From the Mind of Trevor Stone

I did a very insignificant amount today to help the election of the most impressive political figure of my generation. It seems that almost everyone in Lakewood voted early this year, but the Obama campaign–through an incredible volunteer organization–left nothing to chance and pushed to the end. President-elect Obama is able to inspire a wide range of people to make significant personal donations -- of money, of vacation time, of weekend time, of spare time, of sleep, and of sanity to play a small role in doing what they feel is right for America. If he can spread this energy beyond his campaign into society as a whole, he may leave an immensely important mark on the character of a nation for generations to come.

I'm sure I'll disagree with many positions he takes, but I know that he will take those positions after careful consideration with input from people who know what they're talking about. And that's really the core of good leadership.

I was also heartened by John McCain's concession speech tonight. It was almost as if he was eager to flee the fear mongering and red baiting he's engendered over the last two months. Perhaps he wanted to do away with the last eight years and get back to the John McCain who ran for president in 2000: a true bipartisan concerned with honorable action for the good of the country. I hope he helps establish broad support for fundamental changes President Obama wants to bring through.

When Bush leaves Washington, I hope he takes with him not only cowboy diplomacy and faith-based science but also the practice of railroading policy through congress, legislating from the Oval Office (signing statements), and executive secrecy. If Obama is to excite me as much in four years as he does right now, he'll need to graciously divest the Presidency of the powers claimed by his predecessor. He'll need to bring about important reforms and new programs not just with the help of 300 of his Democratic pals but by convincing the American people that the plans are strong so that they can convince their elected representatives to get on board. This is how a great orator can become a great governor.

To everyone who became engaged in politics this year for the first time ever (or the first time in a long time), stay involved. Politics is one part exciting, three parts boring. But by and large, it's the boring stuff that has an impact in our lives. Several local races in my area were decided by a margin smaller than the number of people who didn't vote for that section of the ballot.

Democracy is government of the people by the people who show up.

Today, this month, and this year, Barack Obama's supporters showed up. In the few days I've spent with the campaign organizers, I can see them fight to keep the chaos in check, straining to make it to the finish line without collapsing from exhaustion. They deserve a chance to rest and a chance to celebrate. But democracy isn't just about one person on one day. It's our civic duty (some might call it a curse) to stay informed and voice our opinions. I challenge everyone to be more informed each year about the candidates and issues on the ballot. Democracy is government of the people by the people who show up and it's based on the hope that everyone will show up and know what they're talking about.

Good night, and good luck.

I got behind on Democratic National Convention blogging because I've been hanging out with friends instead of sitting in front of the computer. Wednesday and Thursday photos are up on Flickr. My DNC gallery has all 2000+ pictures I took this week.

The main left wing protest event on Wednesday was a concert at the Denver Coliseum with the Flobots, Jello Biafra, Rage Against the Machine, and others followed by an Iraq Veterans Against the War march to the convention site. I had birthday dinner plans with a friend for the evening (thus missing the long march) and the concert didn't sound like a good opportunity for photography, so I decided to wander around downtown and see what random folks were doing.

A lot of people were just sharing their own message with a hand made sign and no organization. I've photographed three different folks with Free Hugs signs this week (something I thought about doing, but decided my big camera might get in the way). There was a "Right Wing Deprogrammer" selling "dunce hats" to folks in line at the Convention Center. Also outside the Convention Center were some PETA folks in pig costumes, two Code Pink women with a banner giving out "Make Out Not War" and "I'm a Delgate for Peace" stickers, Falun Gong meditation and information distribution, two folks with anti-Abortion signs mostly being ignored, a bunch of people selling Obama T-shirts, buttons, and giant foam fingers, and about ten members of the PUMA PAC trying to get delegates to vote for Hillary Clinton. In front of a few nearby sky scrapers were folks holding labor dispute signs.

Along the mall I saw two separate guys with "We Demand Bigger Signs" signs, an old guy with a "Truly Reframe The Abortion Debate / Prevent Abortion, Don't Prohibit Abortion" sign, four guys in blue "Change" shirts playing music (they apparently know exactly one song and sang it all week), a handful of McCain supporters, a woman holding a "Ban Bird Porn" sign (apparently John McCain is an avian voyeur), and people in donkey and elephant fursuits on Segways advertising MSNBC's live broadcasts by Union Station. The same anal-sex-obsessed Christians with a megaphone were out again. This time, clowns were hanging out in front of them to keep things amusing. I tried out my new response line "Reduce abortions, encourage anal sex!" to some giggles. The mall also had the usual suspects including folks selling the homeless newspaper. I had good conversations with Pirate and Cheese. I should hang out with downtown regulars more often.

I finished the day downtown hanging out in the Food Not Bombs corner of Civic Center Park. (The majority of the park had been fenced off to set up for Taste of Colorado, much to the surprise of several activist groups.) I listened to a fantastic Mediterranean/Cumbia jam and tried hooping for peace, but my back was sore from walking all week. I then headed west and had great food and conversation in celebration of the birthday of a college friend. I'm sorry I missed the Iraq Veterans Against the War march, but I figured it would be well covered.

The card someone handed me yesterday said that at 9 Public Enemy would be at Civic Center Park followed by a march at 11. In fact, at 10 there was a folk singer from Seattle on stage while the American Indian Movement got things set up. Several people spoke about racial issues and political prisoners in front of a crowd of 150 at the most. I wandered around and checked out the Pictures of You: Images from Iran exhibit and checked out the Falun Gong marching band and float. Apparently, the Falun Gong marched down to the "Freedom Cage" to play music and hold signs about Chinese torture practices, but since that free speech zone is totally out of the way, nobody was there to hear their message.

At noon, the protesters marched down part of the mall and up to the Federal Building (10th Circuit Courthouse). Speakers talked about Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu Jamal, and other prisoner issues. 20 or so people did the march in orange jumpsuits and black hoods and then knelt by signs about Guantanamo prison. Someone gave a demonstration of waterboarding (but with a plastic mask over the face for safety). Turnout was pretty low; the march had about as many police (including 20 or so on horse) as protesters.


I wandered back down to the mall and came upon the Angry Christians Holding Signs intersection. Apparently there had just been a confrontation and a few dozen police officers were blocking portions of the intersection while one guy was arrested. There was a small crowd exchanging barbs with the "Homo Sex Is A Sin" crew, but police in the vicinity again outnumbered protesters. There was no police escort for the dozen or so Hillary Clinton supporters marching with signs and balloons on the mall. If march participation is any indication, Leonard Peltier has more support than Hillary Clinton.

After taking some pictures at the Code Pink "look at the absurdity of the freedom cage free speech zone that nobody can see" event, I made my way back to Civic Center where I had an interesting discussion at the Pictures of You installation with a guy born in Iran, a youth whose dad was an Iranian teacher, and a couple middle-aged white guys. Some of the conversation was taped for the documentary they're doing about the piece. I was also interviewed a couple times by the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post because I had a colorful hat. I can't find the parts of their websites the reporters were talking about, though.

On the inside-the-convention front, Michelle Obama's speech and the "candid" family interactions were quite deft political maneuvers. Republicans have had the upper hand in media savvy in recent times, but the Obama campaign are clearly an image force to be reckoned with.

Listening to KGNU tonight, I learned that about 80 people got arrested tonight. Many of them were probably involved in "Unconventional Denver" actions to disrupt some of the 1200 DNC-related parties going on. The police strategy seems to be:
(1) Have heavily-armed police all over the place, standing around and looking imposing.
(2) If something happens, quickly form a large police barrier so crowds can't get in.
I think it's a better strategy than police have adopted at other major protest events in the last ten years, but it's kind of disconcerting to walk down the street with guys in SWAT gear standing around every thirty yards.

The number of folks "on the street" today was already pretty small; if a lot of folks get arrested, later events might be quite vacant. I hope enough people show up tomorrow to power all the street puppets.

Flickr only shows the latest 200 pictures on free accounts' photostreams, so 20 pictures I took yesterday aren't available. I grabbed links to all my photos currently available and stuck them in an ugly page on my site in case you want to find something later. I'm posting to Flickr this week mostly so I can participate in groups and tags. My gallery will be the long-term home for these pictures.

On June 3rd, 1989, the Chinese army massacred an unknown number of pro-democracy supporters. The Chinese government remains unrepentive to this day, and arrested many people who tried to publicly mark the 15th anniversary. One strike each against peace and democracy.


6/6/4 marked the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It was an incredibly bloody battle, so it's not the greatest anniversary of peace. However, it was a major turning point and led to the end of a warmongering and violent regime. A good day for democracy and not terrible on the peace scale.


Ronald Reagan died on Saturday. His affect on peace and democracy was somewhat ambivalent. On one hand, he demonstrated that anybody can become president of the United States, even if you don't know what you're talking about. In all seriousness, though, he mastered the ability of getting people to like him, which is how democracy works. His administration supported anti-democratic governments or rebels in Iran, Iraq, Nicaragua, Honduras, South Africa, Indonesia, and elsewhere. His election was helped by a secret deal to exchange hostages for weapons. A strike for both peace and democracy there. His primary contribution to peace was outspending the Soviet Union on nuclear weapons, though it takes the paradoxical (but well-reasoned) logic of nuclear brinkmanship to see this as a step for peace. That said, his death is neither a loss nor gain for democracy. After ten years of Alzheimer's may he rest in peace.


All in all a fairly bleak week. Let's hope this week is a better weak of peace and democracy.