[CIMC-working] PROPSED: Framing the TABD Protests

[Doug Morris]

This is a rough draft for center column feature for today...

I'd like to get it up soon.  Feel free to edit... just let me know...

Comments?  OK to put up?

TABD PROTESTS

Framing the TABD Protests

At a news conference, Wednesday, organizers for a TABD march noted that the 
march would be peaceful. For the march today, Thursday, organizers agreed 
[LINK: 
http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=15589&group=webcast] 
upon a march route from Boeing (Boeing CEO is co-chairing this meeting) at 
Washington and Canal beginning at 5:00 pm to the Tribune Plaza. At 5:00 pm 
at Boeing HQ there will be a few speakers and at 6:00 pm at the Tribune 
plaza there will be a rally. Also planned are autonomous actions in the 
streets on Friday, starting at 4 pm at Daley Plaza, and an Alternatives 
Economics Summit for Saturday, November 9th at the DePaul University Loop 
Campus, 333 South State St., 11th floor.

Though the march is organized by a combination of local community, direct 
action, and labor organizations, the media have painted the TABD protesters 
as anarchists "descending" on the city [LINK]. Buildings downtown have 
issued alerts of disruptions that have workers staying home.  The police 
presence will be extensive. The city has warned protesters that it will sue 
individuals for any property damage.

Organizers frame the protest [LINK ] against the global economic 
privitization strategies of TABD, which is "the most extreme example of 
"corporate rule" because it is an organization specifically designed to 
"privatize" public policy decision-making." They note that TABD is a 
far-reaching international corporate-state alliance. Mandated by the US 
government and the European Commission, the 150 large corporations work to 
identify "barriers to transatlantic trade". They will be drafting 
recommendations to put forth to the World Trade Organization (WTO), 
including discussing how workers' rights, environmental policies, and any 
other kinds of "regulation" serve as barriers. Protesting such issues is a 
civic duty for those commited to democracy, especially in Republican 
controlled politics of America. Overlooked in much of the public media and 
police rhetoric are that protest and civil disobedience are civil rights 
[LINK to June's post: 
http://chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=15636].

[Background and Schedule of anti-TABD actions and events:
Anti-TABD Protest Party pages : http://www.azone.org/notabd/index.php ]