<< If you've ever read anything about the history of revolutions, one of
the things that the rulers do when faced with possible defeat is to
welcome the more moderate elements (or the ringleaders) to the palace.
Then everybody gets shot.
Another good reason for the movement not to have "leaders" that can
accept sell-out compromises. >>
Right. One strength that the movement has right now is that it has no leaders. It's great to see a democratic structure set up with affinity groups and the like. Cops are already trying to target "leaders" like sellers--it must be confusing for them.
However, there is another side to it in which the reformist groups and some of the Marxist groups have tried to take control, limit democracy (dictating what we are going to do and when like what happened on Thurs. night), and divide the movement (such as when the Black Bloc was divided from the rest of the movement on the last night in LA). This concerns me because they seem to have little regard for what other people think. The ISO is in the middle of a smear campaign to eradicate or somehow get rid of the more militant wing of the movement.
Like you said, ChuckO, looking at history this is what I'm seeing. And, those "good Germans" that feed the revolutionaries to the pigs might get a little political space if they get us all killed--but they'll be shot in the end too. Mike