World Bank debate offer - not the first time

[Steve Diamond <sdiamond@xxxxxxx>]

Although the World Bank/IMF offer to "debate" representatives of the
anti-globalization movement is being presented as unprecedented, it isn't.
Representatives from the World Bank participated in a town hall meeting of
some sort during the April demonstrations/meetings in D.C. I was not there
but I gather that the Bank representatives did an artful job of presenting
the IFI's as being very much on the side of the poor and downtrodden, while
the "representatives" of the anti-globalization movement (including Walden
Bello) were reduced to attacking the Bank figures for the size of their
personal incomes as Bank employees.  A similar sign of the lack of depth or
political perspective was on display today at the press conference
announcing the lawsuit against D.C. police for possible first amendment
violations.  Shown on CSPAN tonight, the representative from "50 Years is
Enough" was asked by Bloomberg News what would do about the crisis in
Argentina, their representative literally had no answer.  And the groups
behind the lawsuit were asked whether they would distance themselves from
those who plan to use violence in the upcoming fall demonstrations and they
refused to do so.

Stephen F. Diamond
School of Law
Santa Clara University
sdiamond@xxxxxxx