sooo the bottom line was that it seems like, as usual, Massachusetts has acted in an overly-cautious manner by issuing statement after statement that the city was going to be swamped and pounded by people. it was completely dead downtown--businesses expecting a DNC boost are reporting huge losses--and there weren't even that many protestors. (of course, the REASON things are running so smoothly may exactly be that they anticipated problems and warned people away. so, uh, good job i guess).
we got off at Government Center, two stops away from the DNC/North Station, and there were like a dozen guys in black searching this drunk homeless dude. promising. but no assault weapons in sight. they had a bomb-sniffing dog and were playing FETCH with it the whole time I was waiting for my friends to arrive and meet me.
down at the Fleet Center, the entire multi-block area had been reshaped by concrete and metal barricades that were directing traffic rather well.
The funny thing is that most of the "protestors" seemed to be anti-Bush more than anti-Democrats. I wouldn't be surprised if the DNC paid a bunch of people to go outside and "protest Bush".
This guy was an exception. He is wearing American-flag pants and he loooves Rush Limbaugh.
This guy is probably a very lonely man:
A Bush supporter, as well. People were making a wide detour around him as they walked, as if he had the plague or something. I strongly support his right to hold up a gruesome picture, but I wish he and his ilk didn't criticize me when I wear gruesome metal T-shirts featuring impaled, skinned corpses and stuff.
This dude was just walking around, not protesting or anything:
INSIDE THE FREE SPEECH ZONE. It was not as bad as I feared; yeah, it was cage-like and a bit isolated, but it wasn't as distant as the free speech zone in Philly in 2000, or as the one at the Governors' Meeting in State College, PA in 2000. It was kind of lame how you couldn't see into it from outside...like, really lame.
There were signs hung all over it on the inside. Some were really weird; some were irrelevant; the best ones decried the free speech zone itself.
Basically, the place was 90% empty.
The much-criticized "It's only 5 feet tall at the back!!!" thing didn't seem to be at all close to reality.
MINXNIM WAS HERE:
Another group of pro-Bushies here. The last sign, which is hard to see, is a Kerry caricature wearing one of those flat, pointy straw Asian peasant hats, and the vets were chanting HO CHI KERRY! HO CHI KERRY! HO CHI KERRY!
we were gone before Edwards started speaking, so who knows, maybe it got crazy. doubtful.
we got off at Government Center, two stops away from the DNC/North Station, and there were like a dozen guys in black searching this drunk homeless dude. promising. but no assault weapons in sight. they had a bomb-sniffing dog and were playing FETCH with it the whole time I was waiting for my friends to arrive and meet me.
down at the Fleet Center, the entire multi-block area had been reshaped by concrete and metal barricades that were directing traffic rather well.
The funny thing is that most of the "protestors" seemed to be anti-Bush more than anti-Democrats. I wouldn't be surprised if the DNC paid a bunch of people to go outside and "protest Bush".
This guy was an exception. He is wearing American-flag pants and he loooves Rush Limbaugh.
This guy is probably a very lonely man:
A Bush supporter, as well. People were making a wide detour around him as they walked, as if he had the plague or something. I strongly support his right to hold up a gruesome picture, but I wish he and his ilk didn't criticize me when I wear gruesome metal T-shirts featuring impaled, skinned corpses and stuff.
This dude was just walking around, not protesting or anything:
INSIDE THE FREE SPEECH ZONE. It was not as bad as I feared; yeah, it was cage-like and a bit isolated, but it wasn't as distant as the free speech zone in Philly in 2000, or as the one at the Governors' Meeting in State College, PA in 2000. It was kind of lame how you couldn't see into it from outside...like, really lame.
There were signs hung all over it on the inside. Some were really weird; some were irrelevant; the best ones decried the free speech zone itself.
Basically, the place was 90% empty.
The much-criticized "It's only 5 feet tall at the back!!!" thing didn't seem to be at all close to reality.
MINXNIM WAS HERE:
Another group of pro-Bushies here. The last sign, which is hard to see, is a Kerry caricature wearing one of those flat, pointy straw Asian peasant hats, and the vets were chanting HO CHI KERRY! HO CHI KERRY! HO CHI KERRY!
we were gone before Edwards started speaking, so who knows, maybe it got crazy. doubtful.
