There's a showdown coming to Manhattan. Backed by the most intense security the city has ever seen, the Republicans are about to turn the blue-state bastion of New York City into the backdrop for George Bush's coronation. The RNC chose New York because it was the site of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which to Bush's opponents and even some ordinary New Yorkers seems a brazen provocation.
On one side are 36,000 cops -- a force that City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. calls "perhaps the world's tenth-largest standing army." On the other side are at least 250,000 protesters expected to converge on the city from all across the United States and Canada -- a demonstration six times larger than the legendary anti-globalization protests that rocked Seattle in 1999.
They're facing off at a time when police are increasingly adopting military tactics in response to protest, and protesters are responding likewise, conducting their own reconnaissance on Republican plans and plotting actions designed to hit where the cops are weakest. The police have infiltrated the protesters, but the protesters have infiltrated the convention; according to anti-RNC organizers, they have at least two moles working undercover with volunteers the city has recruited to help makes things run smoothly at Madison Square Garden.
Yes, folks, the whole world will be watching, and, in the manner of the Gang of Four song referenced above (the song that gave their first album its title), struggle will become entertainment on a scale that compares to the Chicago '68 convention.
Bush has divided this country like nothing since Vietnam, and not surprisingly so- people didn't like Vietnam because they might get dead for no good reason, and people don't like Iraq for the same reason. And the "War on Terror?" Well, let's face it, Bush has been an embarassment, more concerned with covering his but than making us safer.
BTW, rncnotwelcome.org wants money to help with their efforts. Evidently they're not funded by the "evil" George Soros.
Why not search your concience to see if they're right for you? I myself will not be giving them money, because I think they need to work on the guerilla theatre aspects of what they're doing: above all, Abbie Hoffman taught us, be entertaining.
I think these guys are too angry. Remember, guys, there's an audience out there.
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