Protesters cashing in too?

Several groups planning protests during the Republican National Convention held an unusual news conference today in Minneapolis to promote an organizing meeting planned for Saturday.

Representatives of the Protest RNC 2008 Coalition, Anti-War Committee, Communities United Against Police Brutality and Welfare Rights Committee made brief, earnest statements about their issues.

But then came the puzzling remarks of Sue, speaking for the RNC Welcoming Committee, which she explained will now be known as "An RNC Welcoming Committee." The name change, according to her statement, was an expression of solidarity with the striking Writers Guild of America. Sue also cited the strike as the reason her group hadn't been heard from in a while.

Another reason must be the group's attempt to negotiate a convention buyout. Sue said An RNC Welcoming Committee made an offer to convention organizers to call off its planned protests for about $6 million. Seriously? Well, I still don't know. Unlike the other news conference participants, Sue would not answer any reporter questions.

Another line from the group's statement helped me put this head scratcher in perspective: "An RNC Welcoming Committee's tactics represent one stripe in the resistance rainbow."

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