Fang-Face writes “There’s a news story about a bunch of protesters who had gathered on the front steps of the NYC Public Library posted to Alternet.org. Fortunately, the NYPD was there to save the day and the library. Although the way this story goes it seems that neither the library nor the city was in any danger.
At around 5:45PM there was a gentle crowd on the front steps of the Public Library, checking out the eclectic array of banners with messages relating to topics from ecology to Che Guevera. Nothing too wild was going on. But then out of the blue, a group of cops jumped on several protestors with no warning of their advance and mayhem erupted.
Republican supporters can ignore the rest of the article about the tactics used by the police.“
Update
This is something of an update to a story posted Tuesday night, LISNews.
Gentle marauding
The mouthpiece of the Republican Party, The New York Times, has a different take on “gentle” anarchist street theater.
A series of demonstrations rippled across Manhattan last night when protesters tried to converge on the Republican National Convention, as a day of planned civil disobedience erupted into clashes with police officers and led to the arrest of more than 900 people.
The wave of confrontations — which included a brawl with the police at the New York Public Library, marauding crowds cursing at delegates in Midtown and the detention of hundreds of protesters near ground zero — created a day of disorder in a convention week already marked by sustained protests against the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
Politically speaking, this knee-jerk reactionary says “Good Show!” And I’m sure the Kerry/Edwards folks appreciate the bidding of those police baiting leftists with their “oink oinks”.
Help yourself Flamebaiters ; )
tactics
“Republican supporters can ignore the rest of the article about the tactics used by the police.”
While Democrats ignore the tactics used by the protestors. Classy bunch.
Re:tactics
Greg, what does “classy” (as in classy bunch) mean to you?
To me, being classy means addressing issues straight on and saying what you actually mean…speaking with integrity and honesty. Clothes aside, most (but not all) of those protesters were what I would consider to be a classy bunch.
Ugh, false political dichotomies….
Can we please get away from such lousy dichotomous thinking? “Republican” is not the opposite of “Democrat”, neither necessarily tells you everything about a given person’s stance on a given issue, and there are more ways of looking at politics than two (i.e., “conservative” and “liberal”).
Re:Ugh, false political dichotomies….
You have to start somewhere…
Re:tactics
Really? so attacking police officers, hassling delegates, and causing a general disruption is your idea of addressing issues straight on? Was that protestor who interrupted Cheney’s speech showing integrity or attempting to drown out Cheney’s right of free speech?
Asymmetric response
I am just now listening to Zell Miller excerpts on Limbaugh’s show. I agree with some of what he has to say.
Comparatively speaking, there is a huge amount of protestors at the Republican Convention as compared to the Democratic Convention. Protestors at the Democratic Convention were caged up, lest we forget, in a “Free Speech zone” where they could protest.
Is it an exercise of freedom of speech to “shut down” a lawful and peaceable assembly? It kinda produces a mental disconnect for me when I hear it said that protestors are exercising freedom of speech to deny someone else the exercise of the same thing. Am I missing something? Am I a condemned lost soul for being Republican?
Re:Ugh, false political dichotomies….
Always using the two “common” adjectives gets everyone into the mindset that there are only two perspectives to look at politics from, and IMHO that’s quite unhealthy.
Re:Ugh, false political dichotomies….
This is going to sound really dumb but the fact that there are thousands of different types of insects does not negate the fact there are only 9 large planets in our solar systems and vice versa.
You have to deal with each fact in the appropriate context. Applying the myriad of perspectives available to a national election dilutes the scope of what we’re voting for.
Re:Ugh, false political dichotomies….
If I remember correctly, Korpios doesn’t believe in voting. If thats not true, I apologize. If it is, it helps explain some of his thinking.