Nick Brown: Anti-Imperialism, Organization and Expansion

Nick Brown: Anti-Imperialism, Organization and Expansion

An Interview with Monkey Smashes Heaven

[Nick from RAIM-Denver was recently interviewed by the Maoist-Third Worldist online journal, Monkey Smashes Heaven. This is a slightly edited version of the interview.]

Nick Brown Against Empire: Monkey Smashes Heaven interviews Nick Brown from RAIM-Denver (monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com)

MSH: I understand that you’re familiar with Monkey Smashes Heaven and the work we’ve done. Thus far, what have you found most interesting about Monkey Smashes Heaven?

NICK BROWN: On a personal level, I have found the analysis of the Cultural Revolution to be quite interesting. I have read about the Cultural Revolution and China before in a general way. MSH is innovative in two regards. First, it is highly sympathetic towards the then-called “ultra-left” as well as overtly anti-amerikan elements. Second, it does this while taking a critical look at the role of Mao himself. Smashing dogma coming from both the ‘left’ and right, MSH is completely unique in its analysis on the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In many ways creating a new paradigm for understanding China in its revolutionary phase, MSH has set a new standard for future work to live up to. An example of this is Lin Biao. RAIM-Denver has long distributed Lin Biao’s Long Live the Victory of Peoples War! as a historical revolutionary anti-imperialist text. However, recent studies produced by MSH have cast new light on Lin Biao’s role in the Cultural Revolution. This has made Lin Biao much more favorable in my eyes.

In terms of RAIM-Denver, what we like the most about MSH is its similar analysis of imperialism. Like RAIM-Denver, Monkey Smashes Heaven is one of the few leftist or revolutionary formations that accurately describes Amerikans as exploiters of the Third World. In this fundamental aspect, RAIM-Denver and Monkey Smashes Heaven has a clear common cause. MSH has explored various approaches to calculating exploitation and parasitism. The works of Prairie Fire, Serve the People, End Imperialism and Shubel Morgan have further illuminated global class analysis. We hope that MSH publishes more political economy in the future.

MSH: Such a view is part of Maoism Third Worldism, an emerging revolutionary trend. Where does RAIM-Denver diverge from Monkey Smashes Heaven and Maoism Third Worldism.

NICK BROWN: RAIM-Denver isn’t a Maoist-Third Worldist organization. Generally we operate around a basic points of unity of 1. seeing Amerikans principally as class enemies of the world’s exploited majority and 2. support for national liberation and resistance to imperialism. Beyond this RAIMers are free to adopt whatever ideological or philosophical line they like. That’s not to say that there aren’t some RAIMers who subscribe to Maoism-Third Worldism. But RAIM-Denver itself has a broader approach and points of unity.

MSH: How successful has RAIM been in the Denver area?

NICK BROWN: That’s a trick question. It depends on what you mean by success. Is there a growing revolutionary anti-imperialist social movement just below the surface in Denver? Absolutely not. But I really think thats a bad way of going about defining success in our context.

On a realistic level, I actually think RAIM-Denver has been quite successful. We are arguably the largest nominally leftist group in Denver area with the possible exception of a couple of non-profits with paid staff. We are probably the most active group in Denver. Also, we are active in more fields than other groups. Basically, no other group in Denver has the capacity to show up to as many protests, write as many articles, put out as many original images, distribute as many fliers, etc etc. All of this is especially astonishing because we are not the typical ‘leftist’ grouping.

MSH: To what do you attribute this success.

NICK BROWN: A few things. First, we’re all very dedicated. RAIM-Denver is not a bunch of coffee shop revolutionaries. Whether its showing up for cold February demonstrations, engaging in self-education or distributing anti-imperialist materials at high schools, RAIM-Denver does shit.

Second, we are really unorthodox in terms of the way we’ve organized ourselves. On one hand, we’re not a loose collection individuals who’ve come together for a special event such as a protest. On the other, we are not a party or even a formal organization. We are more a network organized around an ongoing project and ideology: RAIM-Denver and revolutionary anti-imperialism. This has given us a lot of flexibility in terms of working styles and the activities we engage in. One person may want to do something. Perhaps everyone else in RAIM-D is busy with other specific projects or otherwise too tied up. If the idea doesn’t raise major objections, then the person can do it as RAIM-Denver. This leads to a lot of simultaneous types of work being done, fosters personal initiative and cultivates collective leadership of RAIM-Denver. That’s not to say that this type of organizing doesn’t have its limitations. It does. But overall our non-dogmatic organizing approach has been an asset, made us more fluid and freed us from being bogged down in traditional organizational restraints.

Lastly, believe it or not, our unique worldview has contributed to our success. Most of the ‘left’ sounds the same. It all boils down to some sort of program for higher living standards for Amerikans. This leaves “communists,” “anarchists” and the Democratic Party vying for the same audience while spewing fundamentally the same message. RAIM-Denver on the other hand comes out and says that Amerikans’ living standards are based on exploitation and ecological destruction. We’re not toned down in other areas either. Thus, not only are we easily distinguishable from the ‘left’ milieu but we are the only ones who are intellectually honest.

MSH: What are some of RAIM-Denver’s goals?

NICK BROWN: At this time one of our major goals is to see a larger country-wide anti-imperialist movement. We’d like to see independent, though not necessarily isolated, RAIM-like groups form in other cities and regions. Based on my experience there is limited potential for such growth.

MSH: Limited potential?

NICK BROWN: I don’t think you’re going to have groups comparable to RAIM-Denver sprouting up in many cities overnight. I would be pretty suspicious if it worked out that way. More probable is that two or three, maybe more, comrades hooks up in a city or two and begin working together. That’s how things start. Who knows where it could go from there.

MSH: What has RAIM-Denver been doing to to help facilitate such an expansion?

NICK BROWN: The first thing we did was start RAIM-Denver with this goal on the backburner. We wanted to organize in a way that could be roughly reproducible given similar conditions. Given our success thus far, I think that the founding of RAIM-Denver was an important first step in the creation of a loose, multi-celled revolutionary anti-imperialist network. Currently, we are beginning work on standardized versions of our more popular material. We want to make it as streamlined as possible for people to print out our material, makes copies and and distribute them. Keep your eye out for nicer looking, printer ready PDF versions of RAIM-Denver originals. Also, we are going to be expanding our web presence, adding an archive as a central place of find printer-ready materials and a kind-of general RAIM web portal to highlight the work of various emerging RAIM-like cells and proto-cells. Some of this stuff is still tentative, but keep your eye out for it. The idea behind a lot of this is that RAIM-Denver and its material can be used as a central reference point to build for other RAIM-like groups elsewhere. We get comments and emails from all over the country from people who say that they wish there was something like RAIM in their city. Chances area, if you are reading this and live in a large city then there is someone else in your city who is equally fascinated with revolutionary anti-imperialism. The popularization of the anti-imperialist internet sources and the distribution of their materials around the country can be used as a basis to draw more people into organized revolutionary anti-imperialist efforts. Ultimately though, its up to other people to make it happen. RAIM-Denver only do so much before the responsibility to build such a country-wide movement rests on others. We’ll see what happens.

MSH: For those who have followed your work and want to get involved, what is the first step?

NICK BROWN: Assuming that one has read RAIM-Denver’s work and has a satisfactory understanding, I would tell that person to start doing anonymous agitation work. Writing and distributing articles is an excellent place to start, or one could print up RAIM-Denver materials and start distributing them at schools and universities, coffee shops, activist events, etc. Whatever you do, do something. For myself, revolution is a moral cause worth a lifetime. However, we are asking for you to put forth a minimal level of time and dedication now. RAIM-Denver has in many ways taken the first steps. Now all that is left is for people to pick up the torch to run with it.

MSH: Last question. What happened between you and Alex Jones?

NICK BROWN: It’s a long story, but I’ll try to keep it short. The confrontation stemmed from our work with Recreate ‘68 (R68), the main coalition that organized the anti-DNC protests in Denver. RAIM-Denver was one on the main groups working with Recreate ‘68, though much of our involvement was behind the scenes. Needless to say, RAIM-Denver’s local contributions R68’s efforts were considerable. Early on, Recreate ‘68 came under attacks in incidents ranging from anonymous threats, probable infiltration and not so covert agent provocateurs, as well as a media smear campaign to go along with it. Additionally, the were divisions within Recreate ‘68. A lot of it came down to rhetoric and the right to self defense.

In walks Jonathan Elinoff. Jonathan Elinoff at first glance seems like a hopelessly devoted “Truther.” He pretentiously came to a single R68 meeting, demanded an extravagant amount of publicity during the protests for his viewpoints and was unanimously rejected. During the course of the night he talked to a RAIMer and got ahold of a Troublemaker DVD. From this, he wrote an article claiming that we told him we were stockpiling blood and urine to throw at the pigs. He also claimed that Recreate was a front group for RAIM-Denver. The wild accusations spread from there. Unfortunately, the “stockpiling blood and urine” story stuck and was circulated word to mouth and through the internet. It even spread to mainstream national media. Using the non-violence issue as pretext, groups such as Colorado Communities for Peace and Justice, Tent State, the Colorado Green Party, Code Pink, and the International Socialist Organization split from Recreate ‘68. Unable to unite around the principle of letting the pigs kick your ass, they formed a coalition called The Alliance for Real Democracy, whose main activity was wrecking the real work being done against the DNC. They were de facto Democratic Party operatives. They ended up going to far as to host as Convention watching party and a friendly delegate meet-and-greet, among other things.

But it didn’t stop there. Alex Jones, nationally syndicated crackpot and white supremacist, invited Jonathan Elinoff, whom others in the 9-11 Truth Movement have told us is shady, on his radio show. There Jonathan embellished his claims even further, saying that we were planning violent acts and claiming that he had a tape of us telling him or someone else about it. Of course no such tape exists. Jonathan couldn’t keep his lies straight. Alex Jones however went ahead repeating Elinoff’s fabrications and instructed people to watch out for us and even video tape us. A situation was being put into place were RAIM-Denver could have been taken out before the DNC began. A similar situation was used against Anarchists prior to the RNC. More humorously, the “blood and urine” story made it to the Denver City Council. An ordinance was passed barring the possession of blood and urine with the intent to throw it at a pig. We thought it was funny at least.

During the Freedom March for Political Prisoners during the DNC, someone told me that Alex Jones was at the back of the crowd. He was hard to miss. Even before I got there he was yelling and flailing his arms around. I grabbed a bullhorn and got into a confrontation with him. I exposed his white supremacist and amerika-first world view and how his view implicitly supports the police state. A few reporters were on hand and it was noted in mainstream media outlets. Because of their lies, Jones and Elinoff are, for the most part, both looked at with hostility in the Denver activist scene. They never took responsibility for their pig behavior and they have never since mentioned RAIM-Denver.

MSH: Thank you for your time. Revolutionary salute!

Alex Jones’ Nervous Breakdown

The RAIMers noticed that Alex Jones was really upset at the DNC Protests this last week.  The black magic the New World Order was using at the DNC to disrupt him and the rest of the Truthers must have been pretty powerful.  Here is our tribute to his mental state.

Alex Jones: a ranting white-populist crackpot with a fan base

Crazy Al pissed us off by circulating the lies that a) we planned on throwing urine and blood at cops during the DNC, b) we were the behind the scenes ringmasters of Recreate ’68, and c) that we are government black ops bent on inciting violence during the DNC.

Well, actually it didn’t piss us off that much. But we still used it as an excuse to go after Jonesy for his white populist, pro-amerika bullshit.

Check it:

Careful Jones, its look like your reactionary white populist crackpot grandstanding is a chili dog away from a heart attack.

R68, anti-DNC Day 1 and 2 quick reports

RAIM was a participant in the Recreate 68 Alliance formed to organize protests against the DNC. RAIM participated the R68 meetings going back over 6 months, aided with security at the events, and-as usual- did our own thing. Despite differences in politics with the many individuals and groups, and some internal antagonisms within the organizing efforts, people came together as a coalition to create space for events this week. Here is our reporting of the days events.

Anti-DNC Day 1, Sunday

This was the day before the Convention, with the theme End the Wars and Occupations. Several groups had tables at the Festival of Democracy. The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement and the Mexican National Liberation Movement (MLNM) shared a table all day. Many other groups were present. Along with local activists, national groups like Workers World/Troops Out Now/F.I.S.T., World Cant Wait/R.C.P.-U.S.A., were there. We also ran into or saw members from United States Marxist-Leninist Organization, the Seattle Anti-Imperialist Committee, and Olympia Students for a Democratic Society. Unconventional Denver coordinated various direct actions. Generally, many groups were pro-Amerikan, ultimately wanting to save Amerika rather than eliminate it. RAIM was the obvious exception.

Speakers included: Ward Churchill, Kathleen Cleaver, Cynthia McKinny, Cindy Sheehan, Larry Hales, Mark Cohen, Glen Spagnuolo, Fred Hampton Jr., and others. David Rovics performed to start off the rally. M1 and Stic.man of Dead Prez performed just before the march started. The march proceeded to the Pepsi Center, where the Democrats are scheduled for. Lots of police everywhere, making their presence felt. Despite fear-mongering by politicians, media, and liberals, no incidents happened at this march.

RAIM distributed new literature: An anthology of RAIM articles, works by Ward Churchill, J. Sakai’s Settlers and a set of interviews, Lin Biao’s Long Live the Victory of People’s War!, Mexican National Liberation literature, etc. RAIM distributed a collection of Troublemaker videos, many by Shubel Morgan. Monkey Smashes Heaven materials were also distributed. Sticking to RAIM’s usual policy, RAIM distributed a wide range of anti-Amerikan, anti-White Nation, anti-First World, pro-Third World, pro-revolutionary materials. These range from anarchist to indigenous to revolutionary nationalist to Maoist-Third Worldist literature. People were big fans of RAIM’s t-shirts designs: Great Satan, Deporten a los Pinches Gringos, and Trash Amerika.

There were many tourists who looked on to our table with curiosity, to say the least. Some looked shocked, as they never seen anything like our stuff. Lots of right wing bloggers and tourists photographed booth. Our Fuck the Troops pamphlet was as usual very popular. So was our new banner:

Thanks right wing blogger lookingattheleft.com for our free publicity.

In the after noon, there was a reclaim the streets action. A group of trouble makers fooled the pigs with a diversionary move, causing the pigs to typically overreact and form lines on the west side of Lincoln park. When the pigs had formed their lines, the trouble makers changed directions taking the street on the east side, catching the pigs off guard. Before the pigs could encircle them on the east side, the trouble makers ran down 16th Street Mall, taking several hundred people with them. RAIMD went along, giving some chants including “Hey Hey USA, For Oppression You Will Pay,” and “Dis, Dis, Disarm Amerika.” More on this at dncdisruption08.org.

Anti-DNC Day 2, Monday

At Civic Center park, RAIM was tabling all day with our comrades, the Mexican National Liberation Movement. Our literature was appreciated. RAIM appreciated Food Not Bombs delivering to our booth. RAIM also appreciated the music.

Here are some tidbits at the Civic Center festival: The Democrats tried to send in teams throughout the day. RAIM, working with security, had to kick them out a couple times, for Recreate 68 had the permit for the park. Throughout the day, RAIM witnessed undercover police coming out of police cars. They were dressed like protesters or other civilians. Snatch squads would every once in awhile grab protesters at random. In addition, RAIM witnessed predator drones and helicopters flying above the city.

This Day was in solidarity for U.$. political prisoners. There was a Freedom March and rally for political prisoners from 11am to 2pm at the Federal Courthouse. Ricardo Romero of the Mexican National Liberation Movement (MLNM) spoke. Other speakers included Pam Afrika, Kathleen Cleaver, Fred Hampton Jr., Natsu Saito, and some speakers from the American Indian Movement. A letter from Leonard Peltier was read. A recording from Mumia Abu Jamal specifically for this event was played (available here: http://www.prisonradio.org/audio/mumia/2008MAJ/Aug08/DNC8-20-08.mp3).

At one point, RAIM got into an argument with Alex “bumblefuck” Jones and his tagalong, Jonathan “Blistershits” Elinoff. Alex “bumblefuck” Jones has been lying about RAIM on his radio show for weeks now. Alex “bumblefuck” Jones was exposed as a White populist. Alex Jones complained about RAIM putting the megaphone in his face, but RAIM pointed out how this is his style.

(from denverpost.com)

As Jones has a bigger budget for bullhorning than RAIM, he held out, even admitting he supports Lakota liberation efforts so he’s not a racist. But he blew up at the end before leaving. Expect some whining from Jones on this on his blogs. Were sure we’ll run into him the next few days.

From 3pm to 5pm, RAIM led a confrontation with the Minutemen who gathered at Congress Park. RAIM and others had a sizable contingent in militantly disrupting their rally. The anti-imperialist contingent contained people from across the country. Special props go out to Olympia and Seattle. Slogans included: “John Brown! John Brown! Let’s drive the settlers out of town!”, “Don’t like Mexico, get the fuck out. Down with Amerika, that’s what we’re about.”, and the usual, “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, racist Minutemen have got to go!” One person was offering white sheets and Klan hoods in case any of the minutemen forgot their own. No takers, though. Others told the minutemen that they should go colonize Mars, which began the chant, “Send the master race to outer space.” RAIM comrade Antonio told the minutemen “while you’re all sitting on your lawn chairs here, some Mexicans are stealing your jobs; get off your asses and take them back.” None did. With the megaphone we sent messages about their contradictory stances on migration, like pointing out how the oranges they were eating weren’t picked by white people. In the ultimate of irony, some city workers who were of Latin American descent were servicing the park for the Minutemen rally. They were appreciative of our work.

Despite some provocation by the more trashy of the white nationalist Minutemen, no incidents took place. Overall, we simply make the racists feel like the scum that they are. It was a great action.

From 6:30pm to 9pm, there was an “anti-capitalist” march with a black bloc taking to the streets. The police came down hard, surrounding the whole march, and dividing it into three sections and refusing to let them leave. RAIM comrades were stuck in one of the zones for over an hour. Eventually, after pepper spraying many in the crowd, some of the march was released. Initial reports indicate that there were 100 arrests from this single action.

(photo from cocktailhour.wordpress.com)

Check our blog for future news and events. If you’re in Denver, there’s three more days of action, so come downtown.

More Lies From Jonathan Elinoff and “truthalliance.net”

Elinoff can’t keep his lies straight, exposes himself.

by RAIMD

We are not interested in giving history lessons to Jonathan Elinoff. Needless to say, his understandings of both Gandhi and Martin Luther King in his latest post are of the typical Hollywood variety. (1) We don’t seek to have any discourse with someone who is a complete liar. If Jonathan Elinoff wants to have a debate on the history of social movements and violence, we will discuss that with him only after he publicly comes clean. We will not discuss any of our materials with Elinoff until he admits what almost everyone reading these exchanges knows already. We will not allow Elinoff to change the topic. Until Elinoff publicly explains why he completely fabricated lies about encounters and statements that never happened, we will have nothing to do with him. Also, we have no connection to DAN as Elinoff implies.

Elinoff’s words speak for themselves. Let’s take a look.

Elinoff, credible or not? You be the judge.

Our characterization of Elinoff’s interview on Alex Jones:

It was news to us that Elinoff had a beef against Recreate 68. We gather from Elinoff’s own statements that he is upset about not getting the spotlight for the 9-11 Truth Movement at the DNC protests. For Elinoff, if he doesn’t get the spotlight for 9-11 Truth, then, all of a sudden, everyone else is an agent, according to his logic. If he doesn’t get his way, then he’ll try to wreck the hard work of others. So, Elinoff spouted off a number of sensational lies against RAIMD (and others) in order to try to wreck Recreate 68. RAIMD is a natural target because our politics are already considered controversial even within the activist scene. Not to mention that in the interview Elinoff often mixes up various individuals and groups. None of this mattered to Alex Jones, who is hardly concerned about accuracy. Jones is just looking to make a sensational splash. So, Elinoff was given airtime on national radio by Jones to bully the local Denver activist community, of which Elinoff is not even a part. (Italics ours.) (2)

On April 22nd, Elinoff describes his appearance on Alex Jones:

No one from Truth Alliance or We Are Change Colorado are making accusations that because 911 Truth was not given a fair presence at the R-68 demonstrations that they must be agents. Concerns were raised as to when R-68 said they were still looking for speakers and talent for their event, many truthers include musicians and talented speakers. Why wouldn’t they want to give 911 Truth a fair presence on their stage with their speakers and talent? No one is upset that they weren’t given that opportunity, but thought that other groups should be aware that R-68 is working with many activist groups that promote all kinds of messages, including those that are extremely controversial, to say the least, to which will be granted time on the stage. (Italics ours.) (3)

Excerpts, rough transcripts from the Elinoff on Alex Jones:

17:30 Elinoff: This is RAIMD, its a violent anarchist group that is attending the Recreate 68 meetings. They are given open arms. By the way, they [Recreate 68?] gave us the stiff arm when we asked if 911 truth could have any speakers… Our movement is huge. He said, “no we don’t agree with 911, you stay away from us.” You give every activist group an invite and an open arm and you stiff arm us?

18:00 Jones: they’re operatives… they’re operatives.

18:10 Elinoff: eh. yeah. The whole thing stinks, it just not adding up this, RAIMD.

18:15 Jones: They’re state police. They’re operatives. There are Defense Intelligence… Army, Navy.. There’s Homeland security in there… Very dangerous, very dangerous.

19:15 Jones: Black ops, exposing the enemy’s tactics. (Italics ours.) (4)

Elinoff’s April 16th Statement on the Alex Jones radio show reasonably matches up with our characterization. If people can stomach hearing Elinoff and Jones attack the Denver activist scene for nearly twenty minutes, they should listen to the Jones show in its entirety. In the full show, Elinoff and Jones engage in twenty minutes worth of badjacketing against local activists. Both sought to bring the police down on local activists. This in spite of posturing as against the “police state.” Elinoff’s tame presentation of his appearance on Jones is a lie.

Elinoff makes a fool of himself, can’t keep his lies straight

As we have already stated, Elinoff simply made up the story about blood, urine, and molotov cocktails. It was based on absolutely nothing at all. In fact, RAIMD has never engaged Elinoff in a conversation.

Elinoff exposes Elinoff; he can’t keep his lies straight. In the following passage from the April 16th article, Elinoff claims that he spoke with RAIMD directly about the urine and blood:

After speaking with RAIMD, We Are Change Colorado became aware that they intend to throw bags of urine and blood on cops at the DNC protests, all under the name of the umbrella organization ReCreate 68. See their website here: https://raimd.wordpress.com/. (Italics ours.) (5)

In the following passage from his Alex Jones appearance, Elinoff again claims that he spoke with RAIMD. In addition, he claims he has a video of the exchange! Of course he doesn’t have video because the exchange with RAIMD never happened. He only says so to gain credibility with Jones, who uncritically laps up everything Elinoff says:

15:20 Elinoff: We did go to the meeting Sunday here for Recreate 68. We able to find a group — RAIMD — who we got all of this on camera and we are going to get it up on truth alliance... We are still editing it and basically they admitted to us first of all I said are you familar with Ghandi and the success of Martin Luther King being peaceful and that’s when the founder of RAIMD — these are the guys running Recreate 68 heads up — he says to me, “Violence is he only thing these f’in cops understand.” I looked at him and I said, “are you kidding me?” So that is what kicked off the whole debate about violence and nonviolence being effective. He handed me off a dvd called “Troublemaker” that he’s been handing out at Recreate 68 meetings. This DVD is put out by this RAIMD group — revolutionary anti-imperialist movement Denver — … It’s all verified, they even admit all this, they are telling people to bring bags of blood and urine and throw it on the cops no joke this is against the law. (Italics ours.) (6)

After we exposed Elinoff in our latest post, all of a sudden, Elinoff changes his story. No longer does he have a video as he claimed on the Jones show. Now, he is no longer even claiming to have heard the conversation! Rather, Elinoff now says that this is all a potential misunderstanding and that his knowledge comes from “two confidential sources.” Elinoff tries to shift the blame for the lies onto two non-existent confidential sources:

RAIMD has made statements denying that they were planning to throw bags of blood and urine on police at the DNC protests, which Truth Alliance has 2 confidential sources for, including a witness who overheard a conversation involving police. If these sources were lying or inaccurate, we apologize for the misunderstanding. (7)

Again, we don’t have to refute Elinoff because he can’t even keep his story straight. Anyone with any sense should be able to see what is going on here. Elinoff is changing his tune after being exposed.

Elinoff makes understatement of the year

In Elinoff’s April 22nd post, he actually describes a point he actually made on the Jones Show:

In the interview with Alex Jones, Jonathan did not say that RAIMD was ReCreate 68, but rather specifically identified that ReCreate 68 was an umbrella organization which is working with many different activist groups including RAIMD and that activists groups, when centralized, will be all lumped in together as one group, which is what will probably happen. ( 8 )

The above passage from the 22nd is referring to the following passage from the Jones Show:

16:40 Elinoff: This thing (RAIMD?) is designed to sabotage … this whole thing is going to drown out any message we have all this is under the umbrella of Recreate 68…

17:00 Jones: We’ve gotta blow their op.. We’ve gotta blow their op… You got to get that video up now and you have to demand the police …. they are calling for hardcore felonies.. they have shields and weapons on the website…(Italics ours) (9)

Earlier in the same Jones interview:

15:20 Elinoff: ..these are the guys running Recreate 68 heads up.. (italics ours) (10)

Elinoff may not have said that RAIMD was Recreate 68. However, he did say that RAIMD are “running Recreate 68.” And, anyone who listens to the full interview will see that Elinoff purposefully blurs the line between various organizations and individuals. Elinoff is not interested in truth, he is interested in his own petty agenda. For the record, RAIMD is not running Recreate 68. RAIMD is one of many groups within Recreate 68.

Why would Elinoff say that RAIMD is running Recreate 68? The answer is simple. Elinoff is trying scare people away from Recreate 68, something he does throughout the interview on the Jones show. He is trying to wreck Recreate 68 because he wants the spotlight for 9-11 Truth, and himself.

Elinoff on Elinoff

Elinoff is a petty liar whose words speak for themselves. We don’t have to expose him because he does a good enough job of that on his own.

What is most revealing about all of this is how people like Elinoff and Jones require absolutely no evidence to make outrageous claims. Jones, or Elinoff for that matter, knows nothing about the local activist scene. Yet Jones allowed the jackass Elinoff time on national radio to smear the Denver activist scene. Jones even joined in with the smear campaign.

RAIMD has nothing against people seriously researching 9-11. Our problem with Elinoff has nothing to do with 9-11. It has to do with the fact that he is a petty liar who attacks the local activist scene all over the national media. He is a petty liar who threatens to call the police on activists on bogus allegations. Jones gave Elinoff national air time and joined in. Elinoff pulls dangerous lies out of thin air. He changes his story right and left such that Elinoff’s own words betray him. He distorts and lies all over the place. People like Elinoff and Jones are not about truth, they are not even about a minimal standard of journalistic integrity. They are about their own petty agendas.

Notes.

1. http://truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/742/Default.aspx

2. https://raimd.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/raimd-responds-to-truthalliancenet-article/

3. http://truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/742/Default.aspx

4. Our transcriptions of the Alex Jones MP3s may not be exact. We have used “…” to indicate missing text. Listen to the full Alex Jones Show where Elinoff is interviewed. MP3. http://truthalliance.net/Profiles/MyProfile/tabid/113/PID/5/Default.aspx

5. http://truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/723/Default.aspx

6. Our transcriptions of the Alex Jones MP3s may not be exact. We have used “…” to indicate missing text. Listen to the full Alex Jones Show where Elinoff is interviewed. MP3. http://truthalliance.net/Profiles/MyProfile/tabid/113/PID/5/Default.aspx

7. http://truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/742/Default.aspx

8. http://truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/742/Default.aspx

9. Our transcriptions of the Alex Jones MP3s may not be exact. We have used “…” to indicate missing text. Listen to the full Alex Jones Show where Elinoff is interviewed. MP3. http://truthalliance.net/Profiles/MyProfile/tabid/113/PID/5/Default.aspx

10. ibid.

RAIMD Responds to Truthalliance.net Article

Jonathan Elinoff and Alex Jones are liars

by

RAIMD

Various distortions and lies about RAIMD have recently been made on various web pages and on the Alex Jones radio show by Jonathan Elinoff, of the 9/11 Truth Alliance Network and We Are Change Colorado, and by Alex Jones. Elinoff’s libelous article was posted to the Truth Alliance and other web pages on April 16, 2008.(1) Elinoff was interviewed by Alex Jones that same day. In the radio interview, Elinoff made even more baseless allegations, with Jones joining in.(2) RAIMD is setting the record straight.

RAIMD will not address the many other statements made about other organizations by Elinoff and Jones. RAIMD will stick to the statements made about our organization. We are not going to address every single distortion or lie made by Elinoff or Jones. To unpack every single bit of nonsense would be too tedious. Instead we will focus on the main claims against us.

Allegation #1: Elinoff’s nose grows an inch

Elinoff writes, “After speaking with RAIMD, We Are Change Colorado became aware that they intend to throw bags of urine and blood on cops at the DNC protests, all under the name of the umbrella organization ReCreate 68. See their website here: https://raimd.wordpress.com/.” (3)

RAIMD did not make these statements attributed to us. In fact, RAIMD did not make any statements that even approximated these. The statements attributed to RAIMD are completely invented by Elinoff, they are based on absolutely nothing. In fact, if RAIMD ever exchanged words with Elinoff, it would have been a friendly exchange in passing, probably when distributing our materials. RAIMD would never flippantly discuss illegal activities of the kind that Elinoff alleges.

Not only did RAIMD not make the statements, RAIMD wholly disagrees with them. RAIMD is a non-violent organization. RAIMD does not promote violence or participate in violence. RAIMD believes that violence is not a viable means to accomplish positive social change within United States borders at present or in the foreseeable future. This isn’t to say RAIMD rejects violence in principle. All revolutions have been violent. Even the Amerikan “revolution” was violent. There is a time and a place. Plus, throwing urine and blood is hardly violence. It’s too passe for us anyway. It’s been done.

RAIMD has been involved in activism for a long time. RAIMD has never been involved in any violence at any protests. In fact, the only violence that RAIMD has witnessed at Denver protests has been committed by the police, not the protesters. The most militant protesters have never been violent by any stretch of the term. Those that stroke up fears of violence from activists, as Elinoff does, are basically assisting the state in quashing dissent.

RAIMD is an educational organization. RAIMD’s main role in the broader activist community is to distribute anti-imperialist, anti-Amerikan, anti-racist, pro-national liberation, pro-youth liberation materials. RAIMD believes that Amerika is the biggest enemy of humanity. We do not hide our message, our message is straight forward for all to see on our blog. Despite our politics, which many liberals may find “out there,” we have had good experiences working with people from diverse activist circles. RAIMD does not agree with everyone in the activist community, as many don’t agree with us. However, we understand that we do not have to agree with people on every little detail to work together in a coalition. RAIMD’s experience with local activists has been mostly positive.

Allegation #2: Elinoff’s nose grows another inch

On the Alex Jones radio show, Elinoff alleged that RAIMD are “the real leaders of Recreate 68.” RAIMD does not lead Recreate 68, despite what Elinoff claimed in the interview on Alex Jones. RAIMD supports Recreate 68 because they are the most effective group organizing protests against the DNC. Recreate 68 will amplify the voices from sectors of the community that are drowned out in mainstream political discourse. In addition, Recreate 68 is non-sectarian. It is our experience that they seek to include as many alternative voices as possible. Also, Recreate 68 has a participatory approach to organizing. Recreate 68 involves as many people as possible in the decision making processes. The organizers are always willing to listen to new ideas. RAIMD supports Recreate 68’s efforts and lends our modest support where we can.

Allegation #3: Elinoff.. yet another inch

Elinoff writes, “On Tuesday, August 26th, the “Immigration Rights Rally” will take place that Glenn says he will be inviting all illegal immigrants down to the DNC to protest their “right” to be here. This day will be very dangerous to protesters because the activist group RAIMD has been handing out dvds and inciting physical violence towards “White Americans” for stealing land from Mexico and killing millions of natives and using slavery as their exploit to achieve dominance in the past. The RAIMD activist group has asked people to prepare for throwing bags of blood and urine on cops and they have discussed how to build molotov cocktails.” (4)

Once again, these statements attributed to us never happened. RAIMD distributes DVDs and materials that explain the origin of Amerikan affluence by linking it to 1) genocide, 2) theft of indigenous and Mexican land, 3) the slave trade, and 4) continued imperialism against the Third World. One of the videos on the DVD that we distribute encourages people to “hate Amerikkka, it’s the right thing to do.” Nowhere does this DVD or other RAIMD materials encourage violence as described by Elinoff.

In addition, the April 13th Recreate 68 community forum was taped by an independent media source. At no time did anyone mention anything about blood, urine, or Molotov cocktails. Hopefully, they will make the videos available so that everyone can see what a jackass liar Elinoff is.

Long nose, hot air

Throughout the interview on Jones’ radio show, both Elinoff and Jones demonstrate no actual knowledge of RAIMD. They make outrageous statements again and again about RAIMD. Yet, not once did either Elinoff or Jones actually try to contact RAIMD for an interview or comment before slandering us all over the web and airwaves. Elinoff and Jones are not interested in truth. They are interested in sensationalism. Facts do not matter. Otherwise they would have contacted us and done a proper interview. Jones did not even try to contact RAIMD for comment before broadcasting slander against us nationwide.

Interestingly, we did not even know who Elinoff was until this article and interview started circulating. The only thing we really remember about Elinoff at the community forum is that he seemed strangely fixated on the fact that hip hop artists The Coup were mentioned as one of the acts that might play at the DNC protest events. Apparently, The Coup had an album cover that was released before 9/11 that showed the World Trade Center blowing up as a statement against global capitalism. The Coup’s Boots Riley explained this album cover publicly shortly after 9/11. (5)

It was news to us that Elinoff had a beef against Recreate 68. We gather from Elinoff’s own statements that he is upset about not getting the spotlight for the 9-11 Truth Movement at the DNC protests. For Elinoff, if he doesn’t get the spotlight for 9-11 Truth, then, all of a sudden, everyone else is an agent, according to his logic. If he doesn’t get his way, then he’ll try to wreck the hard work of others. So, Elinoff spouted off a number of sensational lies against RAIMD (and others) in order to try to wreck Recreate 68. RAIMD is a natural target because our politics are already considered controversial even within the activist scene. Not to mention that in the interview Elinoff often mixes up various individuals and groups. None of this mattered to Alex Jones, who is hardly concerned about accuracy. Jones is just looking to make a sensational splash. So, Elinoff was given airtime on national radio by Jones to bully the local Denver activist community, of which Elinoff is not even a part.

RAIMD, as an organization, has no official position on the 9-11 events. RAIMD is not opposed to legitimate research into unanswered questions pertaining to 9-11. RAIMD is opposed to the underlying racism and anti-migrant populism in the 9-11 Truth Movement, and will continue to oppose it. RAIMD is opposed to pinocchios like Elinoff who slander real activists. The 9-11 Truth Movement often complains that they are ignored. With unprincipled clowns like Elinoff as your pointmen, what do you expect?

Notes.

(1) http://truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/723/Default.aspx

(2) http://truthalliance.net/Profiles/MyProfile/tabid/113/PID/5/Default.aspx

(3) http://truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/723/Default.aspx

(4)ibid.

(5) http://www.daveyd.com/bootsonthewarpolitics.html

For all those visiting from the b.s. “truthalliance” article

This is a message for all those new visitors coming here from the piece of fiction written by the “truthalliance.net.”  RAIMD will come out with a statement later on the slanders and outright lies that have been spread about us by the idiot who is doing pig-like work against R68. Just to be clear, RAIMD said nothing attributed by us in that crap article.

While you are here, take time to educate yourself on real anti-imperialist politics. We hope some of you get away from the white supremacist right wing politics inherent in the “truther” movement and get on the side of the oppressed of the world.