Face the State

By Andrew Ripemoff

So let’s talk about the Democratic National Convention, where an anti-war Senator from the upper Mid West is getting a lot of buzz as he battles it out with the party’s establishment candidate - a liberal politician with presidential ties whose first name starts with an "H." This divisive primary fight weakens the party, angers the base, and threatens to bring violent riots outside the convention hall - all of which ultimately enables the Republican nominee, (a war veteran from the west), to capture the White House.

But enough about 1968.

Let’s focus on this year’s convention in Denver!

Students protest the Vietnam WarUniv. of Wisconsin

I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward it. Especially when I read about guys like Glenn Spagnuolo. Who is Glenn Spagnuolo you ask? Why, he’s a political activist from New York City who moved to our fair state in order to peacefully share in its beauty, joining with friends like disgraced former CU Professor Ward Churchill to build a larger coalition dedicated to making a positive change for the benefit of ordinary Coloradans.

Or something like that.

Actually, he’s a radical organizer who relocated here from the streets of New York to dedicate his life for worthwhile causes, such as getting arrested at parades. He’s also a leader in a liberal fringe group called Re-create '68, which is not to be confused with REC-reate 68 - a local group of physically-active senior citizens.

The mission of RE-create '68 is to stage mass protests during the DNC convention this August. This is normal. A large national convention will inevitably attract a lot of society’s worst elements into town. I’m talking about extremists, perverts, radicals, and thugs - or as the Democrats call them: "Delegates." So, it will be up to Denver Police to protect us normal Coloradans by keeping all those Democrats locked up safely inside the Pepsi Center with like-minded deviants who share their ideals. And here I’m talking about MSNBC anchors.

Unfortunately, it appears the police will have a tough task this August. After losing out on a lottery draw for a protest permit, Spagnuolo and his gang have made thinly veiled threats of violence. He told the Rocky Mountain News: "When things blow up because the police have to enforce a permit that the Democrats got, don’t blame us for that." Later, in another Rocky report from March 24, he told a reporter that our government, "needs to be completely eliminated."

Basically, what we’re talking about here is a bunch of loud, potentially violent radicals who hate America.

In other words, they’d fit right in at Barack Obama’s church.

But hopefully the protests will be peaceful. I mean, if I were the police I would not want to mess with man like Spagnuolo who just oozes toughness. But yet, where did he get such strength? Is it from the gritty streets of the Bronx? Is he a former Marine? Did he train with a para-military group of revolutionaries in a dangerous third-world country? Where did he learn how to be so brutally tough? A recent story in the Westword gives us the answer:

"He attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York."

Um. Okay, but what else do we know about Mr. Spagnuolo? For one thing, we know he wants us to focus on the message, not him. He does not want all of this attention on himself. And just so that he is clear, he keeps reminding us of this during press conferences and interviews.

We also know that if liberal protest groups need a heroic leader to galvanize support, Spagnuolo may just be the man for the job. For not everyone has the skills to marshal up the support of thousands. In fact, he ran for the mayor of Longmont, and although he didn’t squeak out a victory he was able to gather an impressive 4.3 percent of the vote. Do you know what this means? It means that Longmont appears to still have a minor meth problem. It also means that we should take him on his word when Re-create '68 says they will bring in 50,000 strong to Denver this August.

Yes. You read that right. Fifty-thousand raving loons wandering the tiny streets of Denver. Where are we going to put all of them? Who knows? But just because they call themselves an "underground" group does not mean we should put them in that huge construction hole at the Auraria campus. OK? I’m not advocating that.

In fact, I sort of admire their passion and commitment to their cause. And whatever the number, they will be out in force this summer. They will do their best to immitate the political atmosphere of 40 years ago - a time when Democrats fought, liberal protestors got tear-gassed, radicals got arrested, and a Republican won the presidency.

Re-create 1968?

Finally, something we can all agree on.