The People, Divided
“They’re all over the island!” the police captain at New York’s Union Square screamed in a panic into his walkie talkie. “They’re doing stuff!” But in reality, yesterday’s anti-RNC march suffered more from low turnout and the usual leftie wimpiness than anarchist violence.
After polls of New Yorkers indicated that 14 percent of the population–a million people–planned to protest the Republican National Convention, estimates of merely 100,000 had to be a disappointment to protest organizers. I suspect the lack of a rally at the end, coupled with fears of police-led violence–which marred the February 15, 2003 anti-Iraq war march here–contributed to that low number. Certainly by the march’s denouement at Union Square, the crowd was much thinner than in February 2003.
At several points overzealous police carried off protesters who dared raise their voices by yelling at them. A few people tried to heckle them, but most of the crowd was clearly scared.
The people met the police state yesterday. The people lost.
Pre-Convention: Live, From the War Zone
Nervous New York City cops have prohibited parking throughout neighborhoods up to three miles away from the Madison Square Garden convention site. Today all along 11th Avenue as far north as 57th Street, orange cones and notices informed motorists that they wouldn’t be allowed to park there. Homeless people, driven by rough NYPD tactics away from midtown, are streaming uptown into Riverside Park.
Meanwhile the exodus of ordinary New Yorkers continues apace. This afternoon at noon one could have somewhat safely taken a snooze in the street at Times Square. Police were everywhere–on horses, in golf carts, on foot. I’ve lived here since 1981, but I never knew we had so many cops on the payroll. Hey, how about using them to stop crime sometime? That would be a welcome change from whatever it is these guys normally do.
There are more pro-Kerry and anti-Bush buttons on shirts in the subway. Obvious Republican delegates are shuffling nervously through the streets.
Republicans are smart enough to know they’re hated by New Yorkers. As a secret email went out to Young Republicans said, “We will also require you to have a YR Credential for many of our events. With the mass number of protesters expected in NYC, we are working hard to ensure that nobody disturbs the great time we have planned. Please remember you will need a photo ID for all convention events!”
To top it all off, tomorrow’s big protest march will occur during one of the hottest days of a relatively cool summer so far. The forecast is for highs in the 90s, with humidity and haze–and that’s in the shade, not on the hot asphalt where the protest will occur. United for Peace and Justice, it turns out, was wise to walk away from the West Side Highway deal. That area’s going to be a frying pan tomorrow.
Snow Job
Former Texas Governor George W. Bush claims that the U.S. economy has created 1.5 million new jobs during the last 12 months. Senator John Kerry counters that, during the previous period beginning with Bush’s seizure of power in January 2001, we lost 1.8 million jobs. But as the Bureau of Labor Statistics says, the U.S. economy must create 1.8 million jobs annually just to keep even with the growth of the U.S. population and thus the workforce.
In other words, John Kerry is–in order to avoid stirring up controversy, one presumes, using the GOP’s stunted figures of job loss during the Bush years. Things are actually far worse.
During the Clinton years, 22 million jobs were created. Subtract the 12 million jobs that should be accounted for merely by population growth during those eight years and you’ve still got a net, robust, gain of 10 million.
Bush lost 1.8 million (not accounting for population growth), then gained 1.5 million. That’s a net loss of 300,000 jobs. But when you factor in the three years and seven months since the seizure of power, during which some 4.2 million jobs ought to have been created, he’s down a net loss of 3.9 million jobs. That’s the worst performance by any American leader since Herbert Hoover’s reign over the start of the Great Depression.
Want to be even more depressed? To match Bill Clinton, he would need to create 5 milliion more net jobs, plus 3.9 million population increase jobs, for a total of 8.9 million, by Election Day.
Why don’t the Democrats tell the truth? When Bush created 32,000 jobs during July, they said it wasn’t enough. The truth is, that’s a net loss of 118,000 jobs for that month alone, and they should say so.
I suspect that they allow the Republicans to fib because they would like to fib the same way after Kerry takes control over a lousy economy. But it’s dishonest and it isn’t smart. For when the Dems try to spin the jobs figures, you can be damned sure that Republicans won’t hesitate to call them on it.
Bush Flips, Flops on Foreign Control of U.S. Troops
During his 2004 State of the Union Address, former Texas Governor George W. Bush stridently refused to place U.S. troops under the control of foreign entities such as the United Nations. “America will never seek a permission slip,” he said in a clear reference to France and other members of the Security Council, “to defend the security of our people.”
Somehow no one seems to have noticed that Bush has not only ceded control of U.S. forces to a foreign nation, but one led by one of the world’s most unstable nations. That’s right: we’re talking about Iraq.
Ever since Paul Bremer fled in the dark of night and the Coalition Provision Authority was dissolved, the interim, unelected regime of President Allawi has–according to U.S. officials–been in charge of military activities against the rising resistance throughout Iraq.
On August 24, the Washington Post reported:
Iraqi soldiers backed by U.S. forces began patrolling the streets of Najaf on Tuesday, establishing their presence as part of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s pledge that the new Iraqi army would take the lead in defeating militiamen loyal to a rebellious Shiite cleric.
Iraqi officers described their operations as having a more prominent role than was described by local U.S. commanders.
“We are not supporting the U.S. Army, we are here to evacuate the shrine of the outlaws,” said Lt. Haider Hussein, a platoon commander of an Iraqi army anti-riot battalion operating in the area, as is an Iraqi commando battalion training for a possible final assault on the mosque.
“The U.S. Army is supporting us,” Hussein said, “because we don’t have new weapons to use in this battle.”
One could argue, if one were an unrepentent defender of Gov. Bush, that since the Iraqi regime is nothing more than a puppet dictatorship installed by the CIA, that the U.S. is merely commanding its own troops via Allawi’s Iraqi middlemen. The trouble with that is that, as Bush claimed on August 9, “Prime Minister Allawi is now in charge of the country.”
Bush Sues to Stop All 527s? Not Really
Even devoted news junkies couldn’t be faulted for falling for the delusion that former Texas Governor George W. Bush plans to join Senator John McCain in lawsuits meant to bring an end to all Section 527-related political lobbying organizations.
Yesterday’s USA Today, for example, wrote this:
President Bush (news – web sites) plans to join Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) in a court battle aimed at stopping political ads by outside groups, which have attacked Bush as well as John Kerry (news – web sites)’s Vietnam War record.
The New York Times put it this way:
President Bush [sic] said yesterday that he would team with Senator John McCain to force a crackdown on independent groups that run political attack advertisements.
You would have to dig quite a bit to find out, however, that Bush has no intention of suing ALL 527s. In fact, as the Times buried the real story down in paragraph 8:
Lawyers for Mr. Bush said Thursday that they were drafting two lawsuits. One, they said, is intended to expedite their complaint before the Federal Election Commission that Moveon.org, the Media Fund and America Coming Together, liberal groups running ads against the president, were illegally coordinating with Mr. Kerry. The other lawsuit, they said, would seek tighter restrictions on the groups’ activities.
In other words, Bush and McCain are ONLY planning to sue liberal 527s. They have complained about (in Bush’s case) all 527s and (in McCain’s case) the notorious Kerry-bashing Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads, but when it comes to putting their legal fees where their mouths are–well, that’s just not happening.
Once again, the Bushies’ shuck-and-jive act is playing the media for fools.
USA Today joined most other organizations in failing to note the fact that ONLY MoveOn.org and America Coming Together were to be targeted by Bush and Senator McCain.
Cops Gone Wild, NYC
So I’m waiting for the light to change so I can cross the street. Three women are standing next to me gossipping. A NYPD van screeches up to the curb and a female cop yells out the window with a tone of panic: “Clear the corner! You can’t block the corner!”
This went down at the corner of West 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. It’s Harlem’s Main Street, and there is a vibrant street scene there. People are constantly hanging out, hawking stuff, wolfwhistling, what have you. Blocking the corner? Who the hell ever heard of such a concept before?
Pre-RNC, the NYPD is spinning its wheels, fingering triggers itchily, worried sick because there are no plans whatsoever for dealing with whatever may go down.
Pre-Convention Blog
After an inexcusable period of slackerdom, I’m firing up the for the upcoming Necropublican National Convention here in New York. I’ll be attending all the festivities, inside and outside Madison Square Garden, and will post here regularly to describe what’s going on.
Manhattan, always empty of wealthy white people who flee to the Hamptons in late August, is even ghostlier than usual. The city transportation infrastructure has become an armed camp. Every subway platform harbors small men with huge automatic rifles. Third World-style military police checkpoints have sprung up on the Triborough Bridge and other crossings. Republican delegates who traveled here early to do a little shopping and sightseeing have started to appear on streets and buses. Yesterday a cute blonde with a Bush button smiled at me on the subway, perhaps hoping to explore urbanized sexuality. In the spirit of the anti-RNC resistance, I said: “Bush? Ewwwwww!” and left the train. Yes, things are already turning ugly.
Incredibly, there will be march on Sunday, beginning at noon. Protesters are being instructed to turn up on lower Seventh Avenue near 14th Street in the West Village. The march will proceed north on 7th (which is just wrong to me, as a former taxi driver–traffic goes south only) past the convention site–which will not have opened for business until the next day. Where they go from there, nobody knows. Many marchers will likely head into the logical debouchement point, Central Park. But the city Parks Department has refused to issue a permit for a rally there and police are promising arrests if anyone attempts one. With luck Sunday’s march will be a peaceful one, but Mayor Bloomberg’s pigheadedness may prevent that laudable goal from coming to pass. Even if turnout is modest–say 100,000–where will all of those people go afterwards? Worst of all, there are literally no provisions for officially-sanctioned rallies and marches during the RNC itself. Since the police will have no idea where trouble might begin, they’ll be nervous and jittery–and the opportunity for chaos will be infinite.
“Crash the Party” Update
If you’re planning to attend the hottest party in New York on the last night of the RNC (Thursday, Sept. 2), the fun won’t be at Madison Square Garden, where Piehole will be accepting his party’s nomination to run for the office he stole in the first place. The fabulous $75-per-person Kerry fundraiser “Crash the Party” will be THE place to be, and you can be there, and hang out with yours truly in the bargain (not to mention pick up a copy or two of my books). Details are in the original post below, but if you’re coming please reserve your ticket NOW. Admission will be cut off when capacity is reached.
Those who cannot attend but wish to be there in spirit (hi out-of-towner Bush haters!) may pay just $25 to attend virtually. Send a 300 dpi full-size photo of yourself (head shot would be best) to chet@rall.com along with your name and a brief message, and you’ll go on the Wall of Honor at the bash. And don’t worry–we’ll tear it all down before HomeSec gets a look.
P.S. I need someone to sit at a table to sell my books at the party. If you’re interested in volunteering for a good cause, you’ll get free admission, not to mention as many of my books as you can carry home. Email me at chet@rall.com if you’re reliable, presentable and cool.
