Pre-Convention Blog



After an inexcusable period of slackerdom, I'm firing up the Rallblog 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.