Advocates for the homeless plan a ''sleep-in'' at the site of the televised GOP debate.

[flvegan]

ST. PETERSBURG - It has the makings of a public relations nightmare: CNN, big-name politicians - and more than 100 homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks outside the Mahaffey Theater, the site of Wednesday's GOP presidential debate.

With the national media coming to town, advocates for the city's homeless announced on Friday their plans for four days of protest, including a "sleep-in" and hunger strike.

While organizers said they would act peacefully and within the law, the specter of a confrontation with police looms, recalling the incident in January when officers slashed the tents of homeless people. Advocates said that with a spotlight on St. Petersburg, they have the advantage. The city, they believe, can't risk another black eye.

"I'm sure Mayor Baker doesn't want another embarrassment, but the possibility of embarrassment falls on him, not us," said the Rev. Bruce Wright, an advocate for the homeless who is organizing the protests. "It's really hard to say what their response is going to be. I would hope that they would adhere to protecting the constitutional right of dissent, of protest, of free speech."

Several phone calls to Rick Baker's cell phone went unanswered on Friday.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/24/Southpinellas/Protest_set_for_prime.shtml

This is big news here, locally right now. And that's a good thing.

[K Gardner]

1. Think CNN will show it? Course not.

I imagine the protesters will be enjoying a free meal and warm bed at the county jail by the time Romney, Goulie, et al, show up.

[flvegan]

2. Well, they WERE talking about certain "zones" that folks couldn't be in.

Short of bringing in street sweepers...

[Bitwit1234]

3. You mean the TV event that the whole country is waiting for..??

According to CNN the country has been waiting for this event with bated breath. It is something we can't wait to see....so help me..

[glowing]

4. On the Bay New 9 paid cable news, they were reading responses

to the debate.. Apparently, the GOP is running scared about answering real questions because there were several responses that said YouTube is for 16 yr olds.. This isn't a debate, this is stupid... blah, blah... so, I think they are running scared.. Of course, I expect CNN will give them the softball questions rather than anything useful.

[flvegan]

5. I anticipate the feeling of a tide of stupid washing over me

just knowing those idiots are in my community.

Sigh.

[LeftyMom]

6. Hon, sending right wing idiots to Florida is like sending coal to Newcastle.

Nobody's even going to notice the blip, the 'tard-o-meter is already maxed out.

I mean really, y'all sent Moxie and Spunk to congress. Even the gop debate can't lower the collective IQ down there, 'cause it's passed room temperature and verges on refrigeration, if how people drive is any clue.

No reflection on you of course, since you've got the good sense to be from someplace else.

[flvegan]

7. Two words: Rhonda Storms

She's our fault. Gawd help us.

[LeftyMom]

9. Well not yours

You certainly didn't vote for the woman.

Hey, we've got a really stupid governor and one truly awful senator. My congresswoman is deeply mediocre, at best. No place is perfect.

[flvegan]

13. I threw something at her. Maybe.

One of the last "burn the gays at the stake" drumups here had several hundred of us in the room. I actually got to say to her face, via mic, "you suck" and I might have thrown a water bottle (partially filled) in her direction.

I missed, sadly. If only I had the last name Papelbon.

[LeftyMom]

15. That's really bad.

Next time I'm down there, we'll get out in the yard and practice insults and throwing things. :D

But you have to put the dogs inside, 'cause if they think I'm being mean to you they might eat me, and I think they're still mad over whatever the hell they thought we were up to in your room.

[glowing]

11. There are some really good people here.. but there is this huge

disconnect....so many people are from so many diff. places that it hard to pull this community together... on top of that, you work awefully hard just for food and shelter, that dealing with the crap is something you try to avoid most days.. people just want to go home and veg.

The other problem is that they have these districts so out of whack. But why in the world St. Pete of all places ended up with Rick Baker is completely astounding... Watch him people, he's trying to move on and take a senate position or a govenorship. Stop him now is what I say. He's such an asshat.

[LeftyMom]

14. Oh, I know.

My favorite person in the whole wide world, excepting my kid, lives down there. :)

We have screwy politics too, I mean back in the early nineties our state-level politics were dominated by the sort of demonization of mexican immigrants you hear from the Minutemen and Lou Dobbs now, but out here they elected a governor on it and actually passed a law to keep undocumented kids out of schools (needless to say, overturned by the courts.) And of course, Nixon and Reagan got their starts here. :sigh:

[silverojo]

16. They're not "Mexican immigrants"

They "ILLEGAL Mexican immigrants". And since when is pointing out lawbreaking "demonizing" someone? What's next...when there's news about kidnappings, child molestations, and the like, it'll be "demonizing" the criminals by reporting on them?

The illegals are a lot like Bush--breaking the law, killing people (gangs, drunk driving, etc.), while getting mollycoddled by the press and while the sheeple allow them to break every law known to man.

There's a right way and a wrong way to come to this country, and everybody knows it. Mexicans are welcome to come here legally! If they come here illegally, they're criminals, and we law-abiding citizens have the right to regard them as such. We also have the right to point out their lawbreaking, without being accused of "demonizing" the criminals.

[LeftyMom]

17. Oh ffs

The campaign in California was embarrassingly, overtly and completely racist. It absolutely demonized mexican immigrants (and only mexican immigrants) documented or not, and efforts were made to punish all immigrants by eliminating benefits eligibility, bilingual education, etc, though the harshest measures- exclusion from schools and medical care under prop one eighty seven, were restricted to the undocumented in a failed effort to get them to pass constitutional muster.

[glowing]

8. I know what you mean... Did you see the comments posted on the

bottom of the article.. Not in my community.. they chose this lifestyle... and how about sweeping our McDonald's to save one's self... Last time I looked, McDonald's does not pay enough for one to live in this community. I loved the realator's response... Given the economic disparity and unaffordable housing, get used to seeing more homeless. Sad isn't it how they wave their tiny little flags and say support the troops, and then drive by Vets standing on the streets. So, sad that a lot of people in this country just don't get it.

Anyway, I don't like to go into St. Pete. The whole city feels gray to me... It has no color or vibrance. And Mayor Baker is a criminal thug along with his criminal thug police force. I had to sit on a jury last year. 3 cops beat up on a black man and had the nerve to charge him with 5 counts of obstructing the officers... The man was looking at serious time. We let him go. It was blatently obvious that the police over abused their powers. When we were dismissed the father of the young man was crying and thanking us. I think people are getting it more and more... they don't trust the police. I was the youngest member of the jury. I can't believe they put me on knowing that I was a Peace activist... but, the other members were mostly older female, and they saw throught the b.s. It was the one man that held out and said we needed to keep the lesser charge because he had refused to give his I.D. when the police were called to investigate the incident and it had involved himself.... Anyway, for the situtation, the police were completely wrong. What pissed me off more was that the state wasted my tax money to try something so ridiculous. The police couldn't even keep their shitty stories straight.

[flvegan]

10. Reading the comments to articles like that

make me want to either down a 12-er of Coronas or bash my head with a chair WWE-style. The vocal majority in these regards should make us subject to genetic testing for outright stupidity.

[LeftyMom]

12. retro's right

I really have to get you out of there and off to someplace civilized. Like here. :D