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The bomb throwing—certainly in a figurative sense—began this morning on the west steps of the Capitol Building in Denver.
One of the most visible and vociferous of the protest groups planning to make its presence felt at the Democratic National Convention, Recreate ’68, held its opening protest and rally.
The rally included impassioned anti-war speeches and a ruckus caused, in part, by the media.
"We're going to the Pepsi Center and tell them we've had enough of the f***ing war," said Glenn Spagnuolo, co-founder of Recreate ’68.
Mark Cohen, also a co-founder of the group, told the crowd of a few hundred that he had been on the steps of the capitol before protesting the first Gulf War. Sunday morning, he was there again.
"I tell you what, I'm getting tired of it," he said. "I'm here today to tell the Democrats that enough is enough."
He accused the Democrats and presumptive presidential candidate Barack Obama of voting for every bill to finance the Iraq War.
"The choice between Democrats and Republicans is no choice at all," Cohen said. He later took a shot at a favorite target, corporations.
"What we have now is a country by the corporations, of the corporations and for the corporations."
That was a similar theme seized on by Cindy Sheehan, whose protest against the Iraq War after her son died there made her an international anti-war icon.
Sheehan pointed out that the convention was sponsored by AT&T, and then asked rhetorically who, then, was represented by the gathering.
She said U.S. troops from all foreign wars should be brought home.
"They won't shut us up, and they won't shut me up."
Shortly before taking the stage, controversial critic of the government and former professor at the University of Colorado, Ward Churchill, told Fort Collins Now reporter Matt Brady that he was there to speak about "occupation and the war."
"Well, you don't have the war in Iraq if you don't have the war here."
What he meant by a war here is that, in his opinion, the cause of America's misguided steps in foreign wars all comes back to a long history of oppressing people within the country's borders, particularly Native Americans, whom Churchill is especially passionate about.
But as Ron Kovic—who was portrayed by Tom Cruise in the Oliver Stone movie "Born on the Fourth of July"—was wrapping up his speech, a reporter for Fox News tried to approach Churchill to ask him questions.
That riled many people in the crowd and they converged on the reporter, keeping him from interviewing Churchill and yelling obscenities about the network.
Much of the focus turned to the incident, with a large portion of the crowd being members of the media.
Shareef Aleen, from Denver Open Media, led the charge in challenging the Fox reporter.
"People feel like Fox News is biased," Aleen later told the reporter on camera.
About 11:30 a.m., the protesters started on their march to the Pepsi Center.
One of the most visible and vociferous of the protest groups planning to make its presence felt at the Democratic National Convention, Recreate ’68, held its opening protest and rally.
The rally included impassioned anti-war speeches and a ruckus caused, in part, by the media.
"We're going to the Pepsi Center and tell them we've had enough of the f***ing war," said Glenn Spagnuolo, co-founder of Recreate ’68.
Mark Cohen, also a co-founder of the group, told the crowd of a few hundred that he had been on the steps of the capitol before protesting the first Gulf War. Sunday morning, he was there again.
"I tell you what, I'm getting tired of it," he said. "I'm here today to tell the Democrats that enough is enough."
He accused the Democrats and presumptive presidential candidate Barack Obama of voting for every bill to finance the Iraq War.
"The choice between Democrats and Republicans is no choice at all," Cohen said. He later took a shot at a favorite target, corporations.
"What we have now is a country by the corporations, of the corporations and for the corporations."
That was a similar theme seized on by Cindy Sheehan, whose protest against the Iraq War after her son died there made her an international anti-war icon.
Sheehan pointed out that the convention was sponsored by AT&T, and then asked rhetorically who, then, was represented by the gathering.
She said U.S. troops from all foreign wars should be brought home.
"They won't shut us up, and they won't shut me up."
Shortly before taking the stage, controversial critic of the government and former professor at the University of Colorado, Ward Churchill, told Fort Collins Now reporter Matt Brady that he was there to speak about "occupation and the war."
"Well, you don't have the war in Iraq if you don't have the war here."
What he meant by a war here is that, in his opinion, the cause of America's misguided steps in foreign wars all comes back to a long history of oppressing people within the country's borders, particularly Native Americans, whom Churchill is especially passionate about.
But as Ron Kovic—who was portrayed by Tom Cruise in the Oliver Stone movie "Born on the Fourth of July"—was wrapping up his speech, a reporter for Fox News tried to approach Churchill to ask him questions.
That riled many people in the crowd and they converged on the reporter, keeping him from interviewing Churchill and yelling obscenities about the network.
Much of the focus turned to the incident, with a large portion of the crowd being members of the media.
Shareef Aleen, from Denver Open Media, led the charge in challenging the Fox reporter.
"People feel like Fox News is biased," Aleen later told the reporter on camera.
About 11:30 a.m., the protesters started on their march to the Pepsi Center.
