GOP Lockdown Looms

[Runcible Spoon]

"New York may stop in its tracks the night President Bush accepts his party's nomination in Madison Square Garden...

While Bush is in the convention center Sept. 2, the Secret Service wants all Amtrak, NJTransit and Long Island Rail Road Service to cease, the Daily News has learned...

At City Hall, an aide said of the rail stoppage plan, "We are adamantly opposed to this."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/179359p-155895c.html

WTF? Lemme guess, this is to "ensure safety" of * and NOT to quell possible protests? Well, if I have to walk 50 miles, I'll still be there, ESPECIALLY if he decides to whore his screed at the Towers. Listen Bush, if you don't feel safe in my goddam state, then feel more than free to stay the fuck out of it! Remember when conservatives were railing against the anti-war protests in NYC bc they said increased police presence and subway overload would cost the city so much? Well, I can only imagine what several days of no subway will do to productivity. Where's the outrage 'Pubs?

[David__77]

1. Won't quell protest...

it might though contribute to it.

[MidwestTransplant]

2. Yeah no kidding.

Hope there are enought extra signs for commuters to carry too.

[Runcible Spoon]

3. certainly is gettting ME fired up!

the NYC anti-war protests were largely a success. What a feeling of community and a shared goal.

[smirkymonkey]

21. Check out

www.counterconvention.org if you want to take action! You can help organize or just subscribe to their e-mail postings for info on anti-RNC activities going on in NYC and elsewhere.

[Runcible Spoon]

27. thanks for the link

!

[Barrett808]

4. We're staying at a hotel a few blocks from Madison Square Garden

Shutting down the trains won't keep us from protesting.

[Runcible Spoon]

5. I'll see you there!

party at your pad?

[skooooo]

15. I'll be there too! Is DU organizing any get-togethers??

or activities?

[Runcible Spoon]

28. dunno, prolly more info will come out

a bit sooner to the date..I'll keep an eye out

[0007]

32. Where you staying at in NYC

[skooooo]

37. In the....

da Vinci hotel.

[KittyWampus]

6. Manhattan Was Such A BAD Choice For So Many Reasons

Top of the list is that it can't hold all the protestors that will be showing up.

[ithacan]

10. Republicans should be BARRED from having convention in NYC

talk about chutzpah!

They really should be holding this in Houston!

[alfredo]

14. Better yet, in the Republican stronghold, The Cayman Islands or

Riyadh.

[webtrainer]

35. There's that island off of Cancun where . . .

Bush met with Fox Feb. 16, 2001. Here's a snip:
------------------------------------------------
There's an intriguing story left virtually unreported by the mainstream U.S. media regarding a friendship between alleged Cancun drug-trafficker and banker Roberto Hernandez Ramirez and Mexican President Vicente Fox.

This is especially strange when you throw in President Bush's Feb. 16 meeting in Mexico with the nation's new leader.
------------------------------------------------

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21729

Remember when we just had to wonder why * was meeting Fox at an 'alleged' narco-traficante's ranch?

[Kikosexy2]

7. Come on NYC...

show them Repubes that stoppage of public transportation can't stop the citizens of Gotham from protesting. You've walked miles during a blackout--surely you can walk miles for a protest, especially against the Chimp and his GOP-rilla thugs! Protest come Sept.!!

[CaptainClark23]

8. Oh, we will.

Count on it.

[joeunderdog]

40. They're closing down I-93 in Boston for the Dem Convention.

Basically they are shutting down the New Central Artery. This is big around Beantown. Since the Repubs don't take the bus or the rail, it should pretty much keep all the Beamers out.

[skooooo]

9. Republicans -- winning the hearts and minds....

..of New Yorkers since 9/12/01.

[Runcible Spoon]

the only thing they've won from THIS new yorker is..

a big FUCK YOU

[skooooo]

20. Yes, of course...I was being ironic...

[Runcible Spoon]

29. yes yes i know!

:evilgrin:

[Runcible Spoon]

13. the only thing they've won from THIS new yorker is..

a big FUCK YOU

[MisterP]

11. didn't his Chimperial Majesty demand that the U

be shut when he pranced about in London with his poodle and the annoyed Queen?

[callous taoboy]

12. And for god's sake

NOBODY in N.Y. had better flush during this time frame.

[Tracer]

16. DNC Lockdown Looms, too.

The Secret Service has insisted on shutting Boston down during the Democratic Convention.

They want North Station shut down (it's right next to the Fleet Center); they want I-95 shut down (the main North/South artery through Boston Ñ the "Big Dig"; and they want the new Zakim bridge closed.

Have you any clue what that means to travel in and around Boston?

[sidpleasant]

30. a minor clarification

>>they want I-95 shut down<<

It's I-93 that the Secret Service wants shut down, not I-95. Otherwise your description of the effects of the proposed shutdowns is accurate. For those who are unfamiliar with Boston, I-93 is the north / south highway through downtown Boston and handles something like 200,000 cars a day now. North Station is the rail station for commuters from the northern and western suburbs; 24,000 commuters pass thru it daily. These closures will be a public relations disaster for the party and a plain old disaster for the residents of Boston.

I've always thought that the choice of Boston for the convention was monumentally stupid. "Massachussetts liberal" is, sadly, an epithet in most of the US and a convention in Boston will only reinforce the party's image as elitist Northeasterners. A far better choice would have been to get up in the Bush family's face, take the convention and the fight to their ground, by choosing either Miami or Houston.

[Aristus]

17. The pukes are doing this 'cause they know they've

already lost NY. Grandstanding on the grave of 9/11 victims should go over well with the B*sh base, though.

[DinahMoeHum]

18. Brilliant idea, boys. . . piss off over a million or so commuters

who must use mass transit to get to and from their workplaces.

Wonder how that'll play in our suburban bedroom communities.

Officious motherf**kers.


:grr:

[FlaGranny]

19. I wonder how that would work if

there were a terrorist attack - having all transportation shut down like that. It might prevent people from evacuating dangerous areas. Wouldn't it just be simpler to have a helicopter standing by, ready to save our glorious leader?

They really should hold these things in the middle of nowhere - perhaps at some resort in the mountains so the rest of America can go on with their business.

[CaptainClark23]

24. no difference

In the event of another attack, bridges and tunnels would be locked down in a heartbeat. nothing would move off of Manhattan Island, except by boat and foot.

[FlaGranny]

39. Yes, but also, nobody would be able to

quickly leave the scene of a dirty bomb or a sarin gas attack and go 10 or 15 blocks away, either. It's not necessary to leave the city to get away from danger.

[Just Me]

22. Oh, bullsh*t!!!

,...overreactive assholes,...

[JDPriestly]

23. Convention Security

It isn't just the Republicans who are paranoid.

I worked in downtown Los Angeles during the Democratic convention in 2000. Police were everywhere. Outdoor areas of restaurants were closed. I traveled in Eastern Europe before 1989 and never saw such an oppressive show of police force. It was intimidating and intended to make ordinary people who don't want to go to jail think twice about exercising their fundamental rights of free speech and assembly. There was no balance between needing to protect the big shots and giving ordinary people a chance to participate.

Does anyone know how security is going to be handled for the Democratic convention?

[Bridget Burke]

33. Oh, no! Outdoor areas of restaurants were closed! The Humanity!

What other specific closings did you note, set up by the evil Democrats?

Comparable to shutting off major commuting lines, for example?

[ikojo]

38. Debate security was harsh as well

I live in the neighborhood around Washington Univ in St Louis where one of the presidential debates took place in 2000. To get into my neighborhood I had to show ID proving I lived there. It sure was fun helping folks ferry things to use in the protests...I was seen in three different cars in a span of 30 minutes or so.

Since I had the ID proving I lived in the area they could park their cars closer to the protest and debate site.

Other than the HEAVY police presence it was a fun atmosphere.

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. Remember when getting a blow job

was considered an impeachable offense and an abuse of power?

So don't you think, shutting down a whole friggin city for the safety of ourlordbush, isn't an abuse of power?

[rocktivity]

26. There was an episode of Hill Street Blues

Where the president was going to visit, and the real gung-ho character (James Sikking?) came up with a brilliant security plan--evacuate the entire neighborhood! Can't make him any safer than that, though it might effect the crowd turnout...

:headbang:
rocknation

[BadGimp]

31. I am SO going to be in New York for that Convention!

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[leftynyc]

34. I haven't read all the posts so I don't know if this has been

covered but it sounds like they want to shut down everything that goes in and out of Penn station (underneath the Garden where he will be accepting nomination). This shouldn't stop the protests.

[enki23]

36. on first review, you might think "they'll piss off new yorkers"

but the republicans aren't planning to get new york anyway. they're not posing in new york to get new yorkers to vote for them. they're using new york for a backdrop. after the show, they could give a fuck less what's done with it.