In Michigan, Santorum supporters planted hundreds of campaign signs in Shelby Township prior to Mitt Romney’s appearance today.  Some of these signs were planted alongside sidewalks and roadways across from and surrounding the Romney campaign stop.  Approximately two hours before the scheduled event, Romney campaign staffers, including Dennis Lennox of Topinabee, MI, began planting Romney signs in front of the location.  Around the same time, several other people, who refused to identify themselves, began uprooting hundreds of Santorum signs along the roadway leading to the event.  Signs placed at a commercial intersection were also removed.

When asked to explain his actions, Santorum supporters were confronted with obscenities from one person removing signs.  He claimed to be unaffiliated with the Romney campaign.

One officer on the scene, Lou Francis, refused to assist in retrieving stolen campaign signs valued at over $1500.

(more…)

Monday night Chicago Teachers Union and Occupy Chicago protesters, along with some local residents, showed up in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood to protest converting 18 public schools into charter schools. While none of the schools considered for conversion are in the north-side neighborhood, these community organizers chose this location specifically because it is where Mayor Rahm Emanuel resides.

We asked several protesters the meaning of their signs and what brought them out to join the protest march. Many were quite pleasant and agreed to respond–despite being completely unaware of both the meaning and the names mentioned on the signs and stickers they held. There was one group in attendance, however, that responded to questioning with both defensiveness and aggression, directing their surprising hostility both at myself and another journalist on the scene.

After explaining who I was, a woman began to follow me through the crowds, interrupting interviews I was conducting and instructing protesters not to participate. One of her companions confronted me as I was attempting to cover the event, and refused to respond when I asked his affiliation or give his name, as well as acknowledge any organizations he is a part of. After further research, we identified him as Dennis Kosuth, a socialist organizer and longtime member of the International Socialist Organization. Both became quite confrontational and continued to harass myself and the other citizen journalist on the scene for the duration of the protest.

Other protest organizers as well as members of Occupy Chicago refused to disclose their affiliation with any organization, and refused to state their reasons for attending the protest. This gives rise to the question, what are the true intentions of the protest organizers? Clearly individuals are being used to convey a message they are not even able to accurately explain themselves, and when questioned, they are shielded by socialist organizers and members of Occupy Chicago from inquisitive journalists.

(more…)

Because the Illinois machine just can’t take enough from the hard working people that haven’t yet fled the state, Occupy Party State Rep. Kelly Cassidy thinks law abiding gun owners in Illinois should pay a tax on ammo.

That’s right, a new “sin tax,” because we all know what a sin it is in the eyes of the left, to exercise your second amendment rights. Illinois Review reports that the Illinois State Rifle Association has condemned the proposed bill HB5167 that would impose a 2% sin tax on retail ammunition sales, sponsored by rep. Cassidy.

Revenue from the tax proposal would go towards the ”High Crime Trauma Center Grant Fund,” a fund which does not yet exist. In other words, hardworking Illinoisans who like to go hunting, target shooting or just prefer adequate self defense in their own homes, will be taxed to pay for the hospital bills of those involved violent crimes.

ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson commented, ”The lawful firearm owners of this state are under no obligation to pay medical bills racked up by gang bangers, druggies, and other violent criminals.”

Proposing new tax revenue is nothing new for Rep. Cassidy. Just this past Martin Luther King Day, Cassidy joined fellow “Occupiers” in Chicago to Occupy the Dream, where she took to the pulpit of the Peoples [sic] Church to promote a progressive-income tax in Illinois. She discussed her pride in the ability she shared with Occupy Chicago to fill the church “to talk about making real change,” and promised to “….work hard to get true tax fairness for all of us….”

(more…)

While many laughed off Occupy Wall Street and predicted it would not last, the puppet masters have made their next move. We now have the evidence to prove that the early phase of the movement was nothing more than a staging period to build an infrastructure that will culminate in a massive occupation of Chicago this May. The strategy to descend upon Chicago’s NATO/G8 Summits has now been made loud and clear, as evidenced from a recent call to arms for revolutionaries around the world to flock to Chicago in May, as well as details regarding Occupy Chicago’s internal communications provided to RebelPundit.

Yesterday, Adbusters.org, the originators of the initial “Occupy Wall Street” call-to-action, just released its “Tactical Briefing #25,” an international call for radical revolutionaries from around the world to set up a month-long “occupation” (tent city) against the backdrop of the international NATO/G8 Summit.

From Adbusters:

“On May 1, 50,000 people from all over the world will flock to Chicago, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and #OCCUPYCHICAGO for a month. With a bit of luck, we’ll pull off the biggest multinational occupation of a summit meeting the world has ever seen.

“And this time around we’re not going to put up with the kind of police repression that happened during the Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago, 1968 … nor will we abide by any phony restrictions the City of Chicago may want to impose on our first amendment rights. We’ll go there with our heads held high and assemble for a month-long people’s summit … we’ll march and chant and sing and shout and exercise our right to tell our elected representatives what we want … the constitution will be our guide.

(more…)

Here is new video from RebelPundit’s continuing coverage of Occupy the Dream, an event held at the Peoples[sic] Church of Chicago, Sunday January 15th. The following video reveals the overwhelming and until now, unseen tone of the event.

The event had little to do with Martin Luther King, Jr., or any of his larger than life accomplishments in the civil rights movement, or changing dynamic of the racial divide in America. Perhaps this is not very surprising. What it did have plenty to do with, however, was in fact, occupying the dream.

Progress Illinois even titled their coverage, “Occupy Chicago, Religious Leaders Use MLK Holiday As Means To Call For Change.” There could not have been a more appropriate description of the event.

Religious leaders, community organizers and local politicians joined Occupy Chicago to occupy the dream, occupy the church and occupy the state for one grand revolutionary extravaganza.

Community organizers even called elected officials of the Democrat Party to the pulpit to get their commitment to pushing forward the radical agendas of the groups participating in the event. State senator Heather Steans took to the pulpit to blast Republicans, with other members of the Illinois general assembly calling for progressive tax reform in Illinois. (video) And Jesse Jackson spoke of spending a “mere $900 billion” in taxpayer dollars for the federal government to directly hire 15 million workers at $40,000 per year. (video) Jan Schakowsky was also present and demanded that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. (video)

But what was not so present at the event was a celebration of the victories the King achieved and how different the landscape of this country has become since his death. The sermon, delivered by Dwight Gardner of the First Trinity United Baptist Church of Gary, Indiana, only referred to King periodically in his address, but only to emphasize the need to “occupy the dream of King” while making tremendous calls for revolution.

(more…)

Ever wonder why the Occupy protester became the Occupy protester?

“….upon waking each morning in the Tent City, he was struck by an overwhelming feeling of being part of a family.”

If you see their signs and hear their chants, you might conclude that they are more than displeased with corporate fascism, bank bailouts, and special-interest favors paid by politicians in return for hefty political contributions. However, The Frontier Lab, a marketing research nonprofit in Chicago, has just completed a study that applies science to that question. Their report, “Short-Selling America,” finds that while the messages on their signs might convey an anger with cronyism in the financial sector, this isn’t the whole story and, in fact, is only true at the surface level. There are deeper values, ones The Frontier Lab mapped through a series of research in-depth interviews, that must be examined for a more comprehensive understanding of their movement.

“While their rhetoric might decry crony capitalism or bank bailouts, their values reveal self-centered and fear-based motivations.”

Occupy Chicago’s presence in the financial district may seem to have quieted down a bit from the circus show it was earlier this fall, but organizers in the group are just beginning to put the pieces in place to continue their assault on America. The revolutionaries have identified a desirable piece of real estate for their new headquarters where the movement leaders will be able to thrive during the cold months ahead as they finalize plans to disrupt the G-8/NATO summits in Chicago this spring.

Occupy Chicago’s New Lair

The Occupy leaders could not have found a more perfect location to occupy. A loft warehouse just far enough off the beaten path, yet close enough to the city’s financial district to continue their strategizing.

(more…)

Yesterday we stumbled across a marketing team promoting GM vehicles at the University of Chicago. Students were being offered $10 to test drive Chevy’s inferior quality cars around campus, and promised an additional $10 to the Colleges Against Cancer fund at the school for each participant.

Passersby were also offered free pizza and soft drinks on GM’s dime.

$20 bucks and pizza, not bad….

While donating money to this presumably noble cause seems like a nice thing for Chevy to do, who decided now is a good time for them to do so? And a $10 giveaway to students? Who decided that was a good idea?

We spoke with one of the marketing team members who said this was a promo that Chevy was just kicking off around the Midwest. He estimated the economically brain-challenged auto company, who received a $49 billion TARP bailout from the taxpayers, would be giving away about $1,200-$1,500 that day.

Sadly, after the smoke-and-mirror reporting over the past year or so, GM has still not repaid its TARP loan, and 33 percent of the company is still owned by the taxpayers.

$1,200-$1,500 to students who hardly pay taxes at all, roaming around a university campus on a Saturday…. All the while, the likelihood that these kids are even in the market to buy a car is slim.

(more…)

This one ought to make the “down staters” happy.

That’s right, everyone’s favorite “budget-friendly” pals, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn, have a “great deal” for you!  It’s a new $1 billion CTA Red Line renovation, and Chicago taxpayers only have to pick up 4% of the bill!!!

The rest of the state will kick in $646 million from a grant from the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now program that Governor Quinn signed into law in 2009. In other words, all the increased taxes and fees “everyone” has been paying all across the land of Lincoln will now go towards more than 60% of the renovation costs for Chicago’s mass transit line.

According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the renovation will cover 11 stations and include new track and power systems. Sadly, $1 billion doesn’t go as far as it used to, and fairly large portions of the line’s most dilapidated sections will remain in their current dilapidated condition.

From Crain’s:

“Since I became governor, I have focused on creating  jobs and improving transportation service for our citizens. This major investment in the CTA’s Red Line does both,” Mr. Quinn said.

“These investments will make our city a more enticing place to live, to start a business, to raise a family,” Mr. Emanuel said. The city will provide $44 million for the project. The source was not immediately known.

(more…)

Yesterday, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky compared the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee who voted to subpoena White House documents relating to the Solyndra bankruptcy scandal to “birthers.”

She apparently did not appreciate her collegues’ reasonable demands to see relevant documents pertaining to the White House’s involvement in the scandal.

As could be expected, the congresswoman who never shies away from ad hominem name-calling or metaphorically disparaging anyone who thinks differently than she does, went on the attack again.

The Hill reports:

“I doubt that anything the White House would have agreed to yesterday would have been sufficient. This is a majority that won’t take yes for an answer,” Schakowsky said Thursday ahead of the committee vote.

“And while you are at it why don’t you ask for more documents relating to the place of his birth, or as some members want, his school grades, and why not from kindergarten through law school,”

So Jan believes that elected officials who seek answers relating to a $535-million bad loan, with a trail that goes all the way up to White House, is just as silly as demanding to see the president’s birth certificate?

(more…)

The following video features the demands made by Occupy Chicago activists Andy Thayer and Joe Iosbaker during the invasion they led into City Hall yesterday.

The march of the moochers stormed the building and marched clockwise in the lobby, rather than their usual counter-clockwise marching. The angry mob then proceeded to the 5th floor and continued their protest at the doors to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office.

Thayer’s demands included being granted permits to protest the G-8 and NATO Summit being held in Chicago this coming May as well as dropping the charges against fellow “occupiers.” He was followed by Iosbaker with statements on an SEIU resolution to support their demands and comments on his current investigation by the FBI.

Iosbaker also noted that they were notified that Northwestern University Law School has changed their graduation so that the students will not be downtown during the G-8 and NATO protests next may. They were reportedly warned by the FBI that it would be too dangerous.

(more…)

On Tuesday, militant, Marxist, anti-war, and gay-rights activists–including some suspected of providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations–led the Occupy Chicago protesters into City Hall to stage an “in your face” protest directed at Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

We caught up with one protester, Roger Fraser, a retired Palatine, Illinois school teacher. Fraser is a proud member of the “99%” who earns a modest $7,792.75 a month from his pension.

Fraser is also known as a militant gay rights activist and a member of the Gay Liberation Network–the same organization founded by Chicago G-8 and NATO protest organizer–and militant, anti-war, social-justice radical–Andy Thayer.

You may remember a previous interview from earlier this year, released by Andrew Breitbart, filmed at a Code Pink-led protest against the Koch brothers in Palm Springs, California–where Fraser called for “Revolution now,” and exclaimed, “Just like in Egypt!“

In the following interview, conducted yesterday inside City Hall, we asked Fraser if “this” was the kind of revolution he was talking about. Fraser told us, “This is the beginning.”

When asked what he thought it would take to achieve the activists’ goals, he remarked: “This kind of thing on a massive scale.“ He also answered in the affirmative as to whether or not the revolution would require collapsing the American government, and explained: ”Because….the resistance against this will be overwhelming…very strong….and relentless.”

Cross Posted at: RebelPundit

Follow @RebelPundit on Twitter

Today Occupy Chicago protesters stormed City Hall to let Mayor Rahm Emanuel know their displeasure in the recent arrests of the Occupy campers at Grant Park on Michigan Avenue.

They were lead by radical anti-war activists Joe Iosbaker and Andy Thayer, who we have reported on in the past for their ongoing investigations by the FBI. In September of 2010 they were targeted for suspicion of providing material support to Hamas, the F.A.R.C. and other terrorist organizations.

Photo H/T: FoundingBloggers

Here is footage of Thayer last spring addressing a Chicago crowd and calling for “action” like we saw in Egypt.

Thayer and Iosbaker have played a key roll in organizing massive demonstrations in Chicago this coming May for the G-8 and NATO summits. The recent anti-war and Occupy protests have served as a clear rally cry to build momentum and support for these demonstrations next spring. The tandem duo worked their message and demands for G-8 and NATO protest permits into todays Occupy City Hall protest.

(more…)

Shocked? We are….

Is this the sort of thing you would expect to hear from John Tillman, the chairman of the Illinois Policy Institute, a “conservative” think tank, after walking through #OccupyChicago?

“It was delightful.”

Delightful? When I think of delight, I think of lying on a sunny beach with an ice-cold tropical fruit drink; I think of laying in a hammock on a breezy day reading a mind-stimulating book or sinking my teeth into a delicious cheesecake. But when I am at an Occupy protest, the last thing that comes to mind is anything remotely delightful.

In fact, I find the whole experience miserable and terrifying: the constant banging of over-turned garbage cans, the blowing of bull horns, and the repetitive hypnotic chanting of brainwashed flea-infested loons. When I head down to an Occupy protest, it is certainly not with any intent to have a delightful experience. It is with the intent to expose what is really driving these radical left-wing nut-jobs. It’s a responsibility I feel that is necessary to preserve whatever freedom and liberty we still have, and quite frankly to help do whatever is in my power to save our great country.

Here is some footage you may have already seen about who is behind this movement, from EAG Foundation:

I certainly understand that there are some halfway “sane” individuals down there. And I can also agree there are a couple of similarities in the displeasure with our economy between the “Tea Party” and Occupy protesters. Namely, the opposition to bank bailouts, for which we on the “right” have been ridiculed and deemed racist, for the last two and a half years.

But I can hardly see how it is effective for the tea partiers to join forces with these well-documented card-carrying members of the Communist Party U.S.A., Party for Socialism and Liberation, anti-Semites, American Nazi Party, 9/11 truthers, and the rest of the dirty hippies that are now receiving training from domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.

(more…)

Yesterday we released a video of John Bachtell, a national board member from the Communist Party U.S.A., addressing the bongo-banging, spoiled, suburban run-aways at the #OccupyChicago tent city and an interview with a few of his “fellow travelers” in the march.

Thanks to a reader tip, we have identified the three individuals in the march who we interviewed. In the photo below starting on the left is James Raines, a University of Memphis teacher (from reader tip), next to his right is Jordan Farrar (Young Communist League & Organizing for America), and next to him is Gabe Niechcial, another young communist.

According to the P/oed Patriot, Farrar, seen in the white C.P. USA shirt, is not only a Young Communist League leader, but he is also a member of Barack Obama’s Organizing for America and he organized a rally in 2009 for OFA to support President Obama’s health care bill. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) was featured guest at Farrar’s event as well.

Notice the host name on the screenshot of the event invitation.

Jordan is a self-described “militant anti-racist anti-fascist Marxist-Leninist skinhead.”

(more…)

Last night during the tent city construction at Occupy Chicago on Michigan Ave, John Bachtell, a spokesperson from the national board of the Communist Party U.S.A., addressed the angry mob of nearly 3000. He claimed to “bring greetings and support” from the party, to the occupy movement. Bachtell received a very warm welcome and overwhelming applause form the “occupiers.”

“We will be with this movement….til we make all the changes that we know we have to make….This movement is part and parcel in the great tradition in this country of people powered democracy….This is the next big step of the democratic revolution in our country.”- Bachtell said.

We also caught up with some of the other communist revolutionaries who marched with flea-infested, bongo-banging, suburban runaways from Occupy Chicago.

Take a look.

(more…)

In our continuing coverage from last Saturday’s anti-war protest and march organized by the left-wing ANSWER Coalition, Code Pink, and the Gay Liberation Network, we have more alarming video to share. Alarming, but not surprising, given our footage of the same groups’ joint demonstration last March.

Organizers and protesters from Occupy Chicago joined these groups and provided support to last Saturday’s anti-war gathering. The protest carried a strong anti-Israel/anti-America message, a theme that both served as a rallying cry for the day and, more ominously, a call to action for the organization of massive demonstrations in Chicago next May during the G-8 and Nato summit. Bringing more socialist economics to the United States, was also high on the agenda for the day.

Hatem Abudayyeh, a local pro-Palestinian agitator, rose to stage to address the crowd regarding Israel and American imperialism. He referred to Benjamin Netanyahu as a “fool” for his recent address to the U.N. General Assembly, and cheered the effectiveness of the global boycott and divestment in Israel, which he said was successfully putting a “dent in Israel’s indemnity over Palestine and the Arab world.” During the speech, members of the radical left-wing Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization on which noted socialist Noam Chomsky happens to sit on the board, passed out flyers that read at the top, “Be a Passivist (sic), be a Nonviolent Activist, Refuse to Pay Taxes, Destroy Israel!”

Abudayyeh is not a rookie in the activist business. He is the executive director for the Arab American Action Network, which was founded by radical PLO propagandist Rashid Khalidi. When President Obama was on the board of directors for the Woods Fund, they gave a $40,000 grant to Abudayyeh’s group, and the group has also received close to $500,000 in federal tax dollars.

(more…)

#OccupyChicago: thousands of anarchists, union members, and Democrats–and not one American flag.

Just like the Tea Party!

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) was on hand. She addressed a mob outside the Hyatt Regency Chicago, where some activists apparently attempted to disrupt a meeting of the Mortgage Bankers Association. She then led them in one of five feeder marchers that combined into a sea of pot-smoking, bongo-drumming, flea-infested dreadlock lunacy outside the Art Institute of Chicago.

We caught up with Jan, and asked for her thoughts on the patriotism of the protest, since we could not find one American flag in her parade of nearly 1000 liberal loons.

Cross-posted at RebelPundit. Follow @RebelPundit on Twitter.

On October 1st, 2011 tea party groups from around the Midwest gathered at the TEACON convention in Schaumburg, Illinois. Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi stated that he became outraged when he heard this event was taking place in his own backyard in the Illinois 8th congressional district. Raja told the Huffington Post that he planned to lead a protest against the event, which featured the likes of Glenn Beck, Andrew Breitbart and presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Once Raja made his appearance at the protest, he denied having planned the protest and claimed that he was deferring to, and joining, the protesters who already showed up outside the convention center. There were approximately eight protesters in total, one of whom we can confirm, in the following video, is a communist. To be fair, when asked if he supported the Communist party, Raja replied that he did not; however, when asked how he felt about joining communists and how his potential constituents might feel about him protesting other Americans alongside communists, he said “I’m okay with protesting the TEACON convention,” and “I think the constituents want us to stand up to the Tea Party.”

(more…)

One week after the 10th anniversary of the September 11th World Trade Center attacks, carried out by Islamist terrorists, the American Islamic College and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation convened students, academics, and “intellectuals” in Chicago, Illinois, for its 2nd annual conference on “Islam and Muslims in America.” Rather than accepting the underlying facts that lead reasonable Americans to express concern about the spread of Islam in America, the conference chose to focus on Americans’ “racism and bigotry,” negativity, and the so-called “Islamophobia,” inherent in their opinions about the Muslim faith.

This perverse twisting of the post-9/11 environment in America, as well as the institution’s shady past associations with noted Islamist agitators, provides the context for an event of which all Americans should be aware.

The stated purpose of the conference was to promote awareness of the school, discuss the current affairs of Islam and Muslims in America, and confront ”Islamophobia.” However, events that unfolded reveal that the narrative put forth throughout the conference veered sharply from these goals, the careful review of which invites legitimate concern and even alarm*.

(*Notably, it was within this context that U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley found it appropriate in his official capacity, to apologize on behalf of America, seen here in our previously released footage from the event.)

The following video shows an opening statement from the event emcee, a Muslim/pro-Palestinian activist and host of the Rise Up Radio Show Rashid Darwish. While Darwishundoubtably came across as one of the more measured speakers at the event, and gave no reason for observers to conclude that he was of an unpeaceful character, he makes an alarming claim in his opening remarks:

“…This last week, we look back at 10 years of the 9/11 tragedy….I will tell you this, it gave us all a wonderful opportunity to now educate people about Islam….and really help define what Islam is all about.”

(more…)