and other bosses started politicking in the backrooms. They succeeded in linking up with Muskie and other forces to arrange for a Democratic caucus to vote to take away 150 of McGovern's delegates and give them to Humphrey.

McGovern took it to court, threatening to leave the Democratic party if he didn't get his rightful delegates back. The court gave the votes back and its being appealed to the Supreme Court. The Democratic Convention starts soon after this paper hits the streets, and it promises to be a mad scene as the McGovern, Humphrey, Wallace, Muskie, Chisolm and the secret lurking forces of Teddy Kennedy fight it out for the chance to run against Tricky Dick.

The mad bomber meanwhile continues to talk about how he's ending the war while the air and electronic war against the Indochinese people increases in intensity. On July 4th people in Ann Arbor dug a symbolic bomb crater to remind people that despite the public relations gimmicks and tricky ploys the war is not winding down. On the same day Nixon, fresh from the war room, invited people from all over the world to come to the U.S. for its 200th birthday and "share our dreams of a brighter future. Let us be known throughout the world as the 'Land of the Open Door' Nixon said, while inviting the populations of the world's nations to ignore their proverty and misery and "Come and let us say thank you. Let us prove once again that the spirit of '76 is a spirit of openness, of brotherhood and of peace."

So much for the imagery. But before he could lean over and ask John Mitchell (until that point Nixon's campaign manager) if the speech would fool 'em, Martha Mitchell was on the phone to United Press International. In an exclusive interview, Martha complained that John was neglecting her and their daughter. She said she was being watched, guarded and kept at home by agents and, copping a phrase or two, called herself a "political prisoner." It was all over the front pages the next day that during the phone call the reporter could hear someone struggling to get the phone away from Mrs. Mitchell. A week later John Mitchell announced that he was retiring as head honcho of the tricky team in order to devote more attention to "his wife and family." Mitchell would stay on "in an advisory capacity." Will the real story ever be told?

Phew! Is this for real? The Republicans have been stocking upon everything they can find out out McGovern and are preparing a computerized smear campaign. Apparently the computer just wasn't enough so James W. McCord, the "security coordinator" for the Republican National Committee broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee to plant a wiretap. McCord was embarrasingly caught in the act and arrested along with two others, then immediately fired from his post (presumably for getting caught). The Democrats are demanding a full investigation.

As the great drama unfolds Miami Beach is preparing for the onslaught of delegates. and demonstrations. The Miami police have been receiving extensive riot and crowd control training and its been announced that the Army will be on call nearby to deal with any trouble. The police have been given sweeping arrest powers on a temporary basis, and another stomp scene may await people who travel down to Miami for "civil disobedience" and the almost guaranteed chaos that a heavy scene in the streets is likely to produce.

The Yippies are in Miami this year, along with a spin-off group the Zippies. They've called off plans for demonstrations during the Democratic Convention (the Yippies, that is) and are concentrating on urging people to come down for the Republican Convention. In the meantime they're going after headlines and the front pages by ingenious devices like giving away watermelon to the senior citizen community in Mliami.

The SUN doesn't urge you to got to Miami. To us the only concrete way to stop Richard Nixon in the coming year is to concentrate on registering our people to vote and uniting that huge bloc of votes behind someone who will at the minimum immediately withdraw all our troops from Indochina. We endorse McGovern for President and his 3 point Plan for Peace as a realistic improvement on Nixon but not as any kind of savior, and hope to see him get the nomination and win in the fall.

In 1968 there was supposed to be a Festival of Life in Chicago to present our culture as an alternative to the madness and death being perpetuated by Republicans and Democrats alike. The Festival of Life fell under the nightstick but in a dynamite article in the new issue of CREEM Craig Karpel is urging its ressurrection. "The fact is," says Craig, "that 'Chicago' razed as much consciousness as it raised and that, if you think it'll be important for you to be in Miami this year you're either (a) a delegate; (b) a candidate; or (c) don't understand how America is wired this year."

Karpel is urging a Festival of Life for Indochina, or the Great Indochina Medicine Show. The fantasy is Iets do a Bangledesh to raise money for the ravaged people of Indochina only much bigger than Bangledesh, involving all the big-name musicians and bands who are against the war in a massive stadium size get-down. Doing it while the Republicans are "calling the roll of the states for the n-teenth time" would give the tens of millions tuned into their TV tubes the image of tens of thousands of people gathered together peacefully and positively protesting America's war to control the resources of the planet by gathering millions of dollars to help undo the damage we've opposed for so long.

It's only a fantasy right now, but it would sure open a lot more people's heads to the possibility of change than anything you'll see on the streets of Miami. Right now people from CREEM and the Rainbow People's Party are talking to people in the music business and trying to make this fantasy a reality, even if t can't be pulled off in time to coincide with Miami.

That's all there is right now to say; check out the article in the July issue of CREEM, make sure you register to vote so you can do your part in whatever it is we'll have to deal with in November, and stay tuned to the SUN for more on the Battle of '72.