"Stand up and speak you voice!" exclaimed several of the speakers at the opening plenary of the American Democracy Institute's weekend youth summit, where almost four thousand people gathered in Roosevelt University's Auditorium Theater this morning. But when radical activists complied, they were hauled out, one dragged by his hair by a Secret Service agent.

Few protesters held signs outside of the event, whose main attraction was Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY-D.) who is considered by some to be on the conservative wing of the already conservative Democratic Party. But inside at least a dozen activists, including CODE PINK, anarchists and unaffiliated communists, prepared to disrupt Clinton's talk with hidden signs and umbrellas with anti-war messages painted on them. And as youth and students from around the city packed the main entrance, they were met by graffiti messages along the sidewalk: "FREEDOM NOT VOTES," "Hillary Supports the War, Don't Support Hillary," and a number of circle A's, known to be the preeminent symbol of anarchist ideology.

The speaker directly preceding Clinton, a progressive clergyman, wooed the left with demands of audience members to "...Stand up and fight against racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia. Stand up and fight against the warmongers in Washington."

As Clinton took the stage and began her talk, the CODE PINK activists carried out the spirit of the gentleman who had just spoke, and stood up against this particular Washington warmonger. Secret Service and ADI volunteers had them removed, before several anarchists stood on their seats and continued the spirited action. Clinton, on the stage, thanked them for their voices, as they were removed. Those activists who were lucky enough to be escorted out by ADI volunteers were treated respectfully and told that there was much agreement with the aims of the protesters, and some chanted "Show me what democracy looks like" as they were pulled out. Two of the anarchists, though, were tackled and man-handled out by Secret Service agents, and one was dragged out by his hair.

There were no arrests, and many ADI participants were excited by the radical display of real democracy that they were exposed to. There are no pictures as of yet, but there undoubtedly will be some coming by way of the capitalist news media, and ADI has already posted some pics to its website, though they obviously have none of the protesters. Stay tuned for an update to this post as to how the action at the Crobar where Hillary will also be goes tonight.

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See photos from the evening rally.

A white young urban professional was heard complaining about obscenities emiting from the protest across the street as he walked into the Crobar, right next store to V.I.P., one of the city's premiere strip clubs. But the appropriateness of the Hillary Clinton campaign fundraiser being located beside a money-for-sex facility was lost on the entrants.

After the morning disturbances of the charade of democratic participation at the Auditorium Theater, Clinton was again dogged by progressives and radicals with long-term memories and what experts explain as backbones. Perhaps seventy or eighty protesters, including unaffiliated communists, anarchists, pacifists, and others, gatherad at 6:30pm for almost three hours, standing in the streets across from the entrance of the club, holding many banners which focused on the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The spirited group thrived in the snow with drumming and chanting, raising other issues as well, ranging from radical LGBT politics to Palestine to anti-racism.

There were no arrests nor direct confrontations, although some of the radicals shared tough words with the Clinton supporters. That left some anti-war activists frustrated with the level of obscenities and the departure from central messages.

As the evening wore on, small snowball fights ensued within the protest, and it was clear that the activists were enlivened by their actions, although relatively few people at the fundraiser expressed sympathies with the demonstrators compared to the morning events. But the protest was laid out well in focusing the pamphlet and megaphone messaging toward the traffic and clubgoers, and most demonstrators agreed that it was an invigorating action that should become more common place again in coming months.

capitalist news media:
WBBM reports on morning action
CBS affiliate channel 2 WITH FOOTAGE
ABC affiliate channel 7
Chicago Tribune

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