-------- Original Message -------- Subject: CHICAGO: Al Gore's "working on it" Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 21:33:15 -0600 (CST) From: Colombian Labor Monitor <xx738 at prairienet.org> To: News from CLM <clm-news at prairienet.org>
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C H I C A G O C O L O M B I A C O M M I T T E E
2600 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60647
www.prairienet.org/clm/chicol.html
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CHICOL
March 11, 2000
Al Gore's "working on it"
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CHICAGO (03/11/00)- The Chicago Colombia Committee [ChiCol] staged "Operation Oxymoron" on Saturday, March 11, during Chicago's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
The target of "Operation Oxymoron" was Vice-President Al Gore (Algore), the parade's grand marshal and self-proclaimed environmentalist. There he was marching down Dearborn Street in Chicago's Loop, a "green" presidential candidate surrounded by a sea of festive green and a host of Chicago's politicians known to regularly line their own pockets with lots of ill-gotten green.
To the tune of bagpipes and drums, ChiCol activists doggedly followed Algore from the sidelines, dodging the throngs of overly exuberant celebrants and the scores of brooding Secret Service agents that popped up along the route like some ominous villains in an ill-conceived video game.
The intrepid ChiCol activists were determined to raise awareness about Algore's dubious environmental credentials and about his connections with Los Angeles based Occidental Petroleum.
Oxy is a greedy multinational that is threatening Colombia's U'wa indigenous people with environmental disaster and even extinction. Algore is a major stockholder in Oxy and has very close ties to the corporation Oxy is one of his largest contributors. One would think that as a professed champion of the environment, Algore would intervene on behalf of the beleaguered U'wa people and get Oxy to halt its operations on U'wa land. However, Algore has steadfastly refused to even comment on the case, perhaps hoping that it would go away.
During "Operation Oxymoron", ChiCol was tirelessly distributing green leaflets that read: "Who is Al Gore? Environmental Champion or Petroleum Politician? The U'wa people need to know" and "Al Gore's Oxymoron: an environmentalist that looks the other way when his personal financial interests are involved." The leaflets explained in great detail the Algore oxymoron and called upon the people of Chicago to contact Algore with questions about the U'wa and his ties to Oxy.
Then, a series of opportunities arose where Algore was confronted repeatedly by ChiCol with poignant questions about his ties to Occidental Petroleum and his callous avoidance of the U'wa issue.
In one such opportunity, under the watchful eye of the Secret Service, Algore responded to a question put to him by ChiCol's Dennis Grammenos, who asked: "Mr. Gore, will you intervene on behalf of the U'wa?"
With the stunned reaction of a deer caught in headlights, Algore squinted at Grammenos and haltingly asked: "You mean the U'wa people of Colombia?"
(No, genius, the U'wa of the Ozarks!)
"Yes, the U'wa people are being threatened with environmental disaster and worse, by your friends at Occidental Petroleum! What will you do about it?"
Then came the answer that all the U'wa people have been waiting for as they are being pushed around and attacked by the Colombian security forces and their death-squad allies that are working for Oxy:
"I'm working on it."
Hallelujah! Algore's "working on it"!
Despite all the delirious parade-goers that were trampling each other to shake Algore's extended hand --one exalting woman proclaimed loudly and unabashedly "he's just soooooo wonderful!"-- the repeated encounters with ChiCol activists asking "What about the U'wa?" and "What are you going to do about Occidental in Colombia?", must have rained quite a few drops on his parade.
His reactions were quite telling as he seemed to be truly stunned at the persistence of the various ChiCol activists who must have broken some sort of world record for the number of times they each shook Algore's hand during his sideline hand-shaking forays, while asking him the same questions again and again. The word "U'wa" must have been ringing in his ears when he eventually jumped into a limo which sped away, as he was sipping on a cup of coffee (most likely Colombian).
It was then time to turn to the corporate media that were, for the most part, riding on the back of a couple of large flatbed trucks in front of Algore. ChiCol distributed the green flyers to them urging the "press" to ask the questions that need to be asked of the presidential candidate. Needless to say, most members of the media reacted as if they were being confronted by little green creatures uttering bizarre sounds.
Then it was off to a mass AFL-CIO meeting that was to take place at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel a few blocks away. Algore, friend of the working class, was addressing the host of gathered apparatchiks, that have endorsed his campaign despite NAFTA and all that (following the principle of the lesser-of-two-evils).
ChiCol activists used time-honored methods to sneak into the cavernous ballroom past the ever watchful (and ever-brooding) Secret Service agents. At moments, this stage of "Operation Oxymoron" assumed the feel of slapstick comedy with the vaunted Secret Service as little more than fumbling "Keystone Cops".
Algore was entertaining the wall-to-wall crowds with stories of his youth as a ranch-hand and tales of his love for the labor movement. Chicol's green leaflets were being distributed faster than life-jackets on a sinking ship.
Within minutes, however, an alerted Secret Service closed in and ChiCol was escorted triumphant outside the building leaving the Secret Service scratching their heads.
This was merely a prelude to what will transpire on the eve of the Illinois primaries in a few days, when ChiCol will stage "Operation Oxymoron II: The Sequel" Algore will have plenty of opportunity to play the role of deer-in-the-headlights and the corporate media might actually have to act the part of "journalists".
Stay tuned:-)
Solidarity, DG ________________________________________________________________ **************************************************************** * CLM-NEWS is brought to you by the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at * * http://www.prairienet.org/clm * * and the CHICAGO COLOMBIA COMMITTEE * * Email us at clm at prairienet.org or * * Dennis Grammenos at dgrammen at prairienet.org * * To subscribe send request to listproc at prairienet.org * * subscribe clm-news Your Name * ****************************************************************