Sept.3 , Day 3 Inside the RNC...

Having dedicated yesterday’s agenda to the very long, very sold out, very noisy Ron Paul Rally for The Republic at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN, today I dedicate myself to proceedings inside the RNC.

Remember, if you want to see live streaming of multiple events, please visit our colleagues’ site as they have cameras live uplinking almost every place we’ve been, and/or want to be: www.theuptake.org .With them, you’ll catch everything that is just too much for one person to catch.

Oh - and here are our pictures from the Ron Paul Rally For the Republic, and the launch of Rep. Ron Paul’s new PAC, Campaign For Liberty. Remember:

the photostream is unedited and shot raw on a Nikon D200 - we’ll have time for endless editing and photoshopping later - but thought you’d appreciate the data NOW...

Here’s the official RNC agenda for today:

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Contact: Joanna Burgos
(651) 467-2728

2008 Republican National Convention Announces Program for Wednesday
Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Vice Presidential
Nominee Sarah Palin Among Featured Speakers
SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The 2008 Republican National Convention today announced the full program of events for Wednesday, Sept. 3. The evening’s program will feature remarks by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican Party’s nominee for vice president. Among the other speakers participating in this evening’s program are former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The speakers’ remarks will reflect the convention’s overall theme, “Country First,” and the theme for Wednesday’s events, which is “reform.”
Participants are organized by hour of participation:
6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Call to Order, Introduction of Colors: U.S. Sen. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.)

Presentation of Colors: Law Enforcement Memorial Association (Minn.)

Pledge of Allegiance: Sharon Clahchischilliage and Mary Leavitt

Singing of “America the Beautiful”: John Shillington and Ruby Brown

Invocation: Father Edward Reese

Speaker: U.S. Sen. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.)

Video: “Country First: Prosperity,” with narration by Robert Duvall

Speaker: Anne Beiler

Speaker: U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.)

Speaker: Renee Amoore

Speaker: State Sen. Abel Maldonado (Calif.)

Speaker: Carolyn Dunn

7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Speaker: Dr. Elena Rios

Speaker: Ruth Novodor

Speaker: Christy Swanson

Speaker: Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Michael Williams

Speaker: Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuno

Speaker: Meg Whitman, former President and CEO of EBay

Video: Sen. McCain’s Economic Reform Package

Speaker: Carly Fiorina, former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard

Prayer: Bishop Thomas Wenski

8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Speaker: GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele

Speaker: Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.)

Speaker: Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.)

Musical Performance: John Rich, Gretchen Wilson, and Cowboy Troy

9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Speaker: Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (N.Y.)

Speaker: Gov. Linda Lingle (Hawaii)

Video: Sarah Palin

Speaker: Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin

10 p.m. to Conclusion

Procedural Activities Required for Nomination of the Presidential Candidate: U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio)

Roll Call: Sec. Jean Inman, Assist. Sec. Connie Nicholas, and Assist. Sec. Rosie Tripp

Benediction: Rev. Eva Rodriguez

Adjournment: U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio)

...so you’ll understand why I might want to be inside snapping photos from the very low floor and and actually be ready to do the reporting from a primary perspective rather than have “what the big news is today” imposed on me for my various radio reporting assignments.

However, protest group www.theworldcantwait.org are having an Impeachment for Peace rally today just outside the Excel Center, and with Scott Ritter, Ray McGovern, and an equally interesting line up, it’s hard not to try and make our way back out to get something from that. Here is the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jodin Morey
Cofounder: Impeach for Peace
1111 Elway St. Suite 505
St. Paul, MN 55116
Phone: 612-328-1451
organize@impeachforpeace.org
http://ImpeachforPeace.org

RNC Protest Stage Featuring National Speakers on Wednesday

“St. Paul, Minnesota — Sept. 2, 2008 — On Wedsnesday, Sept. 2nd,
Impeach for Peace will be taking the Protest Stage at 1pm and World Can’t
Wait will have the stage at 4pm. The stage is located outside the Xcel Energy Center. The stage is on W. 7th St. between W. 5th and 6th Streets. So far, the list of speakers includes:

Ray McGovern: Retired CIA officer turned political activist. McGovern was a
Federal employee under seven U.S. presidents over 27 years, presenting the
morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many of them.

John Nichols: Author of “The Genius of Impeachment.” Nichols writes about
politics for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent. He is a
contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate
editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. His
articles have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and dozens of
other newspapers.

Debra Sweet: National Director of World Can’t Wait
(WorldCantWait.org). World Can’t Wait is organizing people living in the
United States to take responsibility to stop the whole disastrous course led
by the Bush administration. World Can’t Wait seeks to create a political
situation where the Bush administration’s program is repudiated, where Bush
himself is driven from office, and where the whole direction he has been
taking U.S. society is reversed.

Ann Wright: A Colonel in the U.S. Army and a career diplomat who resigned in
protest the day before the war began.

Sylvester Spoon: Cofounder of Patriots for Corporate Rights
(CorporateRights.org). An organization which advocates for the Iraq War, the
coming Iran War, corporate rights, and defends the practice of torturing.
They have had many protests against impeachment, and support rallies for
President Bush around the Twin Cities.

Jodin Morey: Cofounder of Impeach for Peace (ImpeachforPeace.org), a
grassroots, nonpartisan organization based in Minnesota with chapters in
twelve states throughout the country working to achieve the impeachment of
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and holding them and
future elected officials fully accountable under the Rule of Law.

Other speakers such as Scott Ritter (United Nations weapons inspector in
Iraq from 1991 to 1998), and members of the Glassbead Collective may also
speak.

Join us outside the Xcel Energy Center for these great speakers, and to
learn how we move forward from here towards accountability in government and
restoring our civil liberties and freedoms!

For details on Impeach for Peace’s plans to protest, sign up for action
alerts at http://ImpeachforPeace.org.

For more information please contact Jodin Morey, Cofounder of Impeach for
Peace, at 612.328.1451.
# # #

Additional Contact Information:
organize@impeachforpeace.org
minneapolis@impeachforpeace.org
http://impeachforpeace.org ...”

IF anyone is covering this, we would love to post your story and pics - please email editor@globalpundit.org .

Additionally, for those interested in the full scope of events, Ralph Nader will also be holding another “Open The Debates” Rally. We attended the Rally in Denver. Here’s a quick peek at the agenda for the Nader Rally in Minneapolis:
Ralph Nader Heads to Minneapolis Super Rally
“Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM
ShareThis

Media Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rob Socket 267-974-6097 or Toby Heaps 202-441-6795

FRESH FROM 4,000-PERSON DNC SUPER RALLY, RALPH NADER, MATT GONZALEZ, JESSE VENTURA AND OTHERS RALLY TO OPEN UP THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

What: Nader Super Rally

Where: Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis

When: Thursday, Sept 4th 6.30pm start
Call Toby Heaps (202-441-6795) or Rob Socket (267-974-6097) for bookings

Fresh from a 4000-person super rally in Denver, the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign team has hit the ground in Minneapolis and will be out in full force over the weekend to focus attention on the need for opening up the Presidential Debates for third party and independent candidates, working towards the crescendo: a star-studded open the debates super-rally on Thursday.

Ralph Nader, Matt Gonzalez, Jesse Ventura, Cindy Sheehan, Rosa Clemente, 98 Degrees band members Justin Jeffre and Jeff Timmons, singer-songwriters Nellie McKay, David Rovics, Tom Neilson and other surprise guests soon to be announced will all appear at the Nader/Gonzalez “Open the Debates” Super Rally September 4 at 7.30 p.m. at the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.

The Nader/Gonzalez independent presidential candidacy will be on the ballot in 45 states, is polling at 5-6 per cent nationally, and a new Time/CNN poll shows Ralph Nader polling 8 percent in New Mexico, 7 percent in Colorado, 7 percent in Pennsylvania, and 6 percent in Nevada — all key battleground states. Results of a recent MPR News/U of M Humphrey Institute poll found 77 percent of the state’s likely voters say they would consider voting for an independent or third-party candidate”

-End-

There is truly a lot to cover.

Just because the mainstream media won’t cover it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen — or wasn’t worth covering.

Keep scouring the net for sources. We’re logging off so that we can go take some pics and be the primary source we need to be for the radio reporting we are doing tommorrow AM.

ie: South Boston area? tune into WATD AM where we check in at 8:05 AM. Pittsburgh area? check out Y108 FM for a live report at approx. 8:20 am. Check our twitter page for the numerous other stations we’re offering live colour for.

Stay tuned! We’ll post as many photos up asap and get as much for you as is humanly possible. Wish we were robots...over and out for now - 3:30 PM Central, sept 3/ rnc08!...

~ Sven Eric Balabanoff

editor@globalpundit.org