It's tough to be an RNC protestor:
"Unlike the delegates and journalists coming to New York, protesters are being offered no hotel rooms, no free Broadway shows and no massages. Still, they are receiving an outpouring of hospitality from scores of people who are opening their apartments, churches and improvised spaces as temporary shelter, free of charge."
But wait a second. If the protestors are being treated as second-class citizens by those less-than-compassionate conservatives, what does that say about how the GOP feels about its donors? Things may be sweet for delegates and journalists, but the Times just got through informing its readership that top Republican donors aren't getting freebees just for going to the convention; if they're not giving perks to their donors, why would the Republicans provide amenities for those who wish to protest their convention? The paper implies that the protesters are somehow being slighted by a Republican Party set out to stifle its opponents, when it knows full well that the Party is equally stingy with its friends and foes.
[UPDATE] This is certainly a relief.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Having it both ways [UPDATED]
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2 comments:
If this unwashed gaggle shows up and tries to replay Chicago 1968 in the streets of NYC it will be worth 3 million votes to President Bush. All Joe Averageohioan needs to see on his nightly news is a bunch of shrieking, scraggly bums throwing marbles at the feet of police horses, gate crashing hotels, manhandling convention attendees, and battling the police charged with the president's safety for him to rally behind his Commander in Chief. As a Bush loyalist, I say give these moonbats suites at the Plaza, with minibar privileges, so long as they promise to perform up to expectations.
By the way, anyone who believes the Times would restrain any negative implications about Republicans or the President out of deference towards facts it knows full well has not been reading it very carefully.
Expect any anti-Bush protests that make it to the news to be amplified out of sheer novelty--that is, simply because they've been allowed to take place. Protesters along Bush's campaign trail are routinely weeded out of his audiences before he emerges. No matter how one feels about him, reports of his campaign's iron-handed image-making suggest a chillingly cynical Republican strategy, one apparently based on a fear of disclosure. And that's not disclosure of intelligence--alas, of either sort.
As for equal-opportunity convention perks, the NYT reports the city will be offering just the sorts of Buffalo Chicken-y items any Average Joe (and not just his wayward brother) could enjoy: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/18/nyregion/18buttons.html?hp
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