Escorted by city and
state police officers, antiwar demonstrators marched through Boston
Common on
Sunday afternoon. Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Sunday afternoon. Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Boston battens down for Democrats
Warplanes are watching the skies and coastguards are patrolling the harbour as tens of thousands arrive in Boston for the Democratic Party convention.
Protests will begin on Sunday, ahead of the four-day meeting to anoint John Kerry as presidential candidate.
Final preparations are also being made inside the hall with 100,000 red, white and blue balloons ready to drop on cue.
The convention is the first since the 11 September 2001 attacks and security is immense, amid new threats.
Disruption fears
Correspondents say the measures surrounding the gathering of 5,000 delegates, 15,000 guests and 15,000 journalists are unprecedented.
Large crowds of protesters are also expected in the Massachusetts state capital to express anger at various policies of the US government and Democratic Party, such as some members' support for the Iraq war and abortion rights.
Demonstrations will start on Sunday, with a planned rally and march.
In addition to the extra air, land and sea patrols, about 40 miles (65km) of roads are being closed for the duration of the convention and some subway stops are also being shut down.
Officials are concerned that al-Qaeda may be planning another massive attack inside the US to disrupt the elections.
Separately, the FBI is warning that a radical domestic group may try to disrupt the convention, possibly by attacking media vehicles with bombs.
Delegates are all to be brought to the venue by bus and will have to pass through security fences.
Protests are also expected at the convention site, but police plan to keep demonstrators in a penned-off area dubbed the "Free Speech Zone".
Campaign continues
Mr Kerry is expected to arrive in his hometown of Boston on Wednesday, before accepting his party's nomination to run for the White House at the climax of the convention on Thursday.
Before then, he and his pick for vice-president, John Edwards, are continuing to campaign elsewhere in the country.
Mr Kerry told a crowd in Sioux City, Iowa: "John Edwards and I are determined that we are going to be champions for the middle class, the folks who built this country.
"We go to Boston, to the birthplace of the revolution of America and the possibilities of the future. And from there we go to the White House."
The Democrat team will challenge incumbents George W Bush and Dick Cheney in the 2 November poll.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3924387.stm
Published: 2004/07/25 13:14:52 GMT
© BBC MMIV
Conventions to be under `multiple layers of security'
BY MICHELLE MITTELSTADT AND PETE SLOVER
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS - (KRT) - Unprecedented security precautions - some visible, but many not - will be unfurled in Boston and New York for the national political conventions, which U.S. officials fear could present enticing terrorism targets.
Bomb-sniffing dogs, pager-size radiation detectors, high-tech cameras, increased marine patrols, and battalions of uniformed and plainclothes officers will be deployed as the Democrats gather Monday through July 29 for their Boston conclave, followed by the Republicans Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in New York.
Government officials say they know of no specific threats to the conventions. But, they caution, a stream of credible intelligence indicates that al-Qaida intends to strike the United States prior to the general election, emboldened by its perceived success in toppling Spain's government with the Madrid train bombings.
For more than a year, federal, state and local officials in both convention cities have mapped out intricate security plans, testing their preparedness with drills and disaster "tabletop" scenarios.
"Our goal is to deter any potential attack with multiple layers of security," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said last week as he toured the 24-hour security command center in Boston.
Congress intends to give each city $50 million to help defray security costs, pegged at $50 million in Boston and $76 million in New York.
Manhole covers will be sealed and trash bins removed near the convention sites: Boston's FleetCenter and New York's Madison Square Garden. Sharpshooters will be stationed on rooftops, barricades deployed, and the ventilation systems of delegates' hotels monitored.
Federal authorities also have dispatched to both cities "chempacks" containing thousands of doses of antidotes that could be used in the event of chemical or biological attack.
With intelligence officials warning that al-Qaida may be particularly interested in attacking transit, bridges, tunnels or landmarks, law enforcement has beefed up security there.
But that presents a major wrinkle for security planners: Both convention halls sit atop train terminals - North Station in Boston, Penn Station in New York.
To the consternation of Beantown commuters, officials decided to close North Station, as well as 40 miles of roads. In New York, Penn Station will stay open, but police will board trains before they arrive, sweeping them with bomb-sniffing dogs and devices to detect radiation and chemicals. Police also will close swaths of Midtown to traffic and pedestrians.
Other security precautions in Boston include: discontinuation of deliveries of liquefied natural gas to a terminal that abuts Boston Harbor, with intense Coast Guard waterway patrols; stepped-up police surveillance of downtown using remote-control video cameras; and a ban on all but regularly scheduled commercial flights at Logan International Airport.
---
New York, hit by terrorists in 1993 and 2001, has had an elaborate security operation since Sept. 11, 2001.
Police have been reluctant to discuss their convention plans, but as many as 10,000 of the NYPD's 39,000 officers will be involved. So will the department's machine gun-toting and body armor-clad "Hercules" teams.
"We do not think another attack is inevitable. But we do think that they will try," said New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. "Our job is to stop them."
Beyond terrorism, police officials in New York - where protests are expected to be far larger and more antagonistic than in Boston - are looking to avoid a repeat of the rioting and clashes with police that occurred during the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and to a lesser degree last year at a free trade summit in Miami.
Anti-war and anti-Bush groups say hundreds of thousands of protestors will swarm to New York to demonstrate at the convention. The groups range from United for Peace and Justice, organizers of a march expected to draw 250,000, to small rump groups such as Billionaires for Bush and the Mad Anarchist Bakers League.
United for Peace and Justice, which has been skirmishing with New York officials over their refusal to permit a rally in Central Park, contends the city's Republican mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is using fear of terrorism to squelch legitimate public protest.
"The assembly of people, that's a classic form of political action," said United for Peace and Justice organizer William Dobbs. "What the mayor and the president have done is to conjure up fear and use it to get people to trade away freedom. And that is dangerous."
Bloomberg denies the charge.
The tension between free speech and security have crystallized in Boston too: civil libertarians have negotiated for a year over the visibility and location of the city's designated "free speech zone" for protests, and objected to plans to randomly search bags of mass transit passengers.
On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts sued the city over its refusal to let groups parade by the FleetCenter during the convention.
Boston officials have issued nearly 70 permits for protests by a variety of groups: anti-Democrats, environmentalists, anti-abortion activists, socialists, Buddhists and anti-vivisectionists. Also, the city's police union has threatened to set up picket lines if a contract dispute is not resolved.
---
Authorities are better prepared than ever to thwart an attack, some experts say.
"Most of the really cool things are things that people aren't going to see," said Heritage Foundation homeland security expert James Carafano, citing improved capabilities to detect biological, chemical and radiological dangers.
With the conventions' huge security build-up, Carafano and others suggest terrorists may turn to less-defended targets - though he doesn't discount the possibility of a "lone wolf" attack such as occurred during the Atlanta Olympics.
"It is very important for everyone to be very watchful for the conventions and other important events, but I think we are much more vulnerable to something happening at an unexpected place and an unexpected time," said Michael Greenberger, a homeland security expert at the University of Maryland.
---
© 2004, The Dallas Morning News.
Boycott is planned in free-speech zone
By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff | July 25, 2004
Worried about their safety and angry at the symbolism of being completely fenced in, several of the largest protest groups at this week's convention have rejected the city's designated ''free-speech zone" near the FleetCenter, shifting their rally plans to the surrounding neighborhood instead.
Leaders of Representative Dennis J. Kucinich's campaign, the American Friends Service Committee, United for Peace and Justice, and other groups said yesterday they were going to boycott the zone and move an antiwar rally planned for the culmination of the convention Thursday.
''I don't feel comfortable leading supporters who I'm guiding into a space where they potentially may be hurt," said Danielle Feris, on the staff of the Kucinich campaign, which brought several hundred people to Boston for protests and other events during the Democratic National Convention. ''With so many people in a small space, with the entrances and exits so small -- it's just asking for it."
Instead, Feris and other organizers say they will probably hold their protest in the streets around the FleetCenter, an area known as the ''soft zone," which is open to pedestrians but not within sight of delegates to the convention. When they rally Thursday against the war in Iraq, they plan to add another cause to their agenda: the free-speech zone itself.
The zone, a 25,800-square-foot asphalt lot next to the parking area for delegates' buses, is the only area where protesters are allowed within sight of delegates themselves.
It has become a flash point for protesters because security concerns have led officials to fully enclose it with chain-link fencing, razor wires, netting ,and cement barriers. It is also capped by elevated Green Line tracks that slope down to 5 feet 9 inches above the ground at one point.
The Bl(a)ck Tea Society, an antiauthoritarian group helping to coordinate protesters, began calling for all protesters to boycott the free-speech zone almost two weeks ago. And a group of activists, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, is still fighting in court to have the zone moved or changed.
It appears that the only left-leaning event still being planned for the free-speech zone is a rally supporting Palestinians and opposing Israeli occupation, and that is only because organizers think the area offers symbolic value for their particular message.
''We want to draw attention to what Palestinians have been subjected to for years," said Marilyn Levin, of United for Justice with Peace, who referred to the zone as a cage. ''We can leave our cage, but Palestinians cannot leave theirs."
US District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock said Thursday it was ''an understatement" to liken the zone to an internment camp, but he agreed with city officials who said the security measures are necessary, given post-9/11 terrorism threats and a pattern of unruly antiglobalization demonstrations in recent years.
A three-judge panel agreed to hear the protesters' appeal of Woodlock's decisions, and asked the parties to submit their case in writing by tomorrow morning. It is not clear if the panel will hold a hearing, or when the judges will decide the case.
A range of liberal and radical organizations held a news conference at the entrance to the zone yesterday to protest it. Three women representing CODEPINK, a feminist antiwar group, were dressed as Statues of Liberty -- only in pink -- with pink cardboard crowns and flames made of tissue paper and aluminum foil.
A few other groups that have obtained permits to use the free-speech zone could not be reached yesterday. They include the Westboro Baptist Church, which campaigns against homosexuality, and Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry. Groups need permits for the zone only if they want access to the stage and the sound system.
''Nobody is being required to use the demonstration zone," said Mary Jo Harris, legal counsel for the Boston Police Department, who oversaw the design of the area. ''The demonstration zone is provided merely for those people who wish to be able to express themselves directly to the delegates."
Harris said the area won't be dangerous if the protesters themselves don't engage in violence and said Boston police are sending community service officers trained at resolving gang conflicts and other sticky situations.
Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com.
© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/07/25/fencing_freedom_in?mode=PF
Protesters to appeal 'free speech zone' at convention
By Tim Jones , Knight Ridder Newspapers 07/25/2004
BOSTON -- Groups angered by what they call the ''internment camp'' conditions of the designated site for protests at the Democratic National Convention will make another effort tomorrow to persuade a court to move their cramped ''free speech zone'' to another location.
Lawyers for the Massachusetts ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild said they would file papers in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston and say they expect a prompt ruling from the three-judge panel.
As Democrats prepare to confirm the nomination of Sen. John Kerry, the party has come under harsh criticism for the location of the so-called protest zone near the FleetCenter convention site -- 28,000 square feet beneath elevated train tracks and ringed by concrete barriers, metal fencing and heavy black netting, and topped by razor wire. A large vertical banner hanging from a nearby building to the east reads ''A Stronger America.''
A federal judge late last week called the location ''an affront to the idea of free expression,'' but he denied a motion to expand or relocate the site, saying security concerns and limited space prevented that.
Protesters stood in the pouring rain yesterday to object to the conditions. Three women wore Statue of Liberty gowns with pink crowns and had taped their mouths shut with pink duct tape.
Medea Benjamin, whose group Code Pink is protesting the war in Iraq, said, ''We are not criminals, we are not wild animals (and) we don't deserve to be put in a cage. ... It's a tragic irony that here in Boston, the birthplace of American democracy, our First Amendment rights have been trampled upon,'' Benjamin said.
Convention organizers said the security around the zone is necessary to prevent protesters from hurling objects at delegates arriving at the convention.
Four rallies in Boston are scheduled for today, including one opposing the Democrats' role in the Iraq war and another in which peace advocates planned to drag a 1,400-pound stone from the University of Massachusetts campus to downtown's Copley Square.
©The Morning Journal 2004
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1699&dept_id=46376&newsid=12473209&PAG=461&rfi=9
The right to dissent
A move to thwart, even criminalize protest, will strangle our democracy.
The prospect of demonstrators by the thousands showing up for the national political conventions to exercise a democratic tradition as well as a constitutional right strikes fear — and some loathing — in the hearts of public officials and convention organizers.
That is a painful irony, because we are a nation steeped in protest. The Declaration of Independence from the British monarch and government was a proud act of protest. From the Boston Tea Party through the civil rights movement and the anti-war protests, we have marched and demonstrated our way toward a stronger democracy.
We have not just tolerated dissent, we have thrived on it.
In recent years, however, we have begun to marginalize, even criminalize, it.
The Democratic Convention will be tomorrow through July 29 in Boston. The Republicans will gather in New York City Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. For months, authorities in both cities — while earnestly proclaiming their commitment to the First Amendment rights of protesters — have been working furiously to put as many barriers as possible in the way of demonstrators and as much distance as possible between them and the political leaders and delegates attending the conventions.
New convention-week policies in Boston have frustrated and discouraged those who want to send a message of criticism and dissent to the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee. The new policies greatly lengthen and complicate the event-application process, give officials wider discretion for denial of permits, and force some early applicants to resubmit under the new guidelines.
It's much the same story in New York, where protesters seek to send messages to the president and his party. When organizers for one massive demonstration sought permission to rally in Central Park, the city suggested they hold their event in Queens. The group was not impressed, since the convention will be in Manhattan. Then the city offered West Side Highway, a venue more appropriate for a parade than a gathering of 250,000 people.
This sort of back and forth has evolved in recent years into an elaborate and sophisticated strategy to frustrate and discourage protests. The strategy seems designed to build public resentment and fear of protesters, discourage participation in demonstrations by ordinary citizens, harass and intimidate organizers, drain away energy and funds with arrests and prosecutions, and divert demonstrators from their purpose.
One of the most pernicious components of this strategy has been the so-called ''free-speech zone,'' a place set aside for the demonstrators, usually out of sight and out of hearing from the people the protesters wish to address. All of this, of course, is less about free-speech zones for protesters than it is about comfort zones for public officials and political leaders.
The impact of this strategy, whether intended or not, is to thwart the First Amendment rights of assembly and speech at a time when they are most important. The political convention is the occasion for all political messages — not just those that leaders or parties want to present. It offers an ideal — and constitutional — platform for the protester who lacks access to the press or power. At no other time will the dissenting message be more immediate, more relevant, and thus more essential. Another day and another venue won't do.
Unfortunately, political conventions are not the only places where dissenting voices are discouraged, silenced or punished.
Constitutionally suspect police tactics have been deployed against demonstrators at a wide variety of meetings and events. Hundreds of demonstrators, as well as innocent bystanders and journalists, have been arrested, and many prosecuted.
The Secret Service has worked with local police to keep the president from seeing or hearing people with critical messages at his public appearances.
Many ordinary citizens seek similar insulation in their own lives. They want to be protected from contradictory views or voices.
Radio and cable audiences prefer outlets and pundits that confirm rather than challenge their own views. Media moguls pander to this anti-democratic drift by offering up partisanship and polemic in larger and larger doses.
As a result, we are increasingly polarized in our ideologies.
Ads that attack rather than inform are the weapon of choice for political campaigns. We regard those with differing views not as fellow participants in a democratic adventure but as enemies to quash. Rather than listen and respond, we prefer to silence by intimidation and isolation or to crush with raw political power.
Our national conventions once were robust and riveting affairs, with gavel-to-gavel coverage on network television. Now, scripted and predictable, they have come to symbolize a tendency among too many Americans toward shutting up and shutting out viewpoints other than our own.
If that tendency endures, our democracy cannot. We should not fear dissenting views but embrace them as opportunities to improve our own positions and to display our confidence in the give-and-take of democratic discourse.
Without disagreement, even discord, political discourse is mere noise and prattle. A people talking only to themselves and shouting at all others gurgles with an awful sound: the death rattle of democracy.
Paul K. McMasters is the First Amendment ombudsman at the Freedom Forum in Nashville, Tenn.
Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call
http://www.mcall.com/business/local/all-mcmaster2jul25,0,6519333.story?coll=all-businesslocal-hed
Sunday, July 25, 2004
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Red, white and Boston
Plans to corral protesters are amid range of woes city
is burdened with as it limps toward big day
BY JOSHUA ROBIN
STAFF CORRESPONDENT
July 25, 2004
Boston - In New York, protesters will get the highway. In Boston, they'll rally underneath it.
A no-man's land in the shadow of a former I-93 highway ramp, ringed by coils of razor wire, is the sanctioned venue for protesters expected to converge here during the Democratic National Convention, which starts tomorrow and runs through Thursday. A federal judge here even conceded that the 25,800 square feet of asphalt resembles "an internment camp."
At least in New York, activists demonstrating at the Republican National Convention next month will stand in the sun (even if they've complained there could be too much of it). On Aug. 29, the day before the GOP convention opens, thousands of demonstrators are expected to mass on the West Side Highway, and the police have designated a protest zone just south of Madison Square Garden.
Here, U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock found that the fences and pens were necessary in a post-Sept. 11 environment and determined that the city could find no better protest site that was closer to the delegates meeting in the FleetCenter. The spot might look like the set of "Hogan's Heroes," but it's right across Causeway Street from the arena and near where conventioneers will get on and off of buses.
The "free-speech zone" gives another black eye to a city that seems to be limping toward this four-day main event, when 36,000 delegates, media and participants are expected to show up. In recent weeks, Beantown has encountered picketing police officers, a federal lawsuit from demonstrators, the maddening promise of traffic gridlock and the same grave security concerns that New York faces come August.
Even a Boston Pops concert scheduled for Wednesday, underwritten by the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry to thank the city for its hospitality, saw its executive producer resign, saying he had not been given the money he needed to put on the event.
"I didn't think it was going to get this crazy," said Mark Pasquale, 51, who can see the convention center from his shop, Half Time pizzeria. Pasquale, an independent who supports President George W. Bush, said the congestion prompted him to put up a sign outside the restaurant reading "Say!!!! D.N.C. - Thanks for Nothing. Go Bush."
The protest zone
Traffic will cause the most headaches, but some Bostonians are equally disturbed by the forbidding nature of the protest zone, to be used by groups ranging from those promoting Palestinian rights to those calling for an end to the Iraq war.
The space, which in some places allows less than 6 feet of headroom, is surrounded by two chain-link fences and is bordered by concertina wire hoops. Connecting the fences and the overpass is black mesh netting, similar to the kind that protects fans who sit behind home plate in baseball stadiums from getting creamed by a foul tip.
Police have said the netting is needed to shield delegates from things such as ball bearings, which they said demonstrators hurled during the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
"It's a pity that we're hosting a Democratic National Convention where, because of the actions of a minority of people, we have to plan for acts of violence," Mary Jo Harris, legal counsel for the Boston Police Department, told The Boston Globe. "But ... we have a duty to protect."
Visitors aren't convinced. "It's very un-American," Judy Schwartz, 47, a teacher from Somerville, Mass., groused about the pen for protesters.
Some activists have said they'll avoid using the protest site - even if it means their demonstrations will be beyond delegates' earshot.
On another front, negotiations were continuing yesterday, but the city could face the specter of raucous protests from its police officers, even after a federal arbitrator on Thursday settled a bitter two-year contract dispute.
"Our membership will be out, to show our contempt and frustration with our employer," said Thomas J. Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, who has promised not to picket the FleetCenter, but rather official state parties. He is upset that the city hasn't settled contracts with firefighters and "railroaded" his union into binding arbitration.
In the bull's-eye is Mayor Thomas M. Menino, a Democrat, who says officers are needed to work 12-hour days during the convention - and should rest, not picket during breaks.
"There's no reason for the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association to do any picketing at all," Menino said after the settlement was announced.
Because the Department of Homeland Security designated the Democratic National Convention a National Special Security Event, officials are taking no chances.
At times, about 40 miles of roadway throughout the metropolitan region will be closed, including a 6-mile span of I-93, the city's main north-south artery. The North Station, a major hub for both subway and commuter rail passengers, also will be shut, and officers patrolling the subway, known as the "T," recently started searching handbags, briefcases and backpacks for the first time.
As in New York - where several streets, primarily around Madison Square Garden, will be closed - commuters have been told to take the week off, work from home or come in when they can. "It's kinda like a challenge to me," said Steven Press, a psychologist from nearby Peabody who expects his commute to grow from 30 minutes to 90 minutes.
History in the making
For all the controversy and trepidation, there still is a peppy, patriotic feel in Boston. Red, white and blue bunting is everywhere; the grass in Boston Common is newly mowed; and the inside of the FleetCenter carries the faint smell of balloons.
"I think it's a part of history in the making," Ed Connors, 37, said of the city hosting its first national political convention.
"This is John Kerry's hometown," said Connors, of Revere, who works for the Massachusetts State Employees Credit Union. "It's great for him and the party."
Jeremy Shugar, while looking forward to the hoopla, said, "It's no big deal." Many have speculated that local businesses will suffer during the convention, primarily because of the security lockdown, but Shugar, 25, a sporting-store salesman from Cambridge, Mass., said that is "counterintuitive." "It's not like reality stops because the DNC is in town," he said.
Menino, the convention's biggest cheerleader, has vowed that the pah-ty will go on.
But, showing he can identify with his convention-besieged constituents, Menino recently added this aside to his stump speech: "It's only four days."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/
ny-nydem253906314jul25,0,6710119.story?coll=ny-nycpolitics-headlines
Berlin-like security bars wall of apathy
Frank Cerabino
Sunday, July 25, 2004
BOSTON -- The anticipation was palpable Saturday afternoon. Everywhere you went in Boston, people were riveted.
No, not for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The Red Sox were at home at Fenway Park, brawling with the New York Yankees.
As for the convention, well, you'd have to say the general reaction was mild apathy, mixed with a healthy dose of apprehension -- made more palpable by the swarms of police officers, camouflage-fatigued Army National Guardsmen and miles of back-to-back fences that have turned the FleetCenter convention hall into a makeshift high-security prison in the middle of the city.
Dump trucks filled with sand have been parked to block off surrounding streets. Many roads, including a section of Interstate 93, will be closed during the convention, and the downtown already has begun to clear out in a general exodus of locals.
On a rainy Saturday, security checkpoints into the convention center site had barrels full of confiscated umbrellas. And as I typed this column, in a room with eight other journalists, two armed National Guardsmen sat on duty outside the door.
"This place has become a fortress," said Pete Sweeney, 48, a local courier, who spent the afternoon walking around the security perimeter of the convention site. "I just came here to see the fences."
Brigitte Klein, 67, who grew up in Germany, gazed into the designated protest area of the convention and found it chilling.
"It gives me such a bad feeling," she said. "It reminds me of the Berlin Wall."
The protest area is not only outside the security perimeter of the convention site, it is also a large outdoor cage, topped with concertina wire and enclosed with wire netting and concrete barriers.
"It doesn't give me a free feeling," said Klein, who intends to vote for Democratic candidate John Kerry in the upcoming election.
The feeling of apprehension has seeped inside the convention hall where the theme "A stronger America" has been expressed in a strange new way: a fear of association.
Like other TV networks, Al-Jazeera, the Arab cable network, sought to have a banner advertising its presence in the upper levels of the convention hall.
Nader Abed, operations head for the network, said Saturday that the sign went up last week.
"They approved the sign," he said. "And then I came back, and it was taken down."
The Al-Jazeera network sign had been hung in the sight lines of the podium, next to one of the Democratic National Committee banners.
"We didn't ask for that location," Abed said. "They put it there."
The DNC responded that the Al-Jazeera sign wasn't the only one removed from the hall. But it was the only media organization's.
Independence declaration
It felt good to leave the fortress, to walk into the rest of Boston, where the Red Sox were everywhere on TV and where apathy replaced concern in good measure.
I bumped into Ben Franklin, who was talking on a cellphone in Quincy Marketplace.
Dick Elliott, who dresses up as Ben Franklin and gets his photo taken by tourists, said he wasn't sure whether he'd vote for Kerry or George W. Bush.
"I'm very independent," he said. "As a matter of fact, I signed the Declaration."
Wandering the big outdoor tourist spot, I found scant evidence of an upcoming political convention -- and even less excitement about Kerry.
"I'm not crazy about what Bush has done, but I'm not crazy about Kerry, either," said Kevin Haverty, 39, a salesman from Wellesley.
Sunshine State volunteer
Patrick McPherson, a 44-year-old electrician from the Boston suburb of Mansfield, said he wasn't sure how he would vote, either.
"I'm not a Republican, I'm not a Democrat, and I'm not an Independent," he said. "I guess you could just call me a citizen."
Nearby, Delores Hajra, 54, sat down in the middle of Quincy Marketplace with her volunteer shirt for the Democratic National Convention. She was a volunteer who had taken a week's vacation to pay her own way from Florida to Boston, to help in whatever way she could.
"I'm supposed to be answering questions," the Winter Park woman said. "But nobody's asking."
Hajra believes the election is crucial for the future of the country, so crucial that she decided a year ago to do what she could do to help the Democrats.
"Kerry wasn't my first choice," she said. "I went through my Wesley Clark period, and then Edwards. But it's not enough to say ABB: Anybody but Bush. So, we've got to get behind Kerry."
Hajra was hoping that a week's worth of volunteering, and a background check, would mean she would get past the security barrier and inside the convention hall for at least a part of the week.
But she has been told that won't happen.
"You have to be highly credentialed to get in there."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_1430c221d43250801050.html
Boston piqued over pickets, protests, potties
Muriel Dobbin, Star Tribune
Washington Bureau Correspondent
July 25, 2004 BOST0725
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Boston has geared up to greet the Democratic National Convention by squabbling over everything from costs estimated at $95 million to police pickets, protests, security, road closings and even a potential lack of public potties.
"The only thing they haven't fought over yet is John Kerry the candidate," said Lou DiNatale, a policy analyst at the University of Massachusetts, who noted the city's inclination to argue dated back to the Boston Tea Party, which helped launch the War of Independence more than 200 years ago.
It was to be expected, he suggested, that hosting its first national political convention would bring out Boston's capacity to be cantankerous.
"This is classic Boston. Non-conformist, anti-authoritarian and contrarian," DiNatale said. "We've been making trouble for centuries. What's different now?"
The pre-convention battle has raged from the Republican statehouse to the Democratic mayor's office.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino even took a swipe at John Kerry for refusing to cross a police union picket line protesting mayoral labor policy. He branded the Kerry campaign "small-minded and incompetent."
Massachusetts' Republican governor, Mitt Romney, got into the scrap by grumbling about putting the convention in the Fleet Center, sitting on top of a subway station that will be closed during the convention and adjacent to a main highway that also will be shut down.
Protest groups have complained about not getting as close as they want to the convention, but so far about 75 permits have been granted by the city for marches and vigils.
The latest pre-convention grumble arose over a possible shortage of public toilets, with a call for an emergency meeting of the City Council over the early closure of Boston's five coin-operated kiosks. A spokeswoman for Boston 2004, the convention's host committee, was quoted as saying the committee wasn't responsible for putting port-a-potties all over the city.
A study of political conventions by the Center for Public Integrity reported that Boston's estimated $95 million price tag tops by $10 million what was spent on the 2000 Democratic convention in Los Angeles, partly because of the post-9/11 security restrictions imposed by the Secret Service. The security plan calls for closing almost 40 miles of roadway adjacent to the Fleet Center during the convention.
Muriel Dobbin is at mdobbin@mcclatchydc.com.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4892054.html
Two Protest Groups Clash Near DNC Center
Anti-War and Anti-Abortion Protesters Clash
Near Democratic Convention Center in Boston
The Associated Press
BOSTON July 25, 2004 — Delegates arriving for the Democratic National Convention were greeted Sunday by competing protests against the war in Iraq and abortion.
About 2,000 protesters gathered at noon on the historic Boston Common, site of many of the city's most memorable demonstrations. After about two hours there, they marched half a mile to the FleetCenter, where Democrats plan to nominate hometown candidate John Kerry for president on Wednesday.
"This is just the beginning of a week of protests," said Larry Holmes, spokesman for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, a coalition of activist groups that staged the march.
Several blocks away, about 1,000 anti-abortion advocates gathered at Faneuil Hall, the historic meeting house where patriots gathered before the American Revolution, and set off on their own march to the FleetCenter.
The two groups crossed paths at an intersection and exchanged angry words. A brief scuffle broke out between some of the peace demonstrators and a man carrying a graphic anti-abortion sign. The man was pushed to the ground and his shirt was torn but he appeared unhurt.
Some of the anti-abortion marchers lay in the street but soon stood up at the request of the police, and the two marches continued their separate ways following a few minutes of confusion.
Two people were taken into custody but police said the Secret Service did not release their names immediately. A woman was arrested near Faneuil Hall on disorderly conduct charges, the Secret Service said. An anti-war protester was taken into custody near City Hall for questioning but was not arrested, according to police and the Secret Service.
About 30 state police officers wearing riot gear lined Beacon Street for the larger march, where the throng paraded behind a banner reading "Bring the troops home now."
A half-dozen cruisers and 18 police vans followed slowly along the route. Representatives of the National Lawyers Guild and other civil libertarians also accompanied the march, wearing hats reading "legal observer."
The diverse crowd ranged from teenagers to war veterans. They carried flags, banners and signs reading, "Health care, not warfare," and "Veterans for Peace."
Gloria Pacis, a graphic artist from New York City, told the audience on the Common that her son, Stephen Funk, 22, refused to serve with the military in Iraq and spent five months in a military prison for it.
"We have come here so that those trying to bring our votes come November can take a good look in our eyes and know that we won't be lied to again," Pacis said.
Some protesters criticized the Bush administration and the decision to go to war in Iraq.
"How dare we go into another country and tell them how to run it, how to make it better when we cannot even better our own government," said Christina Densmore, 31, of Springfield, Mass. "Our own people are dying."
Associated Press writer Ken Maguire in Boston contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040725_1094.html
Activists March Through Streets Of Boston
Man Detained In DNC Protest Released
Kirk Enstrom, Staff Writer
UPDATED: 8:33 PM EDT July 25, 2004
BOSTON -- With the threat of terrorist attacks at the Democratic National Convention high, Secret Service officers took a man who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent away in handcuffs during a march through the streets of Boston.
A man who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent was detained Sunday while participating in a protest in Boston. He was later released after police identified him.
The man was taken through an alley away from the rest of the marchers, who represented various protest groups marching as the Answer Coalition.
 |
| A man who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent was detained Sunday while participating in a protest in Boston. He was later released after police identified him. |
"This repressive action is exactly what the activists are talking about in this town," said John Pavlos, a man who was marching with the group and said he was a lawyer.
Pavlos negotiated with police while a small group of protesters chanted, "Let him go."
Other bystanders from the Faneuil Hall area of Boston also gathered around the scene. The man sat in handcuffs on steps near Boston's City Hall for about 20 minutes, and 10 more police officers arrived during that time as the crowd gathered.
A detective with Boston Police said that the Secret Service ordered that the man be detained, but he could give no reason why.
Pavlos said the man refused to give his name to police or produce any identification. He said the man told him that he is from Boston.
The man was later released without being charged after police identified him, according to police spokesman David Estrada.The march was largely without incident after a small scuffle with anti-abortion protesters on Boston Common earlier in the day. Many demonstrators carried signs attacking the administration's war on terror, saying that civil liberties were violated under the Patriot Act.
It was a claim that the protesters echoed while the man was handcuffed. A young woman who would not give her name
claimed that plainclothes officers had been following the man for much of the march. She said he was a victim of racial profiling.
"Three people were following him for the whole march," she said.
Police lined the road as marchers protested through the "They had earpieces and suits and were saying, 'Look at that guy.'"
streets of Boston, site of the Democratic National
Convention, which begins Monday.
The man was eventually taken away in a Boston Police cruiser. Pavlos said he would continue to represent the man
and go with police to see where they took him.
The march wound through the streets of a city on high alert for fears of terrorism. The Secret Service has labeled the
DNC a special security event, and police were extremely noticeable along the march.
Rows of officers in riot gear blocked off some buildings near the route, and a line of similarly dressed officers kept pace with the marchers. Two helicopters hovered relatively low over the scene. Aside from the detained man, there
did not appear to be major scuffles.
One protester wore a mask of President George W. Bush that read, "Bush: Re-Defining Torture."
The activists represented a variety of interests, from socialists and communists calling for a change in the social structure of the country, to those protesting the war in Iraq. Betsy Piette, of Philadelphia, said she had just returned from Colombia, where she said she witnessed the results of America's foreign policy.
"I saw 3 million displaced workers," she said.
Like others in the march, Piette said she sees little difference between Sen. John Kerry and President George W. Bush.
"We really need an independent voice," she said. "They have identical positions."
Carlo Ferany was marching with his wife and 6-year-old son. The Boston man emigrated from north Africa and said he was protesting against the country's spending priorities.
"I feel bad that the money is going to war instead of education for our kids," Ferany said.
As the marchers turned onto Congress Street, they were greeted by a group of anti-abortion protesters, who were staging a "die-in." The two groups did not interact.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/politics/3575625/detail.html
Thousands march to US convention
From Theo Emery in Boston
26jul04
DELEGATES arriving for America's Democratic National Convention in Boston were greeted by competing protests against the war in Iraq and abortion today.
About 2000 war protesters gathered on the historic Boston Common, before marching about 800 metres to the FleetCenter, where Democrats plan to nominate hometown candidate John Kerry for president on Wednesday.
"This is just the beginning of a week of protests," said Larry Holmes, a spokesman for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, a coalition of activist groups that staged the march.
Several blocks away, about 1000 anti-abortion advocates gathered at Faneuil Hall, the historic meeting house where patriots gathered before the American Revolution, and set off on their own march to the FleetCentre.
The two groups crossed paths at an intersection, where demonstrators exchanged angry words with one another.
Some of the anti-abortion marchers laid down in the street. They soon stood up at the request of the police and the two marches continued their separate ways following a few minutes of confusion.
Two people were taken into custody, but police said the Secret Service had not released their names.
A woman was arrested near Faneuil Hall on disorderly conduct charges, the Secret Service said. An anti-war protester was taken into custody near City Hall for questioning, but was not arrested, according to police and the Secret Service.
About 30 state police officers wearing riot gear lined Beacon Street, a major boulevard, for the larger march, which saw protesters parade behind a banner reading "Bring the troops home now".
A half dozen cruisers and 18 police vans followed slowly along the route. Representatives of the National Lawyers Guild and other civil libertarians also accompanied the march, wearing hats reading "legal observer".
The diverse crowd ranged from teenagers to war veterans. They carried flags, banners and signs reading "Health care, not warfare" and "Veterans for Peace".
Gloria Pacis, a graphic artist from New York City, told the crowd on the Common that her son, Stephen Funk, 22, refused to serve with the military in Iraq and spent five months in a military prison.
"We have come here so that those trying to bring our votes come November can take a good look in our eyes and know that we won't be lied to again," she said.
Protesters criticised President George W. Bush's administration and the decision to go to war in Iraq.
"How dare we go into another country and tell them how to run it, how to make it better when we cannot even better our own government," said Christina Densmore, 31. "Our own people are dying."
Others took issue with both Republicans and Democrats.
Fernando Suarez Del Solar, 48, said his son, Jesus Suarez Del Solar, 20, was a lance corporal and one of the first Marines killed in the Iraq war, days after the US-led invasion began.
"Mr Bush lies," he said. "Mr Kerry is very confused. On one side he says the war is wrong. On the other side, he says 'We need more boys in Iraq'. I do not understand."
Citing public safety concerns, the city originally denied the anti-war protesters permission for their march. A federal judge ruled last Thursday that it be allowed.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10248308%255E1702,00.html
Day 2 - I'm Ready to become an Anarchist
My
sister Edain is in Boston. I am in Portland. She is attending the
Boston Social Forum, the Veterans for Peace meetup, and then she will
be part of the people of the US who will boycott the Democratic Party
Convention because they are still Prowar and still not representing the
lives of Americans. For you who don't know what is going on in Boston, the Democratic Convenion is about to be held. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Boston organizing to boycott it. When it is over thousands will walk from Boston to New York City to boycott the Repbublican convention. I'll give an update on organizing that walk at a later date. I called my sister and asked her some questions about how many people were there and about the infamous crowd control pen built to keep the people of America away from thier elected representatives.
EDAIN: There are thousands of people here. I cannot begin to count how many people are here. Every event I attended was filled to capacity. You could barely get in the rooms. People are very helpful and very excited to be here. The crowds are very diverse in their politcal orientation. What is shameful is that there are no Kerry people here. No one one person I have seen or met is supporting Kerry. There is no information from Kerry's campaign either. He just does not care about what we think. There are contingents of Black Bloc - Anarchists, and Internation Answer, Code Pink, Women in Black and many people who represent social justice and anti-war contingents...but nothing from the Kerry Campaign. I am about ready to join the Anarchist groups. It is clear that the two dominate political parties do not represent the people. The Pen: I have not gone down to where the pen is. Everyone I have talked to are just staying away from them. Why would you want to go there. Where we are going is to mass protests and rallies set up for the people by the people. This is what one person wrote about the internment pen: "How do I describe the sense of dread that crawled under my skin as I observed that there were only two entrance/exits to this long narrow cage enclosed with two chain link fences, covered with a mesh net, topped with two rolls of razor wire" hell no we won't go ...Tommorrow, Sunday we march!
[ Read More ] [ Boston Indymedia | Free Speech Internment Camp ]
Protesters march on FleetCenter
on eve of Democratic convention
By Theo Emery, Associated Press, 7/25/2004 19:13
BOSTON (AP) As delegates arrived Sunday for the Democratic National Convention, protesters clamored for attention, staging demonstrations and marches across the city against the Iraq war, abortion and a host of other issues.
An estimated 3,000 demonstrators, most of them protesting against the war, rallied on Boston Common before winding their way through the city and marching past the FleetCenter, the downtown arena where delegates are nominating hometown candidate John Kerry for president this week. They were accompanied by a ragtag group demonstrating against everything from oppression in Haiti to better funding for schools and health care.
The protesters passed the FleetCenter before looping back through City Hall Plaza and returning to the Common a 50-acre park that is the starting point for the Freedom Trail and was once used for public hangings.
''This is just the beginning of a week of protests,'' said Larry Holmes, spokesman for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, the coalition of activist groups that staged the march.
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.
A brief scuffle broke out on the Common between some of the peace demonstrators and a man carrying a graphic anti-abortion sign. Witnesses said the man was pushed to the ground and his shirt was torn, but he was unhurt.
The anti-war and anti-abortion groups crossed paths again a few blocks from the FleetCenter and exchanged angry words. A handful of anti-abortion marchers lay in the street in the fetal position as their fellow protesters drew chalk outlines around them. Police moved them along, and the marches continued their separate ways after a few moments of confusion.
Authorities took two people into custody. One was later released without charges.
State police in riot gear lined Beacon Street during the anti-war march. A half-dozen cruisers and 18 police vans followed slowly along the parade route. Representatives of the National Lawyers Guild and other civil libertarians accompanied the march, wearing hats reading ''legal observer.''
The crowd ranged from teenagers to war veterans. They carried flags, banners and signs reading, ''Bring the troops home now,'' ''Health care, not warfare,'' and ''Veterans for Peace.''
Some protesters criticized the Bush administration and the decision to go to war in Iraq.
''How dare we go into another country and tell them how to run it, how to make it better when we cannot even better our own government?'' said Christina Densmore, 31, of Springfield, Mass. ''Our own people are dying.''
Others took issue with both Republicans and Democrats. Fernando Suarez Del Solar, 48, said his son, Jesus, 20, was a lance corporal who became the first Marine killed in the Iraq war, seven days after the U.S.-led invasion began.
''Mr. Bush lies,'' said Del Solar, of Escondido, Calif. As for the Democrat, he said, ''Mr. Kerry is very confused. On one side, he says the war is wrong. On the other side, he says we need more boys in Iraq.''
Associated Press writer Ken Maguire in Boston contributed to this report.
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/207/politics/Protesters_march_on_FleetCente:.shtml
Crackdown fails to halt protesters
Democrats at odds with civil libertarians
Republican war room ready to dish out own message
DAVID OLIVE
COLUMNIST
For a city that romanticizes the mother of all American protests, the Boston Tea Party, the Democrats' own clampdown on off-message demonstrations is a bit jarring to both locals and out-of-towners.
Often demonized by Republicans as kissing cousins with those liberty loving radicals at the American Civil Liberties Union, the Dems are actually at loggerheads with the ACLU over the token "demonstration zone" the Democratic National Convention has set up.
Douglas Woodlock, U.S. District Court judge, turned down a request by a coalition of protesters seeking changes to the 28,000-sq.-ft. fenced-in area which, crammed underneath an old elevated rail line and bedecked with overhead netting and razor wire, bears no small resemblance to a livestock pen. Yet such indignities are the way of the world, post-9/11, said Woodlock, who called the zone "an affront to free expression" but a necessary evil in these times of random violence.
Protesters of every stripe have not been entirely dissuaded, however, taking their cause to the streets. A bus that has seen better days, bearing a dozen or so peaceniks just arrived cross-country from San Francisco, is parking intermittently at downtown street corners, where members of the caravan give impromptu speeches on the war-mongering designs of Generalissimo Bush.
On lovely Boston Common, amid family reunions, al fresco poetry readings and touch football games, a spirited demonstration was under way yesterday against Chinese government oppression of dissidents.
And, God bless America, an even larger group of about 100 citizens elsewhere on the green was noisily inveighing against alleged local police brutality under the watchful eye of an equal number of Boston's finest, who seemed chiefly interested in checking each other's sunblock to ensure their brothers in arms were using the correct UV-rating for this sunny day.
High above those proceedings, on the fifth floor of an anonymous office tower, Brooks Bros-clad protesters have gathered in an anti-Dems "war room."
This is the GOP truth squad, armed with computer data banks to double-check Fleet Center speeches for inconsistencies. The self-described "fully operational rapid-response team" is also equipped with camera-ready spinmeisters, including such notables as former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor William Weld. This is definitely the B-team.
Weld is a black sheep among the Republicans, who stymied then-president Bill Clinton's attempt to appoint him to the senior diplomatic post of ambassador to Mexico.
GOP wise men said Weld was too liberal, forgetting you don't get to be governor of the Bay State as a flaming neo-con. More to the point, Weld respects presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, the Massachusetts senator he came close to toppling in a 1996 contest.
Tonight's featured attraction is Bill Clinton, still the most popular Dem in the land. Which is why he has been consigned to the obscurity of a Monday slot — as far distant from Kerry's coronation speech Thursday as possible. The nominee must not be overshadowed at all costs.
Check out the precocious, almost mournful introspection in Clinton's best-selling "My Life" in contrast with Kerry's trademark aloofness.
"I sometimes question the sanity of my existence," wrote a 15-year-old Clinton in an essay for his junior English honours class. "I am a living paradox — deeply religious, yet not as convinced of my exact beliefs as I ought to be; wanting responsibility yet shirking it; loving the truth but often times giving way to falsity."
Al Gore makes an early appearance for the same reason. Out of office, the famous wooden ex-veep has made himself over into the kind of fire-breathing orator that Dems can only wish for in Kerry.
Excoriating the Bush administration a few weeks ago for ignoring the Geneva Conventions, Gore said of the Abu Ghraib prison-abuse revelations: "How dare this administration blame its misdeeds on enlisted personnel from a Reserve unit? How dare they humiliate our nation in the eyes of the world and the conscience of our own people?"
A pity Kerry won't be around to absorb these warm-up acts. The Dems' strategy is to have him arrive at the convention late with much fanfare after electrifying audiences during a so-called "Freedom Trail" tour of battleground states.
Thousands of party faithful showed up late last week in Denver near the army hospital where Kerry was born, but he couldn't have wowed many of them with this searing insight into his early family life: "During the war, my mother wrote to my father, `You have no idea of the ways in which one can be useful right now. There's something for everyone to do.' My mother's words ring just as true today as they did 50 years ago."
Unless Kerry is angling for a second career at Hallmark, he'll have to do better than that.
http://tinyurl.com/4dftj
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=
1090794009255&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724
2004 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
EXTRA PRECAUTIONS:
BOSTON FULL OF COPS, GUARD DOGS, FENCES
By Martin Merzer
Knight Ridder
BOSTON - Jet fighters thundered and helicopters thumped over the convention center Sunday. Sand-filled dump trucks blocked most approaches. Black-uniformed state officers and camouflage-uniformed military police clutched automatic weapons.
At one point, three guards and two bomb-sniffing dogs sat in the otherwise empty Louisiana section of the convention hall. Someone asked: ``What are the dogs' names?'' One officer said: ``Can't tell you. We're trying to keep the dogs on a low profile.''
This is what it has come to as the Democratic Party opens its four-day convention today: The most powerful nation on Earth is crowning its presidential nominees inside fortresses encircled by 8-foot-high black iron fences, patrolled by no-name dogs.
The changes sweeping the United States since the last national political conventions four years ago are symbolized by the multiple checkpoints, platoons of security forces, fleets of patrol boats, squadrons of helicopters, teams of scuba divers and arrays of surveillance cameras that surround Boston's FleetCenter.
The city is bright and alive, all dressed up in welcome banners, all polished for 35,000 visitors and a moving cornucopia of festivity. Yet it vibrates with tension.
``This is the first political convention since 9/11,'' said Seth Gitell, a spokesman for Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. ``Democracy continues and our way of life continues, but at the same time, this is a national special security event and our plans have to be very stringent.''
The 3.2-acre FleetCenter usually serves as the fun-and-games home of the NBA's Boston Celtics and NHL's Boston Bruins. This week, it still may be the scene of fun, but this is not a game.
Metal detectors for all
Anyone entering the arena, including delegates, must stop in one of several tents, pass through metal detectors and submit to airport-style scrutiny by pistol-wearing Secret Service officers.
Throughout the metropolitan area, commuters -- already inconvenienced by closed roads and shuttered subway stations -- are subjected to random searches before they board trains. Many residents have simply fled, deciding this would be an excellent time for a vacation.
Somewhere on standby, shipped to the area by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sit stockpiles of ``ChemPaks'' containing antibiotics, masks and other supplies that might be needed after a chemical, biological or nuclear attack.
The Bush administration has warned that terrorists are planning a major attack soon and might attempt to disrupt the conventions or November's elections. The official threat level has not been raised, but top administration officials frequently highlight the danger.
Yet the schedule sparkles with general sessions for 5,000 delegates and alternates and 15,000 members of the media, and special appearances by former Presidents Carter and Clinton. In addition, there are 700 receptions and parties, including Sunday night's gala reception for Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Sobering reality
The result of all of this: an odd amalgam of celebration and trepidation, anticipation and apprehension.
``It's sad,'' said Mike Williams, a delegate and union leader from Tallahassee, Fla., who thinks the government may be laying it on a bit too thick. ``There are safety concerns, but this definitely cuts down on people's ability to express their opinions. It's intimidating.''
Still, it's not hard to remember that across the harbor lies Logan International Airport, where Al-Qaida terrorists boarded two passenger jetliners they later seized and crashed into the World Trade Center almost three years ago.
Other concerns exist, too. Sunday, an estimated 3,000 demonstrators, most of them protesting against the Iraq war, rallied on Boston Common before winding their way through the city and marching past the FleetCenter. They were accompanied by a ragtag group speaking out on everything from oppression in Haiti to funding for schools and health care.
The protesters passed the FleetCenter before looping back through City Hall Plaza and returning to the Common, a 50-acre park.
``This is just the beginning of a week of protests,'' said Larry Holmes, spokesman for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, the coalition of activist groups that staged the march.
Security concerns also swirl around next month's Republican National Convention in New York's Madison Square Garden.
But now, Boston is in the security spotlight, and it shines everywhere.
By land, an estimated 3,000 local, state and federal officers are on duty.
By sea, the Coast Guard and local authorities have assembled an armada of vessels, some equipped with underwater cameras, and officers with scuba gear are on call.
By air, F-16 fighter jets and police and Coast Guard helicopters patrol the city.
Seemingly everywhere, surveillance cameras are in place, some with night-vision lenses. Many civil libertarians object, though some have moderated their views.
``There appears to be a serious threat of terrorist acts in connection with these conventions, and that would warrant extraordinary measures,'' said David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. ``As long as they are extraordinary and not left in place for the long term, they would not seem to be unwarranted.''
Knight Ridder correspondent David Goldstein and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/9244433.htm?1c
The Nation.
Shining, Happy People: The Dems Hit Boston
07/26/2004 @ 02:44am
The Democratic Party is more unified and energized going into this convention than it has ever been.
Say that 50 times in 90 seconds, and you will have an idea of the preconvention message that DNCers--party chairman Terry McAuliffe, convention chair Bill Richardson, and Jon Kerry spokesperson Stephanie Cutter--were pushing the day before the convention opened. Usually, when politicos mouth the same line ceaselessly they are trying to peddle a falsehood. But this time, the spin seems to be true.
As Kerryfest '04 opens, there is little conflict in Dem-land. No major tussles over who will get to speak from the podium in prime-time. No battles over the party platform. The protests on Sunday--ghettoized in Boston Common--were small and insignificant. The so-called Social Forum, a gathering of lefties, has produced no sparks noticeable to the thousands of delegates and mediafolk who rush from one reception to the next in this summer camp of politics-and-journalism. At an event honoring the late Senator Paul Wellstone, prominent progressives--Al Franken, Arianna Huffington, Jim Hightower--all said Job No. 1 is booting Bush. Once--if--that is done, there will be plenty of time for pushing and pulling with Kerry.
A few of the Wellstonian Dems did voice their frustration with their party. "Too much of the Democratic structure has run away from us," complained Anna Burger, the vice president of the Services Employees Industrial union. Representative Barbara Lee said, "We must insist that Democrats be Democrats...That's the only way we'll take out country back." Author Jim Hightower groused, "The Democratic Party is too tied to monied interests." Going much further, Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner claimed that the "military-industrial complex controls both parties, that the corporate-funded Democratic Leadership Council "controls" Kerry, and that "it doesn't make sense to vote." But Turner, who also declared that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by the US government because he challenged militarism, was outnumbered. The other progressives, despite any misgivings they have about the Democratic Party, saw no reason to apply pressure upon Kerry.
Not that they could. The crowd at the Wellstone event, I am sorry to report, was small--about 200. And the audience did not appear to contain many--if any--delegates or others working within the party (outside of the panelists). This was unlike the days of the 1984 and 1988 conventions, when Jesse Jackson brought progressives to the conventions as delegates and as a force making demands. These days there are few pissed-off (at the party) Democrats. Another sign of the times: on Sunday night, Representative Jim McGovern, a strong liberal, and his wife Lisa hosted a party for George McGovern, the party's 1972 nominee (who is no relation to Jim). The place was jammed with old McGoverniks and Democrats of more recent generations. McAuliffe dropped by. Bill Clinton was supposed to do so, too. (Clinton, George McGovern noted, devoted 21 pages of his new book to the 1972 McGovern campaign). So here was George McGovern, the great liberal, being feted by all parts of the Democratic Party, and the progressive Dems in attendance were not grumbling about their party. This would have been inconceivable at recent conventions: a gathering of McGovernite Democrats and no bitching about the party and the nominee.
Bush has been an uniter-not-a-divider...for Democrats and progressives. The prospect of four more years of W. has concentrated the mind of these folks. "Where are all the fights Democrats are famous for?" the Washington bureau chief of a major newspaper asked me in the lobby of the Westin (where hotel employees were doling out free clam chowder and free lemonade).
The primaries, I replied, might have ended with some disappointment among the backers of the losing candidates, but there was little anger at the end of the process. None of the other candidates every really challenged Kerry. Howard Dean was crushed as soon as the vote-counting began. There were not many intra-party wounds left over from the primaries. And there were not that many sharp ideological differences among the different camps. The candidates had disagreed over the vote to grant Bush the authority to launch the war in Iraq. But that difference did not seem to capture the imagination of most Democratic voters.
Now there appears little taste within the party for a debate over what should be done in Iraq. Some progressive Dems back the notion of expressing a date-certain for a pullout of troops, but Kerry does not. Still, this has not become a pitched fight. Perhaps that's because it's an academic question. Should Kerry win in November, he would not take office until January 20th. Who knows now what will be the appropriate policy then? In terms of big-picture principles, Kerry is for trying to internationalize the mess in order to withdraw US troops. And even Dennis Kucinich and Win Without War, the antiwar coalition, don't advocate yanking US troops without replacing them with forces from elsewhere. But the best "plan" Kerry might be able to offer at this point for dealing with the enormous problem Bush created is the argument that he will muddle through better than the guy who screwed things up in the first place.
In any event, the Democrats are shining, happy people. Kerry aides and senior Democrats are even saying they see little reason to go heavy on the Bush-bashing this week. (More on that later.) They want to use the convention--that is, the three precious hours of prime-time coverage they are receiving from the broadcast networks--to boost Kerry's positives. The convention is one big infomercial. And maybe that is as it should be. After all, who can tell what will reach those few likely voters who remain undecided?
But even if all goes well with the infomercial, one Kerry pollster told me, don't look for a big Kerry bounce. It is unlikely the convention will change the minds of the small slice of undecideds, who might well stay flummoxed until they have to cast a vote in November. What Kerry strategists hope is that the convention will strengthen and deepen the support for Kerry that already exists. A convention of unity and comity provides Kerry and other Dems plenty of space to make the case for the nominee-to-be.
****************
Despite all the warm-and-fuzzy feel-goodism of the convention, the structural disconnects of the Democratic Party remain evident. Kerry attacked special interests during the primary campaign. Yet special interests are funding much of the convention, contributing tens of millions of dollars to subsidize events at the convention. This is a same-old/same-old story. But on Sunday night, there was a particularly trenchant example.
At a Congressional Black Caucus reception in the State House to honor the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)--which in 1964 challenged the all-white delegation to the Democratic convention--a large photograph of Fannie Lou Hamer, a leader of the MFDP, hung next to a banner for Lockheed Martin, the aerospace firm. Lockheed Martin and Verizon were picking up the tab for this celebration. Was that because Hamer, the longtime civil rights champion, was a proponent of antimissile defense systems or a fan of telecommunications reform? No, in a business-as-usual fashion, these two corporate giants were underwriting an event in order to make nice with members of Congress. And the legislators did not mind taking the money.
Speaking to fourteen veterans of the MFDP, Representative Bennie Thompson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus from Mississippi, said, "Thank you for scratching the conscience of America." Then he turned the podium over to Art Johnson, an executive of Lockheed Martin, who praised the CBC for the "great job they do day in and day out." Johnson added, "We're pleased with the relationship our company has with the Congressional Black Caucus." Was he pleased with the CBC's call for cutting the military budget by a third? Johnson did not say. But no doubt Lockheed Martin is pleased with its ability to lobby the CBC members on a host of legislative matters.
When Representative Elijah Cummings, the head of the CBC, passed out awards to MFDP vets, standing by his side was Peter Davidson, the chief lobbyist for Verizon. As these civil rights advocates came up to the podium one by one, it was Davidson who handed them the awards that bore a photo of Hamer.
I doubt more than a few of the hundreds of people present even thought for a moment about the incongruence of this event. The worst of the Democratic Party (corporate backers looking for--and gaining--access and influence) and the best of the Democratic Party (civil rights heroes) were literally side by side, in collaboration. Talk about coalition building. But in this week of unprecedented unity, it might be impolite for anyone to question that. It would be off message.
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1603
Protesters march to FleetCenter
Monday, July 26, 2004
By DAN RING
BOSTON - While delegates converged on Boston for the Democratic National Convention yesterday, poor people and activists from Western Massachusetts joined thousands of protesters in a march against the war in Iraq.
About 2,000 protesters gathered at noon on the Boston Common and then marched about a half-mile to the FleetCenter, where delegates this week will nominate U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts for president.
At the common, Christina Densmore, 31, stood on a stage and told the crowd that she and other homeless people in Springfield are waging "our own war" for basic rights such as a home and food.
"Every day ... people die ... cold and homeless in the streets," said Densmore, a resident of "Sanctuary City," an encampment of homeless people living in tents at the Open Pantry lot at School and Temple streets in Springfield. "I'm not talking about Iraq. I'm talking about America."
Sponsored by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism in Washington, the march included people rallying for everything from a ban on assault weapons to lifting U.S. sanctions against Cuba. Billed as a "National March on the Democratic Convention," the event was also held to push for civil rights such as gay marriage.
Bet Power, 54, of Northampton, said he was marching because Kerry opposes gay marriage. Kerry supports civil unions for gays, but Power said civil unions are not acceptable.
Nicholas C. Camerota, a philosophy professor at Springfield Technical Community College and a volunteer with the Act Now group, said the purpose of the protest was to advocate more public money for jobs, education, health care and housing.
"We're here to protest the policies embraced by both (major political) parties ... that have led to these wars and military occupations," Camerota said.
The anti-war protesters clashed briefly with about 1,000 people against abortion who marched to the FleetCenter from Faneuil Hall. The two different protest marches came to a point where they converged. About a half-dozen of the anti-abortion protesters then lay in a street in fetal positions, while others drew white lines around them with chalk.
Police moved the anti-abortion protesters from the streets and the two different marches took separate paths.
During the protests, state police, clad in helmets, pads and other riot gear, lined Beacon Street and other streets near the FleetCenter. Members of the National Lawyers Guild in New York City provided legal observers to document any arrests or possible violations of civil rights.
At the common protest, Sunny V. Miller, executive director of the Traprock Peace Center in Deerfield, handed out information about the U.S. military's use of depleted uranium in ordnance such as tank and aircraft shells.
Miller said the uranium could be a cause of "Gulf War Syndrome," an illness among some veterans of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Activists yesterday said they would boycott "the free-speech zone," a 26,000-square-foot asphalt lot near the FleetCenter. The city of Boston set aside the area to meet court-mandated requirements that protesters be allowed within sight of delegates to the convention.
Protesters compared the zone to an "internment camp" since it is surrounded by wire fence, nets and cement barriers. The zone is next to a parking lot for buses for delegates." That's the detention pen," said Michaelann C. Bewsee, 56, president of Arise for Social Justice in Springfield, an advocacy group for the poor. "My free speech ... is not inside that pen."
"This is horrible for the Democrats to be party to this," said Peggy S. Hotes, a public school teacher from Bellevue, Wash., as she stood inside the free-speech zone yesterday afternoon. "This is really tragic."
By late yesterday afternoon, the protests were largely peaceful. By late yesterday afternoon, there were two people taken into custody, one a woman who was arrested near Faneuil Hall on disorderly charges, the Secret Service said. One anti-war protester was taken into custody for questioning, but he was not arrested, the Secret Service said.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.
http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1090829874233170.xml
Free speech belongs in open at convention
Published July 26, 2004
BOSTON -- It was a provocateur's dream come true.
Leonard Gendron, 31, found himself forced into a martyr's crouch on his hands and knees, surrounded by two roiling mobs.
The first consisted of a dozen or more angry left-wing activists jostling Gendron as they tried to figure out how to pick him up and toss him and his dual-sided anti-abortion, anti-gay sign out of their protest rally on Boston Common Sunday afternoon.
The second was a mob of reporters and cameramen gratefully recording the confrontation and, by their presence, greatly increasing the chances that no real harm would come to Gendron.
"I have every right!" he shouted, prostrating himself on his sign in an effort to save it from destruction.
"Throw him out! Throw him out!" chanted members of the activists' mob.
"At last!" thought the members of the journalists' mob. "Something's happening!" For 45 minutes they had been making the rounds at the rally, dutifully memorializing the cafeteria of causes promoted by the pickets, leafleteers and vendors.
The call had gone out from Act Now to Stop War and End Racism to "all progressive coalitions and organizations" for what's expected to be the largest protest rally and only street march during this week's Democratic National Convention.
Nearly everyone milling about the northeast corner of the Common was opposed to the war in Iraq, but to judge from the banners, T-shirts and chants, most were primarily advancing other causes, such as gay marriage, freedom for Mumia Abu Jamal, school busing to achieve integration, a homeland for the Palestinians as well as opposition to capitalism, Zionism, the blockade of Cuba and the death penalty.
Gendron, pastor of the Secret Place church in Lawrence, Mass., was conspicuous as he stood near a sidewalk with a sign featuring an enlarged color photo of a dismembered fetal head and the legend "Jesus Wept."
On the reverse of his sign were words, "Homo sex is sin, turn to Jesus and be born again."
"It's kicking the hornets' nest," he said later of his presence among the lefties. "It may seem antagonistic. But the message has to go forward."
Free speech can be messy, confrontational, disturbing. But it's the cornerstone of our democracy, and the protest community has rightly been reminding us of this for several days in response to the strict controls that law enforcement has imposed on demonstrations during the convention.
Most have decided to boycott the so-called free-speech zone near the convention site, an isolated cage surrounded by razor wire.
Witnesses offered different accounts of how Gendron ended up on the ground, but it's clear that at least some of the liberal activists put their pro-choice, pro-gay ideology ahead of the principle of freedom of expression.
"Throw him out! Throw him out!"
Or put him off in a cage where no one can see his message?
Gendron was rescued, unharmed, by Boston police officers. He returned quietly to the scene an hour later to collect his knapsack and what was left of his sign, delighted by the attention he had received.
"It's unfortunate," said Dustin Langley, event spokesman for the protesters, when I asked him about the incident. "Folks should be able to come out here and express their views, that's what we're supposed to be about."
The protest march, ultimately, backed up his point. It came off peacefully, with only one reported arrest. An estimated 3,000 marchers passed by a counter-demonstration by anti-abortion forces with only a few harsh words exchanged. It showed Boston and the world that, hey, free speech ain't so bad. We need more of it, not less, at events like this. Let the strongest ideas prevail and the weakest expose their fragilities.
And it belongs out in the open, not locked away or chased off by those who find it uncomfortable.
It was a rag-tag march, a cacophonous and ill-focused effort to kick dozens of hornets' nests. But, as some of the marchers began chanting as they neared the FleetCenter, where the convention will open Monday, "This is what democracy looks like!"
It was an American's dream come true.
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Eric Zorn will be writing all week from the Democratic National Convention.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ericzorn/
chi-0407260004jul26,1,5655670.column?coll=chi-news-nav
Kerry's moment in the political sun
'Labor peace' allows Boston, Democrats to focus on getting out a positive messageCarla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Monday, July 26, 2004
Aiming to spotlight their presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry and a theme of "a stronger America'' -- prepared to open the doors on their national convention today in a city all but hogtied by traffic gridlock, terrorism concerns and persistent protests.
With a last-minute agreement, city officials barely avoided a potentially disastrous labor dispute with the firefighters union, sidestepping the possibility that delegates would be unwilling to cross picket lines and would skip city-hosted parties and other events planned for months.
"We have labor peace in Boston,'' Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston said Sunday.
The Democratic ticket -- Kerry and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, the party's vice presidential candidate -- campaigned Sunday in battleground states on their way to the convention, which will be held today through Thursday at the FleetCenter in Kerry's home state.
Edwards campaigned in President Bush's home state of Texas, and Kerry stumped in Ohio, a state many analysts say is a key to the November election.
Campaigning as part of a "front porch" tour in Columbus, Ohio, the Massachusetts senator, heckled by protesters, told the crowd that "what we really need to do in America, frankly, is stop shouting ... and start listening to each other.''
Kerry then traveled to Boston, where he threw out the ceremonial first pitch Sunday night before the Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway Park.
Meanwhile, 4,300 delegates -- along with 15,000 media members and 15,000 guests -- prepared to hunker down inside the FleetCenter in Boston, where law enforcement officials have warned of a potential terrorist attack.
On Sunday, hundreds of protesters provided a preview of what may be ahead this week, jamming the narrow North End streets near the FleetCenter and carrying signs to make their voices heard on issues ranging from a military draft to abortion. Giant bulldozers performed hurried final work in the torn-up city streets, and construction crews were on duty to wrap up work.
With security at an all-time high, some members of the media still were unable to get to their designated work sites, and visitors trudged on downtown streets amid concrete barriers and barbed wire, searching for walkways into the elusive unmarked entrances to the FleetCenter.
Democrats downplayed the problems and said the mood was positive and unusually united as they geared up to hear a roster of speakers designed to energize the party faithful in advance of Kerry's scheduled Thursday acceptance speech.
"This is the most united the Democratic Party has ever been,'' New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said.
It is the "most energized we have ever been,'' said Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, adding that the party has trained 5,000 youth activist volunteers for the convention, with an eye toward sending them across the country as part of the mission to get Kerry elected.
Democrats prepared to hear speakers including former President Bill Clinton, who will be introduced today by his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Other highly anticipated speakers include Ron Reagan, son of the late Republican president, who is scheduled to speak Tuesday about stem cell research and the potential implications for finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease, which his father had.
Former Kerry rivals Howard Dean, the onetime Vermont governor; Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri; retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas; Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio; and the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York will all be on the podium during the week.
The delegates have particularly high hopes about the speeches by Edwards, scheduled Wednesday, and Kerry, whose moment in the spotlight will formally introduce him to millions of Americans.
Pundits warned that party leaders must keep the gathering positive and avoid the kind of Republican-bashing that can turn off undecided voters in what is expected to be a tight election.
On the eve of the convention, delegates also schemed to attend dozens of parties and private events ranging from the down-home to the lavish.
There is a Kennedy family clambake scheduled at the famed Hyannis Port family compound -- invitation only, of course -- and a gathering for California's 502 delegates -- the largest state contingent -- at a party at the Franklin Park Zoo.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, who has a high-profile role at the convention, headed up an Irish American and Italian American reception Sunday for the Democratic Leadership Council with Sen. Clinton, former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and McAuliffe.
Celebrity-watchers tried to crash a "Stand Up for Choice'' reception with actress Susan Sarandon and singer Melissa Etheridge, and young Democratic types headed for the hippest party of all: a "Rock the Vote" event with Dean, Sharpton and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart.
Chronicle staff writers Marc Sandalow, Anna Badkhen and Zachary Coile contributed to this report. E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com
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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/07/26/DEMOS.TMP
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle
A Taste of Protests to Come?
Busy First Day for Police in Boston
(Boston -WABC, July 25, 2004) — One big concern in Boston as the Democratic National Convention gets underway are the protestors, and what role they may play in the week. Jeff Pegues reports it didn't take things long to get heated.
It didn’ t take long. At the first protests proceeding the Democratic National Convention, every group with a cause wanted to be heard no matter what.
Protestor: "You have freedom of speech, but not freedom to disrupt our rally..."
Demonstrators had harsh words for President Bush and for John Kerry. The central focus: The role of the U.S. in the war in Iiraq.
Speaker on Podium: "Whoever is in the White House next year, they better bring those troops home immediately. Bring the troops home now."
Again, tempers flared. With heavily-armed police escorting them all of the way, also waiting around every corner, the protesters made their way toward the Fleet Center with no intention of being coralled in what is known as the "Free Speech Zone" That's the designated protest area, a couple of blocks away from the Fleet Center. It's 28,000 square feet of concrete and steel up above, but this is the last place the protesters want to be.
Dustin Langley, Protest Organizer: "We have seen what the city of Boston and the federal government think, think of free speech."
A protest group popped up at nearby Faneuil Hall. It's a sign of how difficult it will be for police to be everywhere at the same time.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/print_wabc_2004vote_072504protestors.html
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BOSTON, July 25 - The streets around the Democratic National Convention site resembled an armed camp on Sunday - helicopters overhead, bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers, police officers and soldiers lining the intersections, many kinds of barriers, and an officially designated "Free Speech Zone" sealed off with cyclone fencing and razor wire.
It looked like an empty cage.
The designated demonstration area, a dank place under abandoned elevated tracks, failed its first test on Sunday when what will probably be the largest demonstration of the convention period simply walked right by it.
"We never intended to use it," said Rachel Nasca of Boston Answer, the main protest coalition, marching at the head of the line. "We never even bothered to take it to court. Did you see that thing?"
Indeed, the Free Speech Zone is rapidly becoming the hottest local issue of the convention, with most of the protest groups vowing to boycott it. The only protesters to embrace it were members of a pro-Palestinian group that says the cyclone fencing and barbed wire provide an ideal visual backdrop to their message of opposition to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
"We want to draw attention to what Palestinians have been subjected to for years," said Marilyn Levin of the group, United for Justice With Peace. "We can leave our cage, but Palestinians cannot leave theirs."
Sunday's demonstrators, mostly antiwar, numbering about 3,000 by police estimate, marched for about two hours in a big circle from the Boston Common over the top of Beacon Hill past the FleetCenter, the convention site, proceeding back past Government Center to the common, without serious incident. There was a brief scuffle with one of many anti-abortion protesters, who were also out in force.
"Bring the troops home now," chanted the antiwar demonstrators, who supported a variety of causes, including women's rights and opposition to what was termed the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Puerto Rico and Haiti, as well as Boston school bus drivers working without a contract.
The demonstrators were escorted by hundreds of city and state police officers, preceded by policemen on bicycles pedaling at a gruelingly slow pace, and trailed by police S.U.V.'s, correction department detention wagons and even school buses, to be used in case of large-scale arrests. Lines of police - city to the left, state to the right - moved alongside, flanking the demonstrators, and there were phalanxes of officers at the intersections.
The police turnout was only one indication of the security precautions that have turned the FleetCenter into a virtual fortress. Helicopters and jet fighters patrol overhead, and Coast Guard and police gunboats cruise the harbor. National Guardsmen in camouflage patrolled around the convention center, which is surrounded by double rows of iron fencing.
An embarrassing threat to the Democrats was lifted when a contract dispute involving Boston's firefighters union was resolved on Sunday. The firefighters had threatened to picket 30 welcoming parties scheduled for Democratic state delegations on Sunday night, and Boston's police union had pledged to join the picketing even though a state arbitrator issued a decision on Thursday resolving the police union's own contract dispute.
Those threats had unnerved some Democratic delegates, many of whom were reluctant to cross picket lines. In response to the threats, the Ohio and Michigan delegations had canceled their welcoming parties.
The firefighters announced Sunday morning that they would not picket the parties, minutes after an arbitrator announced a contract award for the firefighters: a 10.5 percent raise over three years, compared with the 14.5 percent raise over four years the arbitrator awarded to the 1,400-member police union.
While the labor dispute was settled, the battle over the Free Speech Zone continues. After the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild filed suit against the zone, Judge Douglas P. Woodlock of Federal District Court toured the site last week and said that while he intitially doubted the lawyers' claim that the site resembled "an internment camp," he concluded that the comparison was "an understatement."
"One cannot concieve of other elements put in place to create a space that's more of an affront to the idea of free expression than the designated demonstration zone," he said in a ruling on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Judge Woodcock said, there was no alternative. He told the lawyers: "There really isn't any other place. You're stuck under the tracks."
Putting finishing touches on the area this morning, a workman, who asked that his name not be used, took in the fencing and the razor wire wrapped around the overhead track.
"Does it look like a concentration camp?" he said. "I'm Jewish. It looks like a concentration camp."
Later, as the demonstrators gathered on the common in a welter of speeches, posters and pamphlets, Robert Aili, 50, said of the Free Speech Zone: "I think it is obviously an obscenity and an insult to the First Amendment."
Steven Greenhouse contributed reporting for this article. © New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/26/politics/campaign/26street.html
Dispatch from Boston
By Don Hazen
Posted on July 26, 2004
This page will be updated regularly as the convention continues.
*To attract a crowd of TV cameras in Boston, celebrities make a big difference. In fact some are suggesting that celebrities have taken over the Democratic Party, and are using up the oxygen of elected officials. This was certainly the case on Sunday, when Comcast sponsored a panel aimed at young people. The event took place at the tony Charles Hotel, which is where the Clintons are staying. The guests included Danny Glover and Ben Affleck, two of the smartest celebrity progressives, along with a somewhat reactionary comedian, D.L. Hughley (Soul Plane), who went out of his way to buy into the terrorist fears, and also wanted the audience to be clear that whatever the gays is fighting for, it is not civil rights, and that civil rights are the province of blacks.
Fortunately, Danny Glover fired back. He responded that whoever's rights are being abused, be they gay or black or women, that it is a civil rights issue. Affleck, drawing laughs from the crowd, said that even though he recently decided not to get married, he believed that gay people should have the right if they wanted to.
The panel also included MTV's Gideon Yago, Amber Tamblyn of "Joan of Arcadia," and vice mayor of Cambridge, Mass Marjorie Decker, all of whom had interesting things to say, though the real wisdom came from the young people in the audience. They asked tough questions about the failed Leave No Child Behind Act, and how oppressive mandated testing was discouraging students. Another young 16-year old described how a local restaurant owner was harassing students, calling them Osama bin Laden's daughters, and asked them, "Why do you look so sad? Was it because Saddam Hussein was captured?"
Ben Affleck had a nice response to that was his account of visiting the troops in Iraq. He had to take a flight from Kuwait to Bahrain, and he ended up being the only person on the plane who wasn't an Arab in headdress. Affleck said he ended up being singled out and was the only one searched on the plane, to which he responded, "No you don't understand, I am trying to stop terrorism."
*One sign that politics has changed at national political conventions is the lines. You had to wait more than an hour to get credentials for TV media, but on the print side it took 30 seconds. The Nation's Washington correspondent John Nichols lamented that this meant that localism, meaning covering the convention for local folks back home was being lost. "It's all become a four-day infomercial," he said.
*Despite all the talking heads, movies are still in the mix in Boston. Michael Moore is arriving on Wednesday to screen Fahrenheit 9/11 probably much to the chagrin of the Kerry people. According to super-publicist Ken Sunshine, Fahrenheit broke the $100 million mark this weekend. Sunshine also added that Moore will be cutting his Boston convention visit short, because Moore will appear on Jay Leno on Thursday night. Danny Schechter's "Weapons of Mass Destruction' documentary was being screened in north Cambridge (just outside of Boston), while the American Prospect was holding three screenings of the second-hottest documentary in the country, Robert Greenwald's Outfoxed.
*Reports of Boston being in a police state apparently are not exaggerated. Despite the complaints from Boston Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole – who says she wants to avoid the appearance of a police state, and is an advocate of community policing (she described her approach as "gradually enforced strategy," rather than "overwhelming force" strategy – it's hard to escape the fact that the largest security force that ever descended on Boston is here and visible. There are cops and police dogs, the main arteries are going to be shut down – the main artery through north-south Boston, known as the Big Dig, will be shut from 4 pm to 11 pm from Monday through Thursday. A blogger for Logical Realism noted that the protest zone was striking. "With one glance it's easy to see why it's been described as an internment camp, surrounded with high double fencing topped with barbed wire, and nestled under the abandoned green light tracks," the blogger writes.
© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
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to the source:
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/19334/
on page two of our coverage:
| BOSTON PROTESTS CONVERAGE |
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