“Thanks for Nothing”
by Joe McFadden
A giant, lighted sign at Madison Square Garden has been flashing “Thank You, New York” this past week. One pedestrian seemed to have summed up the attitude of many New Yorkers towards the convention. Upon seeing the sign, a gray-haired woman turned and pointed.
“Thanks for nothing,” she said.
An Aug. 26 New York State poll showed John Kerry leading George Bush by 20 percentage points in New York State. By all accounts, the democratic presidential nominee leads by an even larger margin in New York City. With New York firmly on John Kerry’s side, many city dwellers are questioning why the Republicans would hold a convention in a city where the majority of the people do not want them.
“I think it is the ultimate gall for the Republicans to come here and exploit 9-11 and to make this city a target once again,” said Kelly MacNeal, a life-long New Yorker.
MacNeal was one of about 250,000 protesters that marched through Manhattan last Sunday, the day before the Republican convention began. Beginning in Greenwich Village and heading straight to Madison Square Garden, protesters carried flag-draped coffins, paper-mache effigies and signs with slogans opposing a second term for President George Bush.
MacNeal, who said she is self-employed and suffering from hard economic times, carried an umbrella with the slogan “trickle down economics are peeing all over me” written on top. When the march turned East at 34th Street, MacNeal stayed behind to stand across from Madison Square Garden holding her umbrella.
“I’m hoping to see a few delegates,” she said. “They were all hiding during the march.”
Despite the strong turnout, MacNeal was not optimistic about the effects of the march on the Republicans or on the public in general.
“I find it disappointing that prior to the war [in Iraq] all the protests around the world had no effect on George Bush,” MacNeal said. “This is not a man who cares about what people think.”
Sonia Fatimah, another life-long New Yorker who was recently laid off from her job counseling at-risk youth, agreed that the march itself was likely to have little effect on the election.
“I don’t think demonstrations in and of themselves truly do anything,” Fatimah said. “It’s all about how we use them.”
Fatimah said that she hoped Sunday’s march would inspire community activism around the country and bring attention to issues like the minimum wage, national healthcare and mandatory prison sentences.
Despite protesting the Republican convention, Fatimah said she was actually glad it was being held in New York.
“A lot of people say they shouldn’t have come, but I don’t care what they say,” Fatimah said. “This allows a vehicle for dissent; this is a vehicle for visibility.”
Though the vast majority of protests have been peaceful, New York City is taking no chances. Tens of thousands of police officers are working overtime policing streets and keeping an eye on marchers.
“There have been a lot of protesters,” NYPD Officer Rizzou said. “But overall everything has been pretty good.”
Some streets are closed and many others are clogged with the added security measures. The police officers themselves held a protest on Sunday, not against the Republican convention but against having to work long hours without a current contract.
Sunday’s marchers obtained legal permits, but many other gatherings have not. Despite being denied a permit to protest on the Great Lawn in Central Park, tens of thousands of protesters-and hundreds of police officers-gathered anyway. No organized speeches took place, and many protesters seemed to prefer it that way. Impromptu sing-alongs and Bush-bashing sessions lasted long into the evening. Updates on the week’s events were continually shouted from group to group.
“Hey, we’re all heading to the boathouse,” a bearded man in an orange bandanna and waving an American flag called to everyone who would listen. “The Republicans are having an event there.”
While peace and love were freely spread around on the Great Lawn, peace and love were not foremost on most New Yorkers’ minds this week. Any annoyance at George Bush and the Republicans seems dwarfed by the annoyance of New Yorkers inconvenienced by the road blocks, car inspections, and overwhelming police presence. A critical mass bike ride-in which thousands of bikers clogged the streets of Greenwich Village on Friday night- drew spontaneous applause from pedestrians. But the hundreds of police officers sent to keep it orderly were roundly booed for blocking the roadways themselves. Despite the small riots spontaneously erupting near Madison Square Garden on a regular basis, annoyance appears to be the emotion of choice expressed towards the Republicans and their convention.
Joe McFadden (CAS ‘02) attends Columbia University Law School
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Republican Doublespeak
by Marco Ascencao
With the start of classes yesterday, few students have likely had the time or desire to read the Republican platform. Here at the Voice, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to bring you the highlights of the document approved last week for the Republican National Convention.
Be sure to catch the rest of the action online-all 94 pages of it-at www.gopconvention.com/platform.
We’re off to a bad start with the Preamble, where the writers call upon the spirit of Jesus, I mean Lincoln, to describe their vision for the country.
“We strive to fulfill Lincoln’s vision: a country united and free, in which all people are guaranteed equal rights and the opportunity to pursue their dreams.”
Except gays.
“We will continue to work for the return of voluntary school prayer to our schools and will strongly enforce the Republican legislation that guarantees equal access to school facilities by student religious groups. We strongly support voluntary student-initiated prayer in school without governmental interference. We strongly disagree with the Supreme Court’s rulings against student-initiated prayer.”
This statement would have you believe that students are not allowed to pray in schools. The Supreme Court’s rulings in the case of school prayer merely affirmed that even when “voluntary,” organized prayer can be coercive. Not everyone in this country is an evangelical Christian; in fact, everyone believes in God. Maybe the Republicans need to be reminded that anyone has the right to pray -or not pray -on a voluntary basis, thanks to the First Amendment.
“When the President came to office, our economy was faltering, seniors were having trouble paying for their prescription drugs and schools were stuck in a pattern of low expectations and poor results.”
Maybe I just don’t see the world through Republican-colored lenses, but the economy is still faltering, seniors are still having trouble paying for their medication and well, schools have not improved that significantly.
But let’s see how the President solved all these problems.
“President Bush worked with Congress to lower taxes.”
OK, so the surplus we had (approximately $150 billion), and which could have been put to other uses, has now been squandered on tax cuts of over $2 trillion that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest members of our country. According to The New York Times, the nation still has 1.2 million fewer jobs than when the President took office, and the median family income, after adjusting for inflation, was about $1,535 lower in 2003 than in 2000.
“And the President worked with Congress to pass historic education reforms to ensure that every child can read.”
Sure, the No Child Left Behind Act was passed with bipartisan support. But is underfunded, and its results have been less than stellar.
“We encourage debate on the major issues of our day . . . We will consistently act in accord with the greatest values of our country -freedom and opportunity for all.”
OK, what major issues do we have facing our nation: the war in Iraq, poverty, health care and education? No, amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage.
“[Bush’s] forward-looking strategy for freedom and peace is making progress in every part of the world.”
Especially in North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan; these are real success stories. The platform paints an optimistic portrait of what is actually occurring in Iraq. Bush recently acknowledged his “miscalculation” about the post-war scenario for Iraq.
Now to bring it on home:
“Washington, D.C., is a special responsibility of the federal government and should be a model for urban areas throughout the country.”
“We respect the design of the Framers of the Constitution that our nation’s capital has a unique status and should remain independent of any individual state.”
Well, the Framers of the Constitution also decided to leave the institution of slavery intact, and deny women the right to vote. I’m sure the Framers didn’t envision a large city of 600,000 denizens having no Congressional representation. And who said anything about attaching the District to another state? How about D.C. becoming its own state? If the Republicans support Puerto Rican statehood (page 80 of the Platform), why don’t they support D.C. statehood? Maybe they would be singing a different tune if D.C. were majority white or majority Republican, or preferably both.
“This platform makes clear that the American people will have a choice on November 2. A choice between strength and uncertainty.”
In other words, a choice between Bush and that coward, John Kerry.
“A choice between freedom and fear.”
A choice between Bush and the terrorists (and their Democratic allies).
“And a choice between moving forward and turning back.”
Yes, because if there is anything conservatives like to do, as their label implies, it is moving forward.
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Exit to the Frozen Zone
by Danielle DeCerbo
Attempting to have a normal week here in New York is somewhat strange for those of us who live or work near the site of the Republican National Convention. I can understand why people have left midtown. Across my office window there are two sniper tents. Barricades line the streets. Amidst the security tents above and the ground patrols below, there’s only the lingering feeling of disappointment that all that’s being protected is emptiness. Normally, I expect a little more excitement from New York.
The city is having a tax-free week to encourage shopping, but street closures and tighter security have choked off foot traffic upon which such midtown stores depend. Local businesses have been forced either to work on a modified schedule or close altogether.
I was concerned about how I was going to get lunch during the convention days. Arriving to work on Monday I was happy to see that Bagel Maven was going strong. Three computer printed signs that read “BAGEL MAVEN IS OPEN” in block Times New Roman letters hang in the windows of the small bagel shop just one block south of the Republican National Convention. But everyone has left this week, the store is serving mostly security personnel and volunteers this week.
If you don’t happen to be a Bagel Maven customer and you depend on free meals from area homeless service providers, you may not have as much luck getting your lunch. The Church of St. John the Baptist wasn’t able to serve its regular Monday meal on the first day of the convention. Regulars of their soup kitchen don’t tend to carry photo IDs, and they’re not getting within 50 feet of the convention without one. St. John, along with Holy Apostle Soup Kitchen and the HIV/AIDS Service Administration building are all within the “Frozen Zone”-the no-go convention area where I also have the misfortune of working.
As I was leaving the office on Monday afternoon I approached seven GOP volunteers with yellow Travel Dispatcher vests standing on the southwest corner of 30th Street and 7th Avenue. To gauge just how effective at orienteering their vests had made them, I asked them how to get to the No. 2 trains. Two told me they didn’t really know and I’d be better off asking the guys over on the other corner. I walked over to a cop and asked. Clearly confused, he gave me directions to 23rd Street (where there is no No. 2 station). The brass on his collar said that he was from the 40th Precinct. I found out later that the 40th Precinct is in the Bronx. It’s almost as if midtown has left and a whole new set of people have come to fill some of the empty space.
Danielle DeCerbo (CAS ‘03) is a legislative aide for
New York City Councilmember Christine Quinn
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RNC Remixed
by Scott Matthews
The Republican National Convention has been televised all week, culminating in what we can only assume will be George W. Bush’s acceptance of his party’s nomination. What are some of the convention and media delights that viewers have been treated to?
-Plenty of shots of the few black people in the audience who have had their legs broken so they can’t escape
-Delegates who are physically unable to appear the least bit sincere
-More cowboy hats and denim than has ever been in New York at one time
-The Republican Joy Division’s medley rendition of classical show tunes
-J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House and ladies man, stumbling on stage with an armful of empty 40’s, putting face between a presenter’s breasts and going Brrrrrr!
-Ronald Reagan! 9/11! Ronald 11! Lincoln!
-Dick Cheney sporting two new photogenic children by his side, proving that he has a motorized penis in addition to his motorized heart
-Shaky camera (courtesy of Parkinson Sufferers for Republicans outreach group)
-Bush twins rocking out, getting drunk and hooking up with delegates
-After assurances by high-ranking Republicans, 9/11 not being used as a political background for the event. Organizers agreed it makes a better foreground
-Laura Bush arriving late to her own speaking engagement, plowing through the crowd with her car in her haste to get to the podium
-Lindsey Graham promising no class warfare at convention. Class warfare to resume after convention.
-Republican PR people posing as mock reporters inside the convention to give you the story the real reporters aren’t allowed to cover
-Fair and balanced reporting from Fox News. Questions such as “Can you name 3 ways that Kerry is worse than Hitler?”
-Inspirational speech given by blind, paraplegic, kitten schoolteacher
And some conjecture as to what we can possibly expect from Bush’s acceptance today:
-Cape-wearing Bush to descend onto stage against pyrotechnic backdrop. Bites the head off of a poor person
-Bush to accept the party nomination in shouted German
-Bush to dump Cheney as running-mate, nominate Christ
