This article has been posted to DoctorZin’s New News Blog! 
Posted on 08/21/2004 4:43:05 PM PDT by MadIvan
AT the corner of 10th Street and Second Avenue, an angry New Yorker was haranguing passers-by about “1,000 body bags coming home from Iraq”.
In a park nearby another man, inexplicably attired in a red minidress, handed out invitations to a “war crimes tribunal” where President George W Bush would be “judged by the American people”.
Both men later appeared in St Mark’s church where more than 150 radical political activists had gathered last week to compare notes on a packed agenda of marches, rallies and protests timed to coincide with Bush’s arrival in Manhattan for next week’s Republican convention.
There is a hint of revolution in the streets of New York, but the organisers of what may be one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in America since the 1960s are wrestling with a dilemma. They may end up helping Bush rather than hurting him.
Far from embracing the rebellion against Republican rule, Democratic officials are keeping their distance from a potentially explosive grassroots upheaval that may prove to be dangerously counterproductive for Senator John Kerry, the Democratic challenger, whose lead in the opinion polls has begun to melt away after a series of attacks on his Vietnam war record.
Some of Kerry’s aides and many of his supporters fear that scenes of radical mayhem in New York will alienate moderate swing voters who may associate any extremist turmoil with the Democrat campaign. “The Republicans will do all they can to make the street protesters look like the disruptive, concealed and explosive heart of the Democratic party,” warned Norman Mailer, the writer who is one of New York’s best-known liberals.
At St Mark’s last week, activists emphasised their commitment to non-violent protest. One anarchist group will hold a tea party outside the mayor’s mansion; other events include a “Books not Bombs youth convergence”, a “hip-hop protest and party” and a public reading of the American constitution.
The centrepiece of a “week of resistance” will be a march on Madison Square Garden, where Bush will deliver a closing address after four days of Republican celebration. Organisers expect at least 250,000 people to march and newspapers have given dire accounts of potential anarchist disruption. One leaked police document warned that protest tactics might include fire bombs, acid throwing and attacks with nail-studded potatoes.
A sense of looming confrontation was heightened when the New York Police Department unveiled its latest riot control gadgets, including helicopters with “night sun” lights to illuminate streets at night, bulletproof personnel carriers and a “mega megaphone” that can broadcast across several city blocks.
At the back of many Democrat minds are memories of their party’s 1968 convention in Chicago, when rioting against the Vietnam war was widely seen as having damaged the campaign of Hubert Humphrey, the party’s presidential nominee who crashed to defeat against Richard Nixon.
Most protests next week will focus on a different war — in Iraq — but to the chagrin of increasing numbers of Democrats, lingering divisions over Vietnam are continuing to dominate the presidential race.
Kerry’s decision to make his Vietnam war record the centrepiece of his run for the White House has embroiled the Democratic challenger in an increasingly vicious battle over his time as the young commander of a US Navy Swift patrol boat.
A bestselling book by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) has accused Kerry of lying about several key incidents during his service and denounced him for “betraying” fellow veterans when he turned against the war.
Heavily financed by Republican sympathisers close to Bush, the group has also produced a television advertisement that appears to have provoked a sharp decline in support for Kerry among veterans. A second attacking Kerry’s post-war record was unveiled on Friday.
Kerry filed a formal complaint to stop the advertisements this weekend, claiming the SBVT has been acting as a front for the Bush campaign.
Despite evidence that the veterans group is politically motivated and that several members have lied or contradicted themselves, the affair has swamped the Democratic campaign.
While Kerry has aggressively rebutted accusations he did not deserve his medals, he remains in trouble over an old claim that he spent Christmas 1968 under fire after being illegally ordered into Cambodia. In their book Unfit for Command, Swift Boat veterans allege Kerry never visited Cambodia.
In one poll last week the “bounce” that Kerry had received from the Democratic convention last month had shrunk to a one point lead over Bush. A survey by CBS showed Kerry’s support among veterans had fallen; having been tied with Bush at 46% a month ago, he now trails by 18 points.
Next week it will be Bush’s turn to bounce and many New York Democrats are painfully aware that the president may be propelled even higher should rioting erupt on the streets. “Do the activists know what they are going into?” asked Mailer in New York magazine. “Or do they assume that expressing their rage is equal to getting Kerry elected? It could have exactly the opposite effect.”
Like the anti-war demonstrations and groups of the 60s, there nothing grassroot about this.
I'm still not certain how extreme the protesters are going to be.
To give an example note the Democrat convention. They became so mobilzed by fear that a 'Wellstone' would break out they largely muzzled their members. They had moments when the real soul of the party shone through but it was rather a forgettable event.
Well, here we have the same dilemma. The protesters hate Bush, America, God and freedom. It is natural for them to act out by destroying all they hate. But, will fear temper their antics like it did their convention? Will fear it will benefit Bush muzzle them to an extent?
Either way I believe we'll benefit though I admit I wouldn't mind a fight. A part of me is hoping they go all the way to show the world who they really are and whom they are representing.
I don't have the list,but someone here must.Hang on and let's see what others post.
hey guys and gals....can any of you post a list for musicman,of the Dem connections to those who'll probably be protesting the GOP Convention? THANKS! :-)
One of them made a cameo appearance this morning, at the start of a training session for convention volunteers.
While we were sitting in the lobby area (at Pace University), near a big sign on an easel -- the sign announcing that this was the training session for the GOP convention -- some little crap weasel ran up right next to me and slapped a "Bush Lied, People Died" sticker on the sign.
It was still early in the morning (well, early for me) and I called him an a-hole and quickly pulled off the sticker and chucked it.
"Inexplicably"?
Mind you - this is the Lower East Side.
Was that you -- after you left your metrosexual hair-do place?
You know, it'd be funny if every one who worked in the buildings along the path of the march took a dozen eggs to work with them and unloaded when the freaks started spouting off.
During the anti-war riots in NYC last year, some of them actually *punched* the police horses in their faces!
How the hell are they "Bush riots?"
"Despite evidence that the veterans group is politically motivated and that several members have lied or contradicted themselves, the affair has swamped the Democratic campaign."
This is a sign that the Kerry disinformation is gaining traction.
"a potentially explosive grassroots upheaval that may prove to be dangerously counterproductive for Senator John Kerry...
Uh Huh, Grass Roots, Riiiight!
"A bestselling book by the...SBVT has accused Kerry of lying about several key incidents during his service and denounced him for “betraying” fellow veterans when he turned against the war..."
Bitch all you want about who said what - try to deny that Kerry betrayed his fellow veterans for political gains to himself and to the North Vietnamese!
Heavily financed by Republican sympathisers close to Bush, the group has also produced a television advertisement that appears to have provoked a sharp decline in support for Kerry among veterans. A second attacking Kerry’s post-war record was unveiled on Friday."
Yeah, well, the first came from his peers and members of his squadron who had to deal with his antics in real time and in a God #&*%d war! The second comes from US Pisoners of War, the very people who were directly effected by Kerry/Fonda's treason. [Even before the rest of us took the hit]
" Kerry filed a formal complaint to stop the advertisements this weekend, claiming the SBVT has been acting as a front for the Bush campaign."
Sniff, whimper, snivel, call my lawier(s). "it's not fair when they do to us what we've been doing tho them for months, and months, and..."
" Despite evidence that the veterans group is politically motivated and that several members have lied or contradicted themselves, the affair has swamped the Democratic campaign. "
Note here that there are no, none, nada, zero, politically motivated groups being funded by Soros/Heinz et al that might actually want JFK to win this election, they are all just expressing their opinions.
Note also that Dem's do NOT lie, they might parse, maybe misremember or misstate, but they do NOT lie - it's in the bylaws and accepted by all major news outlets.
Oh, and the Dems are being swamped all right, but it ain't anybody's fault but theirs...watch out for the October surprise/candidate swap.
Finally, things seem to come full circle in a hurry these days, all this pre-convention posturing and threatening is being generated at..."St Mark’s church where more than 150 radical political activists had gathered last week to compare notes on a packed agenda..."
Sound a little bit like Najaf??
"...eggs to work with them and unloaded when the freaks started spouting off."
They could call it "New York confetti."
If the protestors rampage like the animals in the Seattle WTO protests several years ago, breaking windows etc., it will help Bush for sure.
Ah yes. St. Mark's "Church" is one of the centers of leftist nutjob activity in Manhattan.
You probably won't be surprised to know it's also one of Manhattan's few remaining homeless hot spots.
I'm irked that a church was used for their conniving.
This part is in reference to the article in the Boston Globe where the reporter (who also wrote an introduction to Kerry's book & Kerry cleaned off his website) misquoted Elliot and he had to sent out another affidavit saying he hasn't changed his opinions
EVERY media/paper FAILS to mention that
click for another SAMPLE of the writers work and "leanings." IMO, the media has graduated from bias and slithered into propaganda.
Area, are you suggesting another "hard hat" assault????
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