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Middle Earth various issues, 1967-1968

Page 12

Middle Earth page twelve

[photo of marchers holding a banner reading "ELECTIONS: A HOAX"]

So Mayor Thomas "I went to Harvard; it's a family tradition" Urban said, "If they want a confrontation, we'll give it to them." "They" were between 250 and 300 college students from around Iowa who marched in Des Moines on Nov. 5. The march, one of several that took place on election day around the country, was called by Iowa Regional SDS and the Iowa Peace and Freedom Party to protest the the bankruptcy of the electoral system, to call for immediate US withdrawal from Vietnam, and to expose the "law and order" issue as a cover-up for political appeals to racism by the three parties. What Urban was so up=tight about ' a request by the march organizers to go through downtown Des Moines on their way to a rally at the statehouse. Giving in to paranoid fears of sacked polling places and greased pigs running through the streets (you figure it out).
[arrow to next section]
Tom and his fuzz ordered a different route through a largely uninhabited area. Taking no chances, he had the route and the meeting point lined with dozens of cops. However, the re-run of Chicago didn't materialize, for as the marchers gathered at Goode Park, the group de=cided that making their political points was more important than having radical heads smashed. The march started east down University Avenue at 2, taking an hour to reach the Capitol. Reactions from the bystanders ranged from amused to friendly: about twenty young black people joined the march; others gave the v sign or the Black Panther clenched fist.
[arrow to next section]

[photo of marchers walking holding various signs]

The rally was held on the west Capitol steps, accompanied by a wet, cold wind, and latter a wet, cold drizzle, with students sitting on the steps, or on the statue of Lincoln. Newsmen swarmed about: inside the warm statehouse, highway patrolmen sat, eating candy and drinking pop. Meanwhile, the speakers: first, Fred Stover, president of the U.S. Farm Association, who linked the war with the worsening plight of farmers; then Fred Gorden, SDS internal education secretary, who described how the ruling class used racism and the "law and order" issue to divide black and white workes, and who talked about the fraudulent system.. Other speakers were Carmen Kraemer, Fred Barnett, Joe Berry, and Ken Wessells. A Des Moines high school student described the threats and intimidation by school officials against students who cut school to go to the march.
[arrow to next section]
So the march was peaceful. The question is, was it politically efective? And that's a question which cannot be answered in a column, by one person; its a qustions that must be politically decided by the Iowa City movement. Therefor, Middle-earth would like to establish a political dialogue about this and other isssues. 

[photo of protectors standing and sitting, some are holding signs]

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Middle Earth page twelve [photo of marchers holding a banner reading "ELECTIONS: A HOAX"] So Mayor Thomas "I went to Harvard; it's a family tradition" Urban said, "If they want a confrontation, we'll give it to them." "They" were between 250 and 300 college students from around Iowa who marched in Des Moines on Nov. 5. The march, one of several that took place on election day around the country, was called by Iowa Regional SDS and the Iowa Peace and Freedom Party to protest the the bankruptcy of the electoral system, to call for immediate US withdrawal from Vietnam, and to expose the "law and order" issue as a cover-up for political appeals to racism by the three parties. What Urban was so up=tight about ' a request by the march organizers to go through downtown Des Moines on their way to a rally at the statehouse. Giving in to paranoid fears of sacked polling places and greased pigs running through the streets (you figure it out). [arrow to next section] Tom and his fuzz ordered a different route through a largely uninhabited area. Taking no chances, he had the route and the meeting point lined with dozens of cops. However, the re-run of Chicago didn't materialize, for as the marchers gathered at Goode Park, the group de=cided that making their political points was more important than having radical heads smashed. The march started east down University Avenue at 2, taking an hour to reach the Capitol. Reactions from the bystanders ranged from amused to friendly: about twenty young black people joined the march; others gave the v sign or the Black Panther clenched fist. [arrow to next section] [photo of marchers walking holding various signs] The rally was held on the west Capitol steps, accompanied by a wet, cold wind, and latter a wet, cold drizzle, with students sitting on the steps, or on the statue of Lincoln. Newsmen swarmed about: inside the warm statehouse, highway patrolmen sat, eating candy and drinking pop. Meanwhile, the speakers: first, Fred Stover, president of the U.S. Farm Association, who linked the war with the worsening plight of farmers; then Fred Gorden, SDS internal education secretary, who described how the ruling class used racism and the "law and order" issue to divide black and white workes, and who talked about the fraudulent system.. Other speakers were Carmen Kraemer, Fred Barnett, Joe Berry, and Ken Wessells. A Des Moines high school student described the threats and intimidation by school officials against students who cut school to go to the march. [arrow to next section] So the march was peaceful. The question is, was it politically efective? And that's a question which cannot be answered in a column, by one person; its a qustions that must be politically decided by the Iowa City movement. Therefor, Middle-earth would like to establish a political dialogue about this and other isssues. [photo of protectors standing and sitting, some are holding signs]