Townhall Organizing Press Statement
Read by Sue Damain
01/23/08

Ladies, gentlemen and otherly gendered of the press. It has been a long time since you have heard from the RNC Welcoming Committee. Our group has been without writers since the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike in early November. Earlier this month the late night talk shows came back on the air, with or without their writers, and the Welcoming Committee decided that we too must put on a brave face and go forth. Our message is important, and we must get it out. Yet we still stand in solidarity with the members of the Writer’s Guild as they struggle against powerful corporations to receive just compensation. As an expression of this solidarity, and an acknowledgement of the important role writers play on our committee, until the strike is over we will be “An RNC Welcoming Committee.”

Just as the writer’s cannot get the producers to return to the table for meaningful negotiations, we are sad to report that our attempts to reach out to the self appointed Host Committee and local so-called “security” forces have also been met with cold shoulders. Months ago media reports indicated that the Host Committee sought to raise 59 million dollars mostly for alleged security at this fall’s convention. We promptly extended a very generous offer to call off all our planned protests for a mere 10% of that amount, less than 6 million dollars. We expected prompt acceptance, but heard nothing. Our offer remained on the table, unrequited. Yet even as we have been unable to get self proclaimed authorities to sit down with us and negotiate in good faith, we have been meeting and forging strong relationships with other organizations equally committed to protesting against the RNC. In fact, we are pleased to announce that, in a grand gesture of solidarity across tactics, our committee is endorsing the plans of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War.

An RNC Welcoming Committee’s tactics represent one stripe in the resistance rainbow. An RNC Welcoming Committee is but a single organ in a body committed to fighting off the Republican virus. We are proud that this body has ears and can listen. It is not the body of a politician; it is not Matt Bostrom’s body. And this body is calling out to its neighbors:
“How do you, the residents of these fair cities, feel about the descending Republican hordes?”
“What are your hopes and fears with regard to this spectacle planned for our backyard?” These are not empty questions; we intend to listen to the answers. That is the purpose of the Town Hall Organizing Meeting on Saturday January 26th (2 pm at Walker Community Church, 3104 16th Ave S). An RNC Welcoming Committee is pleased to play a role in such a worthwhile endeavor.

Thank you.