Protest passes by with signs and chants
September 1st, 2008 – 3:09 PM by James LileksThe protest is winding around the Xcel at the moment; there are reports of pepper spray, but nothing untoward is happening on the east side. They are moving at the usual pace of a protest march - is that the natural gait and speed of crowds of people not fleeing anything bad or running towards good? - and the signs are held high. Alas for them, it is impossible to hear what they are saying or read the signs, since they’re A) separated by the same high metal walls used in Denver, B) too far away from the main plaza, and C) competing with the rock tunes played outside the Xcel. (Chuck Berry, Shania Twain, more Van Halen. When did the GOP decide to use the controversial medium of Sammy Hagar as a mood-elevating substance?) The only people watching are the cops, the media, and delegates who’ve come out for a smoke.
The effect on the convention is absolutely nil, as you’d might expect; the protester’s efforts didn’t affect the mood of the Democrats at the Pepsidrome, either.
Blogger Gateway Pundit says sandbags were dropped from an overpass on a bus; we’re trying to get some police input, see if there was an official report filed. Developing!
13 Responses to "Protest passes by with signs and chants"
Van Hagar? I guess Diamond Dave’s just too much for the RNC, but at least they’re not using Van Sherone… yick.
Any word on the sandbag strike?
Given that your sheiriffs, cops & the FBI are busy with “pre-emptive” busts (read trashing of constitutional rights), I’m surprised so many folks actually got to protest in the streets!
I Was There!
(And I didn’t unnerstan a woid of it!)
Being adventurous, my wife and I blithely took the bus from downtown Mpls to the State Capitol. We strolled through the folk making merry on the Capitol grounds down to the mean streets near the Excel Center. I, wearing my Bush/Cheney ‘04 cap with McCain buttons and American flag pins, happily photographed the more outrageous signs and posters and they just as happily posed for me. A few of them took my picture.
On the streets of St Paul, the assembled police in full black bulletproof “Desert Storm” regalia along with their gas masks on, were awesome to behold.
Made me feel pretty safe.
On the way back, we walked on the sidewalk, directly against the tide of the 10,000 or so people protesting. We were snapping pictures, pointing out the sights to each other and having a grand old time. No one menaced me or even gave me a dirty look. A few more people took my picture.
This is, indeed, Minnesota.
Nice!
Gateway Pundit is not a reliable source. Any blog that’s extremist enough to have posts that accuse either political party of being “jew-haters” should NOT be linked by the Star Tribune. I would expect better from Mr. Lileks.
Can you demonstrate an example of Gateway Pundit accusing “either political party” of being “jew-haters”? I did a quick search and found they use the term fairly frequently, but applied to extreme political factions or individuals.
To say Obama has associated with jew-haters (for instance) is simply true. He has. It doesn’t mean he endorses their views, and it doesn’t say anything about the party as a whole.
The tone at GP may be harsh - but that’s true of most of the blog world. Check out some of the shrill rhetoric from both sides at memeorandum.com
As for convention violence, this report from Pioneer Press shows how pervasive it is, although confined to a small, violnet minority of the protestors:
The difference at the DNC in Denver is that the protesters weren’t protesting the Democrats’ presense. They just wanted attention. The protesters at the RNC are actually protesting the convention itself.
Yo, Lileks: Get off your a** and write something! Do you think you’re on vacation? You get to sleep in your own bed. It’s not like you’ve been put out.
Why don’t you start with how relieved everyone is that the Decider won’t be appearing at the convention. And don’t wait to get your opinion from Rush, do it NOW. Spin it, blog boy, spin it!
Hey Thomas, you’ve got some spittle dripping down your chin.
Better wipe up.
Looks like you’ve got something on your chin too. Funny, but I doubt it’s spittle considering you’re wearing knee pads.
O wow thomas l. the construction of your arguments are so compelling. Have you ever thought of running for public office?
neoalec makes a good point about how some people think that their freedom of speech is best used to silence other people’s freedom of speech.
If there is one thing I can’t stand is intolerance.
Intolerant, AND illiterate. Nice. Look up intolerance in the dictionary, then read what you said again.
As always, don’t forget to ask mom and dad if you can play with the computer!
Thomas is what people learned in the ways of the Internet would call a troll; and not a very good troll at that.
Thomas, go register at Fark.com and study up on how REAL trolls comment. Right now, you’re about a 2 out of 10. A couple months of Fark and you should be up to a 5 or so.
Try looking up “irony” thomas.
Also look up “wit” and see whose picture does not appear next to the definition.
By the the way, my parents are dead 