"Please Come to Boston...

[-..__...]

for the springtime
I'm staying here with some friends and they've got lots of room
You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk
By a cafe were I hope to be working soon".


Looks more like the West Bank rather than the "Cradle of Liberty".

[kiahzero]

1. What security provisions, specifically, do you want to eliminate?

Oh, that's right, I'd forgotten - no substantive discussion of the issue allowed. Just appeals to emotion.

[Warpy]

5. Secure the convention site, of course.

Bag the gulag, it's a bad idea for any number of reasons.

Issue last minute permits for protests on Boston Common.

Have cops down the side streets at the ready in case some brownshirts start to smash store windows on Tremont Street and beyond.

That oughta do it.

[kiahzero]

7. My knowledge of Boston is somewhat limited

Is Boston Common closer to the Fleet Center than the zone we're talking about?

On edit: According to this, people are protesting in Boston Comons.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040725/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_protest

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. It's about a half a mile to a mile from the Fleet Center

a bit of a walk

[2Design]

2. and what will nyc look like....nyc is more dangerous city than boston

Will they put fences at the top of manhattan.....

this stuff is so crazy.....the appearance of security and real security are miles apart....

[Renew Deal]

17. NYC is not more dangerous than Boston.

NY is a much larger city so the crime is spread out. And there is almost no crime in front of MSG. Also NYC is the safest big city in the country. NYC will have different kinds of problems. There will be tens of thousands of protesters and possibly over a million. The streets of NYC are tight so there is no where to run, hide or set up a protest. They would have to shut down the core of NYC to do the stuff they are doing in Boston. But I wonder what they are willing to do in NY if they are doing this in Boston.

[malachibk]

3. Unfortunate, yes, but what would people prefer?

No security? Mayhem? The POTENTIAL for mayhem?

While we all agree (I think) that it would make more sense to put all this $ and time behind efforts to fix our foreign policy and lessen the hatred a little bit, fact is -- that ain't happening.

And so we have to turn Boston (the city where I was born and raised) into a prison because people want to do some SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP things to Americans.

So for the people (not necessarily you, DS) who are unhappy with the city closings, the traffic, the T searches, the machine guns and are afraid this indicates the first step to a police-state and the removal of all civil liberties here are 2 questions for you:

(1) Do you live in a big city? If not, this doesn't really concern you and I don't think you can understand. Well, of course the ISSUE is of concern but if it's not immediate, it's not the same. I watched Tower 2 fall from my office window and "random" backpack searches for 3 days is, sad as it is, OK by me.

(2) What other alternative do we have? These conventions are "logical" places for "illogical" terror to happen. If we don't TRY to stop it, I mean, how dumb is that?

(Unless you think that al Queda gets off on thwarting our best efforts to thwart their best efforts so we should pretend we're not concerned because when you learn to stop laughing at it the tickling isn't fun for the tickler anymore, which is an argument with some merit, but I'd still rather have bomb sniffing dogs in Grand Central when the Repugs descend on my city this August.)

[-..__...]

14. Actually...

My post is meant partly in jest (my dark sense of humor showing), and partly because I'm troubled by the extraordinary measures being employed all for a false sense of security.

What I find even more troubling is the willingness of a majority of people who have no problem and fully support this sort of show of force and intimidation.

Don't get me wrong; I understand the need for maintaining order and providing an adequate level of security, but I think putting a police and military force armed with fully automatic weapons into a potentially hostile crowd situation makes me feel less safe.

Oh yeah, FTR I do live in the Boston area.

[Bluebear]

4. Well I think your photo collage is an appropriate elegy

The poster just illustrates what has become of our country with no further comment. I don't see that s/he said that the security shouldn't be in place, only that it is sad to see.

[CaTeacher]

6. It is very sad to see what we have become.

And yes--the comparisons to Nazi Germany are dead on.

[Eurobabe]

18. yeah, it's depressing

at almost 44 I cannot believe what is happening in this country.

Bill Moyer's NOW had a great program this evening, he made the comment during an interview with Kevin Phillips (American Dynasty) that it took him over 50 yrs. to become cynical about American politics -- said it seems it is taking alot less time these days, now taking only about 30 yrs.

[thebigidea]

8. the RNC Con will make that look like rent-a-cops at the mall

[wellstone_democrat]

9. Looks like September 11, 2001

I saw uniforms and guns like that as I made my way across the empty city at 5 pm --- my job didn't end with the general shut down and so I made my way from Northeastern U to South Station through nearly empty streets patroled by military and police at various intersections and South Station had quite a few national guard with M-16s and dogs. Very spooky

But, where liberty was born is apparently where we may watch it begin to die. If the Democrats can't turn this tide. Well, I fear for my country if Bush* is not removed from office in November.

[Kanary]

11. Fear has won.

[Bluebear]

12. Indeed. No matter how many times the cliche "The terrorists win..."

if we change our way of life", Bush/Ridge et al trotted out that Code Orange one too many times. And they knew exactly what they were doing.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

13. There has already been 'harassment' of freepers by peace protesters

according to my local news :eyes:

"Meanwhile, at Faneuil Hall, the historic meeting house where patriots gathered before the American Revolution, an estimated 1,000 anti-abortion protesters staged a rally before a smaller group set off on their own march toward the FleetCenter.

The anti-war and anti-abortion groups crossed paths a few blocks from the FleetCenter. Members of each group exchanged angry words. A handful of anti-abortion marchers laid down in the fetal position in the street as their fellow protesters drew chalk outlines around them. They soon moved after being asked by police, and the marches continued their separate ways following a few moments of confusion."

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/207/politics/Protesters_march_on_FleetCente:.shtml

[Bluebear]

15. A "God hates fags" protestor was removed from the anti-war rally

He can't understand why he wasn't welcome. :shrug:

[BeFree]

19. Let's not forget...

An accused anti-abortion bomber - Rudolph - also stands accused of setting off a bomb at the Atlanta Olympic Games. These people are dangerous. The police need to take special care to keep safe the legally correct protestors and keep the bomb weilding anti-abortionists away.

[DoNotRefill]

16. Shut up and obey.

Dissent is unpatriotic, even to the Democrats, and even for progressives.