Mona Shaw, Kirk Brown, Ed Bloomer and Chet Guinn outside the Polk County Courthouse.

Methodist minister Chet Guinn, 80, as well as three Des Moines Catholic Workers, Edward Bloomer, 61, Kirk Brown, 25, and Mona Shaw, 57, were arrested at the Wakonda Country Club where Rove was scheduled to speak at a Republican Party fundraiser.They accused him of felony murder, election fraud, conspiracy to commit offense or defraud the United States leading to the war in Iraq, as well as treason, sedition and subversive activities.

Sally Frank, attorney for the defendants, said in court that she will file a motion to set aside the verdict and that the verdict will be appealed if the motion is denied.

Judge Colin Witt sentenced three of the defendants to the minimum $65 fine plus court costs. The fourth, Brown, said he could not in conscience pay the fine and was sentenced to one day in jail instead.

Facing charges of trespassing are retired Methodist minister Chet Guinn; two members of the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, Edward Bloomer and Mona Shaw; and former group member Kirk Brown.

The four attempted a citizen’s arrest of Rove on July 25 at the Wakonda County Club on Des Moines’ south side. They were stopped at the country club’s entry gate. They accused Rove of felony murder, election fraud, conspiracy to commit offense or defraud the United States leading to the war in Iraq, as well as treason, sedition and subversive activities.

Rove’s July visit was the second time Shaw and Brown had attempted to make a citizen’s arrest, the first coming in March at the University of Iowa.

Jury selection in the case was expected to begin this morning, with the actual trial starting after lunch.

Former White House adviser Karl Rove

Two members of the group attempted to make a citizen’s arrest of Rove when he visited the University of Iowa in March and were subsequently removed from the hall by university police.

This time around, Rove is speaking at the Wakonda Country Club on Des Moines’ south side, and the Catholic Workers will once again attempt to arrest Rove for war crimes, sedition, felony murder and treason. They are planning on gathering en masse outside the club’s entrance on Fleur Drive at 11:45 a.m., with Rove scheduled to speak at noon.

The program, which is the main fund-raising source for the RPI’s voter turnout program, costs $100 for lunch and $1,000 for a reception with Rove. According to an RPI spokesman, there will be no media allowed into the event and no availability with Rove after he has finished his speech.

And so began the Eighty-Four Minute Hate at the University of Iowa, reminiscent of George Orwell’s Two-Minute Hate in “1984,” featuring Karl Rove, former member of President Bush’s Inner Party, and those who have come to despise him. (see video belwo the fold)Abridged Video of Karl Rove’s Eighty-Four Minute Hate (filmed by Iowa Independent’s Adam Burke)

While serving under Bush, Rove, dubbed “The Architect,” was credited with helping orchestrate Bush’s campaign victories in 2000 and 2004. For his behind-the-curtain efforts, The Wizard of D.C. has been lauded as a political-strategy genius on the right, while some members on the left, who are still scratching their heads and asking themselves how Bush could get elected not once, but twice, have conceded this title.

However, not everyone has been impressed with Rove, who, for the left has metamorphosed into the Poster Boy of Hate, temporarily usurping the Throne of Hate from current Inner-Party member and reigning vice president, Dick Cheney.

And now, while the Inner Party and its chief monetary benefactors, The Military Industrial Complex, keep profiting from pumping fear and hate into the economy, Rove has left the Inner Party, at least literally, and has begun testing the private market value of hate by peddling his wares on the lecture circuit.

While the Bush administration’s Orwellian Two-Minute Hate consists of projecting interchangeable figureheads such as Osama bin Laden, North Korean Dictator Kim Jong II and Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the television screen, Rove’s has hit the road with his live rendition of Eight-Four-Minute Hate. At a nominal speaking fee of $40,000, audience members get a chance to spew their contempt for Rove in a public forum.

Such was the case at the UI when Rove took the stage and was greeted by a chorus of boos and cheers. The latter consisted of Rove’s supporters, who not only came to see Rove but to hate on the haters. The evening’s hate fest went something like this:

Heckler shouts question at Rove, who responds by attacking the question, followed by more attacks from the audience, thus inspiring Rove to attack the questioner, which drew applause from his supporters, which drew boos from his haters, and the cycle repeated itself as the hate momentarily subsided until the next round of hate began.

The Architect’s plan was working. Rove had become a performance artist reminiscent of comedian Andy Kaufman, who exploited hate mongering for monetary gain. When Kaufman’s career turned to professional wrestling, in particular wrestling women, his target audience grew a certain disdain for him, yet paid to see him perform anyhow. Rove has adopted the same formula, but in order for this formula to be successful, you need an audience.

The UI community provided just that as members of the UI Anti-War Committee staged protests beforehand, local peace activists attempted to conduct a citizen arrest of Rove, and random audience members used the event to voice their unsolicited disdain during the Eighty-Four-Minute Hate.

And like a clown at a carnival dunk tank, Rove egged on the audience and made fun of the hecklers, oftentimes forgetting that he’s not a trained professional comedian. His attempts at witticism never rose too far above the coping crutches of the I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I caliber. The same could be true for some of the comments shouted at him from the hate groundlings, thus perpetuating the hate cycle and negating any possibility of an intelligent discourse. Granted, the latter would put a damper on Rove’s new shtick, driving down his market value on the college lecture circuit.

If the anti-Rove movement really wanted to make a statement, they should have silenced him by not showing up or attacked him with a surge of love. The profit margin for espousing love is nominal at best, unless of course you are Hallmark.

Filling up the IMU only serves to legitimize Rove and verbally attacking him plays into his hands, not to mention it does little to end the war in Iraq.

Hopefully, Rove’s lecture appearance at the UI will serve as a blueprint for what not to do for future colleges that plan on paying him to come speak at their respective institutions. The best way to usurp Rove’s power is by turning off the Eighty-Four-Minute Hate.

After all, just because Big Brother is watching doesn’t mean we have to.

(Click. White Noise.)

Eve Bottando talks about the event, the liberal/conservative divide and some of the moral issues of the Iraq war in this video.

Bottando is a graduate student at the University of Iowa.

The event was protested by hundreds of peace activists, but fans of the controversial political strategist were also present.

Rove fans Kirk Wilkie and Tom Roeder were excited to hear the “Architect” speak. Here is Roeder:

and Wilkie:

Peace activist Frank Cordaro spoke at a press conference organized by the University of Iowa Anti-War Committee before the event.

Cordaro was later escorted from the audience during the event. He shouted, “liar,” “shameful” and “war criminal” as he was led from the venue.

Outside the lecture hall, miniature flag-draped coffins were arranged at a display table to symbolize the nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.

More from the event can be seen in a photo page of scenes from Rove’s talk and the events surrounding his visit here.

Also be sure to read I.I. reporter Tom Lindsey’s article.

While the delay provided more time for some community members to stew about Rove’s appearance and the $40,000 speaking fee, it also gave anti-Rove contingencies such as the UI Anti-War Committee, Iowans for Peace, and Iraq Veterans Against the War (see pic below) an opportunity to organize protest efforts.

Protesters started gathering at the Iowa Memorial Union at 5:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. start time and greeted people waiting in line with a barrage of signs and chants from a squad of cheerleaders, the Radical Cheerleaders: “One, two three, four;/We don’t want your racist war/Five, six, seven, eight;/We won’t cooperate

A silent protester sends his message from the back of the auditorium

Protester before event

Protesters were not allowed to hold signs in the audience during the event

Masked protester asks for his check to be endorsed

Peace activist Frank Cordaro speaks at press conference before the event

Rove’s introduction was  interrupted by cheering and boos

The “Architect” Karl Rove reflects

Hallway sign in Arabic and English

Security team discusses details before event