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To: Mears; All

Agreed.

Weatherman or Weather Underground Organization, is a "revolutionary organization of communist men and women" formed by members of the Students for a Democratic Society or SDS. They were originally called the Revolutionary Youth Movement. They advocated the overthrow of our government and capitalism. They carried out a campaign of bombings, jailbreaks, and riots in 1969-1976.

The group derived their name from Bob Dylan's song lyrics from "Subterranean Homesick Blues", which were, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows", I use to see that quote at the bottom of their periodical, New Left Notes, when I use to work at a periodical distribution company.

Their first event, in 1969, was the "Days of Rage" in Chicago. They blew up a statue dedicated to police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot. They announced at a convention that they supported Charles Manson. The rally failed to draw as many participants (300) as they had hoped. They did lead a riot through Chicago's business district, smashing windows and cars. 6 were shot and 70 arrested. The conflict went on for a few days.

1970, after the shooting by police of Black Panther Fred Hampton, the group issued a Declaration of War against the United States government, changing its name to the "weather underground organization", adopting fake IDs, and pursuing covert activities only. These initially included plans for a bombing of a US military noncommissioned officers' dance at Fort Dix. But when three Underground members died in an accidental explosion while preparing the bomb in a Greenwich Village, New York City safe house, other cells re-evaluated their plans and decided to pursue only non-lethal projects.

This group released a number of manifestos and declarations, while conducting a series of bombings. These attacked the U.S. Capitol, The Pentagon, police and prison buildings, and the rebuilt Haymarket statue again, among other targets. The group took measures to avoid any loss of life as a result of these bombings, issuing warnings to evacuate the building ahead of time via phone. They also took a $25,000 payment from a drugs group called The Brotherhood of Eternal Love to break LSD advocate Timothy Leary out of prison, transporting him to Algeria. They remained largely successful at avoiding the police and the FBI.

In the mid-to-late 1970s, the group began dissolving, as many members turned themselves in to the police, and others moved onto other armed revolutionary groups. Very few served prison sentences, since the evidence gathered against them, by the FBI's COINTELPRO program, was inadmissable in court, due to the illegal methods used to obtain it.

Famous members of the Weather Underground include Kathy Boudin, Mark Rudd, Terry Robbins, David Gilbert, and the still-married couple Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.

Many former Weathermen have re-integrated into society, without necessarily repudiating their original intent. Bill Ayers, now a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, said in a September 11, 2001 New York Times profile "I don't regret setting bombs. I believe we didn't do enough."


13 posted on 12/16/2004 2:56:50 PM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Calpernia

Just reading your post brings back the insanity of those years.

I didn't understand them then,and I don't now.

The "radical chic' crowd in NY drove me nuts.I detested Leonard Bernstein after all his kow-towing to The Panthers.


27 posted on 12/16/2004 5:23:28 PM PST by Mears
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