No! Please! Not more crushing of dissent:
An anti-war group planning a massive demonstration at the start of the Republican National Convention has been denied a permit to use Central Park because the crowd would be too large.Fascists. Republicrats.
In denying the permit, city officials said the Aug. 29 event would exceed the 13-acre lawn's capacity of 80,000 people and "cause enormous damage to the lawn." The group said on its application that it expected 250,000 demonstrators.Fight the power, Leslie! Hey: How did that bogus 80,000 people rule come about, anyway?"Now we just have to do another piece of organizing, to put pressure on the city to change their mind," said group leader Leslie Cagan.
The Department of Parks and Recreation maintains that no gatherings of that magnitude have been held on the Great Lawn since the area was restored in 1996.Here's what I want to know: What's the overlap, the intersection, of the set of people who supported the restoration of the Great Lawn, and the set of people who support United for Peace and Justice? See, because I'm thinking it's probably pretty high. Green minds think alike, I figure.
But let the restoration be overlooked, because this is so important, so important. And when an issue is important enough, well, damn the rules, damn the regulations, damn the guidelines. And damn you should you ever question what's more important here. Peace and justice are more important than park lawns. Obviously. That's why "peace" and "justice" are right there in the name of the organization, lest you forget.
It's not the march I object to. It's not the gathering. It's not UPJ projecting "250,000" in attendance. That's a cherished right in this country, to freely assemble.
It's this attitude that says, "the rules don't apply to me, because my issue is more worthy than your issue," that's revolting. March organizers "just have to put pressure on the city," to get the rules they don't like bent for themselves. Much later, of course, many of them will turn around and clamor for more rules, more restrictions, more restorations--and why shouldn't they? Those rules, after all, won't really apply to them. Should someone ever be foolish enough to try to apply rules to them, well, they'll just see that moron in court.
That attitude is a hallmark of elitism, not justice.
I agree, if the rules say no more than 80,000, then no more than 80,000. If they need more space, they need to find somewhere that has enough space, and I'm sure if they weren't hell bent on Central Park they could.
Given the packed nature of NYC, if Central Park isn't big enough, where is? Unless they want to have a parade, with people continuously moving through, I don't see how they can get 250,000 people all together like that.
Personally, I'll be shocked if they get a quarter million. And the residents of the city who aren't into this sort of thing are going to haaaaate it.
How many people showed up for the protest conventions four years ago? I imagine at least that many are going to show up in NYC. Heck, even Young Democrats are rallying the troops to make an appearance. Personally, I don't completely understand reactionary politics. I also don't understand the point of gathering in Central Park. Wouldn't it make more sense to gather indoors and perhaps oh, I don't know, organize for action? Or gosh, maybe even register people to vote?
Enjoy it while you can. Once the Islamists take over they will respond to crowds like that with machineguns. In Iran in Janurary they flew over the protest marchers and shot down into the crowds with AK-47's. When they take over here they will have more up to date tools, such as AC-130 gunships. 250,000 one minute, a bunch of body parts the next. YeeHA! 3 7.62 mm Chain guns firing 12 times per second can real grind it out. Add the 20mm cain gun at 10 rounds per second and the 40 mm gun at 4 rounds per second and you have some serious crowd control there. And for those clusters, there is a 105mm cannon. It works really well on the ones that try to hide in a building. Whomp, no more building. Don't think it can happen? Read "This way to the gas". There are no limits to how murderous men can get when they are doing 'gods work'.
That is why we have to fight and win in Iraq. If we don't fight or we lose in Iraq, they will be here within 20 years. So the protest marchers are also doing god's work. They share responsibility for all the murders that will be committed by the faithful. Of course if Kerry is elected New York will get nuked before 2005 is over. AQ claimed in the Austrailian version of the BBC (ABC?) to have purchased 4 nukes. The Soviets lost 14 nuclear warheads back in the early 90's. Maybe someone found them again. They were torpedo warheads and would be pressure fused. Ideal for a harbor.
Actually, permits for more than 80,000 people are almost always granted to major media corporations such as AOL or ClearChannel when they want to have Garth Brooks concert in the park, so UPJ isn't completely outta line in appealing this decison...
And speaking as a New Yorker, let me tell ya that we hate ANYTHING---parades, presidential motorcades, political demonstrations, whatever---that interferes with our commute. The GOP convention is going to cause a much bigger disruption, and cause more New Yorkers to yell "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!" than UPJ could ever hope to do.