greenpass: Sunday (not) in the park

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August 30, 2004

Sunday (not) in the park

Finally arrived at the Tank, and can take some time to describe my time here so far.

Woke up yesterday at 5.30am and took the 7am Fung Wah down from Boston. The bus was full of people going down to protest - signs, costumes and progressive energy were in evidence. On the D train up to Chinatown, I talked to one protestor who had been on the bus with us, and was carrying a sign saying "Bush and Dick make love not war" - unoriginal, but effective in its own way I suppose. He said he had been organizing protests since 1969, and led protests in 2000 in Boston during the recounts. His analysis: that corporations called Gore up after the recount. I can just imagine the conversation:

"Mr. Gore, I've got the Man on line 2?"
"What's that, Tricia?"
"On line 2, Mr. Vice President. It's an affluent powerful white man from The Corporations. Should I put him through?"
"Sure. Hi there, Mr. Fat Cat Donor - what can I do for you?"
"Al, we need you to stand down. We need to make money on this Bush guy."
"Roger that - anything else I can do for you?"
"Yee-ah...we're gonna have to have you gain 50lbs. And grow a beard and go bald."

Anyway, this guy was really serious about his conspiracy theories. He asked me if I was an FBI agent, claiming a file 3 inches thick, and really thought that 9-11 was an inside job. He also told me entirely seriously that the DNC was practice by Mitt Romney and the Feds for locking down Boston and declaring martial law after Bush steals the election. Although he claimed to be able to distinguish agents provocateur, and guaranteed that the protests wouldn't turn violent, he told me proudly that at the last NYC protests in March 2003, he had overturned the crowd control barricades because he "refused to be penned in" and it was his right to march down the next avenue and stop traffic (although there was a perfectly good march route already), and that when the police regrouped and came at them with horses they linked arms and it was "great fun". Needless to say, he didn't calm any of my fears of disorderly conduct over the next few days.

Around the East Village, where I'm staying, there's chalk graffiti and posters everywhere against the RNC. The people on the streets seem like they're just going about their business until you realize that most of them are wearing anti-Bush shirts. On the way out of the subway at Union square we were yelled at by cops: "You missed it! They're all gone! You got dressed up for nothing! Better go home!" Cops everywhere - 8 of them outside the Virgin Megastore, twirling their batons. Four more on the corner of the park, stacking their plastic handcuffs for easy access. Rows and rows of them along the protest march. Lines for the bathroom in Starbucks (some people with anti-globalization protest signs). Police on Vespas, buzzing around, completely and amusingly emasculated.

We joined the protest around 25th street, and began the slow crawl towards MSG - the sun was horrifically hot, and we were all dripping with sweat. There were all ages, colours, backgrounds at the march - a group of families from Brooklyn with about 10 toddlers and assorted other children with them. A group of Hispanic seniors from a Catholic church in Queens. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The Glamericans ("Fashion memo: flipflops are in!"; "5 deferments? Very tacky, darling"). And a whole bunch of other liberal hangers-on that I thought really kind of ruined the message - free Mumia, anti-globalization, anti-McDonalds and Starbucks images, anti-capitalism (I was approached multiple times by people trying to sell me anti-capitalist buttons and stickers, without a hint of irony). I couldn't help thinking that anti-Kerry protests at the RNC aren't really sending the right message. However, the protest was surprisingly positive - I didn't see a single confrontation or even any serious counterprotest. There was one guy holding a sign that said "Trust Bush - Trust Jesus" with some bomb and fighter jet pictures (which didn't seem to be terribly logical), but people just chanted "Shame, shame" and "No more Bush" as they walked past him. The most fun image - a line of 30 cops walking across the march, holding on to each other's waists like conga dancers. The extremely clever Glamericans immediately began drumming a conga beat, and at least a few of the cops seemed to be joining in to the spirit of the dancing protesters around them. When we got to MSG though, the hundreds (no exaggeration) of cops and one or two RNC delegates stared at us in stony humourless silence. The contrast between the colourful, musical, exciting protest and the double and triple lines of riot police in mirrored visors couldn't have been more stark.

Putting John on the Fung Wah bus, I talked to an evangelist who was called by the Lord to come down from Hampton Beach to hand out tracts to the protestors. I tried to figure out if he actually supported Bush and the war, but he wasn't really interested in talking about anything except how the Lord provided for his car insurance every year, and occasionally praying in a desultory way for the bus to be on time and for a cheeseburger. Apparently earlier that day he had prayed to the Lord and a cheeseburger was provided (in the form of a guy from Chicago that bought him a Happy meal), but it didn't work so well down in Chinatown.

Last night we went to see "Garden State" (of which more later), and then back to Matt Yglesias' parents' lovely flat for drinks and conversation until about 2.30am. Today I'm meeting up with my journalist friend from Il Manifesto, and getting a pass for Madison Square Garden - we'll see how it all works out. I can't wait to see the security inside that building.

Posted at 01:34 PM in Convention 2004 | Permalink

Comments

You got one of those "Trust Bush - Trust Jesus" guys too? That's really creepy, because at the Kerry rally in Portland, there was this guy holding a sign *just like that.* They're like a franchise, or something.

And your conversation with the protestor does not give me hope for peaceful demonstration at the convention. Eep. Noriotspleasenoriots.

Posted by: Alice | August 30, 2004 at 02:40 PM