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1,000 SF Activists To Join Convention Protests in NYC
August 09, 2004
Today's San Francisco Chronicle reports that a thousand-plus freewheelin' Bay Area protestors are among those expected to descend upon New York for the Republican Convention later this month. If NYC cops are perceived on national TV as getting too rough with anti-GOP troops, it could hurt Bush. Firm, but calm must be the byword for New York Police. I'd rather that authorities err in the other direction, of, ah, tolerance, letting the Left Coast contingent and their fellow travellers act up a bit. The more that swing voters can see and hear the Hate-Bush Left for what it really is, undistracted by gruesome footage of busted heads, the better W's prospects. Given proper exposure, this California contingent and their ilk could easily do Bush some good. The Chron: Over the next few weeks, more than 1,000 Bay Area activists and artists will head to New York to raise a ruckus around the upcoming Republican National Convention....the GOP convention is a must-go, Woodstock-like convergence of outrage for the region's progressives. With luck, Whoopi Goldberg will speak. Still and all, this is going to be very delicate. "Keep cool" advisories from cell leaders aside, many anti-Bush protestors WILL be trying to incite NYC police. Some of them will be from the anarchist hotbed of Eugene, Oregon, whose denizens went wild in the streets of Seattle at the '99 WTO confab. Such Seattle-style passivity is - thank goodness - unthinkable on the part of NYC's finest. But restraint must be their byword. Posted by Matt Rosenberg at August 9, 2004 09:28 AM Trackback Pings TrackBack URL for this entry: Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 1,000 SF Activists To Join Convention Protests in NYC:
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A national political convention is arguably one of the most important First Amendment activities that we conduct. So, in this case, an argument that peaceful, non-violent, but disruptive protest should take priority over "business as usual" carries no force. One First Amendment activity cannot trump another. Also, the very real threat that protest activities may serve as cover for a genunie terrorist effort makes it perfectly reasonable for the N.Y. police keep the protesters well away from the immediate site of the convention. But apart from these two provisos, I would agree that the anti-Bush protesters are fully entitled to use the streets to make their point. I will be most interested to see what that "point" turns out to be. Contrary to current constitutional doctrine, I would argue that open advocacy of violence against Western civilization goes beyond the pale of permissible speech. In this regard, I think the French are on the right track. They are now summarily deporting non-citizens who preach violent jihad. (See this morning's Wall Street Journal). This is one point of agreement in which I am happy to say, Vive la France! Posted by: Tom Rekdal at August 9, 2004 04:40 PMLike you Matt, I cannot be so wistful (though I try, I really try), those Eugene Anarchists are wretchedly capable of incredible evil. And, from my perspective, societal 'values' are on 'their' side: case in point, check out the Seattle P-I poll showing barely 15% of the public consider Madame LaTourneau (hmm, a French name) a threat to the public. I mean, that is like sick to the core, that people would vote that way. But then, we are the town that hoist statues to truly sick puppies like Lenin (as you have so ably editorialized), so given that bit of societal cancer, why not think Mary Kay is just so cute, anyway? I mean, the French buy up all the media they can get about her and her (oft-mistakenly reported) 'Tahitian' lover-boy. I guess it just triggers some their sick colonial impulses... Posted by: P Scott Cummins at August 9, 2004 07:31 PMSorry Scott, gotta disagree with you on this one... LeTourneau is no threat to society, unless she encourages other already-deranged teachers to pursue their middle-school-aged pupils. Something tells me this won't happen. As for the protests in NYC, at least the boys from www.protestwarrior.org plan on showing up! Posted by: bmvaughn at August 10, 2004 12:48 PMPost a comment
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