hey all, i went to the protests yesterday with my girl, my dad and my sister. it was a splendid event. when my girl and i got home, we watched the news coverage, and were so outraged by the misinformation and bad reporting, that we decided to write down everything we could remember, and try to share it with as many people as always. our names have been changed to protect our identities. mpa is my girlfriend, and i am b.

read on, when you have a few minutes, and i hope you enjoy it. i should have pictures in a few days...

August 29, 2004

We arrived in Union Square at 12:30 Sunday afternoon, ready for whatever came up. We were there to let our voice be heard and protest the republican national convention being held in New York City.

We met people from www.aperfectcircle.com and they were the nicest people. they told us what was currently happening, and loaded us up with posters, placards, and videos. they took a picture of us holding our gear.

we crossed over to fifth and 14th where we met b's father and sister. b's dad arived in a bush lied, people died button, while his 16 year old sister sported a kerry/edwards pin. from there we headed over to 7th and 14th for the start of the march. we noticed as we walked over how the corner looked crowded, and the first sounds we heard was a trumpet blaring the last few notes of the national anthem and the crowd erupting in wild cheering frenzy. we saw the signs popping out from the top of the people. it was heaving.

traffic was still being let through on 14th street, and the marchers were being separated by dozens of cars, trucks, and tour buses. people riding on the circle line tour buses waved at the marchers and we gave them a very loud hello. we put ourselves in the middle of the street and then were able to gather the size of the crowd. thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people. they were everywhere, from sidewalk to sidewalk, filling each available inch of space.

and so we marched, slowly at first. the streets were very congested with the masses. it took near an hour to walk four blocks. we watched the signs, "can't get fooled again," "NO CARB (Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Bush)," "four more months," "Osama Bin Forgotten," "so many reasons, so little sign," and "another 'crazed anarchist' against wars for profit." they were funny, serious, sincere. our placards, given to us by aperfectcircle.com read "counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums," with a cartoon cowboy george w. bush riding an elephant getting it's trunk filled with a gas nozzle.

there were police everywhere. the fuji film blimp, usually circling the u.s. open this time of year, was instead draped with an nypd banner. it circled and monitored the protestors from it's great height. helicopters hung menacingly in the air, it's blades breaking the air. on each corner, scattered along the sides and some interspersed in the crowd, uniform police stood and watched. thousands of cops, protecting the businesses along 7th avenue.

the crowd was not set upon violence and mayhem. instead of rioting and anger, the mood was upbeat, set upon it's convictions, but positive about the prospect of change. there were drum circles moving, stopping occasionaly to start a chant (usually of the 'hey hey ho ho, president bush has got to go' variety). a make-shift marching band, tubas, clarinets, and a drum line, entertained the crowd with a political re-writing of beyonce's 'crazy in love.' our favorite group had to be the 'glamericans,' whose signs were witty and eye-catching, or as mpa offers "fabulous." their signs read 'stealing elections is so 2000 darling,' 'cutting taxes is tacky' among others, each festooned with fake fur, glitter, feather boas, and beads.

apart from the larger groups were the more interesting inidividuals. revolutionaries, veterans, yuppies, and grandparents. the occasional dog voiced their political voice and two kids pulled by their mom in a wagon with the message 'toddlers against bush,' on the side rode by. a t-shirt read 'i won't stop protesting even for 20% off at applebee's' and a piece of cardboard exclaimed 'cardboard against bush.'

we started moving better as we got closer to madison square garden, though there were longs periods of being stopped in place. we made way for hundreds of people, that were reportedly carrying a thousand coffins draped in american flags. we followed a giant inflatable pig, that carried a message about republicans and their interest in money.

along the streets, some businesses closed for the day, some claimed that their bathrooms had gone out of order (so many in fact, we thought the sewer system in manhattan must have shut down). on the tops of buildings, and hanging out the windows were people out to support the hundreds of thousands of protestors. they hung handmade signs reading 'my bush smells like (*)(*)(*)(*),' and 'fascism is a right wing movment.' they cheered and took pictures. we remarked that they could have shown their support by marching with us, but to each their own.

along the sidestreets, people sold pro-Kerry and anti-Bush shirts and pins. some were witty, most were pictures of Bush's head with a big red line through it. some said buck fush, while mpa's shirt didn't hold back, reading '(*)(*)(*)(*) bush.'

as we got closer to msg, home to the gop convention, the stoppages in the march increased. you could hear the crowds chanting up ahead, and break into a cheer that would rise in volume, swarm you, and travel down the canyon of 7th avenue. A group held a large parachute that had bush written on it crossed out. They waved the parachute fanning the crowd, in the mid 80 degree day, while promoting their agenda.

The media were not as prevalent as we expected. The first people we saw were from the histor channel. We made sure to get in their coverage so we could see ourselves in 30 years. But as we got closer to msg, more camera crews were set up, filming the crowd.

A small fire broke out on the middle of the avenue around 30th st. Smoke rose from the street for a few minutes, and the march was held up for a few minutes, before firemen put out the small fire and we proceded again, cheering for the firemen as they passed. At msg, the scene was pulsing. We stopped for a few minutes to shout no to bush, as the cameras watched, and the police stood guard over the arena. Ironically the electronic billboard flashed a sign reading ‘Thank You New York.’

our only brush with the law occurred outside msg, as the placard b’s sister carried was ripped out of her hand by a uniformed officer. The placard was illegal because it had a wooden stick holding up the posters. B’s sister tried to grab it back, but the cop proved to be to tough for the 16 year old girl, courageously declaring to the offended crowd ‘she’s holding a sign with a stick. I can either take it or arrest her. What do you want me to do?’

as we moved past msg, the crowd subdued, but for a few dozen pro-bush supporters. One man held a sign with pictures of weapons with the words, ‘support president bush and his jesus.’ b’s dad and him thought the sign was more irony, but the man’s steely demeanor showed otherwise. A man next to him raised a sign proclaiming ‘in god, and president bush, we can trust 2 Chron 7:14.’

the march turned at 34th street, and was to snake back towards union square. We decided to stop for a break, as it had taken nearly 3 hours to walk 20 blocks, in the bri ght sun. The first public bathroom we found that we could use was at the macy’s in herald square, and so in we walked, with our pins, instruments, and flammatory attire on.

Thanks to macy’s for opening up their bathrooms to the public.

We then emerged in Herald Square, and while deciding what to do next, we watched msnbc broadcast live. B shouted his thoughts to the anchor while she reported on the day’s happening.
We decided to head uptown to see if the mousebloc protests would happen. Along the way, we saw many kindred spirits, holding their signs still, and making their way north. The mousebloc protests were to be non-organized protests held outside several times square theatres that were playing their shows to the gop delegates. Outside the theatres a dozen or so protestors were there to shout and give voice to the other side, while delegates enjoyed ‘the beauty and the beast,’ and other classic broadway musicals. We talked to several people about their plans for the rest of the evening, but it seemed there were to be no more organized events, the rally in central park being denied to the march organizers. We had seen flyers along the way urging people to show up in central park, but for what reason we did not know. We headed up there, and along the way stopped in front of david letterman’s studios. We signed up to get tickets to a taping, not really sure when we would get to go, and we talked to the kids running the tables about the protests. They were interested to know what was happening, and if there had been any violence.

Outside the theatre, and up a few blocks, we saw the c-span bus. Mpa and b, both being huge fans of c-span, stopped and waved and shouted huzzahs to the c-span bus, as they stopped at a red light. A man emerged from the bus door, and threw t-shirts at us, and this more than made the day. Imagine the c-span bus stopping for us AND giving us t-shirts. Exhilarating was hardly the word.

It nearing 5 o’clock, we walked to central park to see if anything was being done. But along the beginning of the park, not much was. It was a regular day in central park, people sunning themselves, playing ball. A few protestors were there taking a quick rest on the lawn, but clearly no rally was taking place here. Up further on the great lawn, people were supposedly gathering for an impromptu rally, and the hovering helicopters confimed our belief, but we collectively decided that we had had enough for the day. There are four more days of protesting left, and there’s no need to exhaust ourselves on the first day.

on the way out, we were stopped by other marchers interested to know if we had learned if anything else was taking place. We said we didn’t to some, and suggested some people go to times square to check on the activity there.

But for us, it was a walk to the subway. Where after a short ride, we emerged in queens, and walked to the diner, where we ate and talked about the day. It was the consensus that it was a successful march, and that it was nice to be among so many who felt as strongly as we did about the recent past. Mpa and i look forward to the next days’ events as the gop convention starts in our New York City.

__________________
"strength and wisdom are not opposing values." ~ bc

Thomas Kean for President!


there's what mccain says...then there's what JP5 says mccain says

Go you!!!

(but I do not support the protests which intended to disrupt theatre patrons attending broadway shows...how rude).

Catz

__________________
I gave myself to Jesus, but now he never calls.

Your post is one of the main reasons I come to this site -- you never know when you're going to get a first-hand account of what must have been a splendid event.

The funniest thing I saw on the news was this woman commiserating with the police because they had to wear full riot gear on a hot August day with a very large but very peaceful public demonstration.

It truly was a sign of America's greatness and I wish I could have been there.

By the way Max, the way you talk, it sounds like the local coverage was negative -- here in Dallas, the news coverage was quite positive.

And I'm sorry that a few GOP conventioneers were heckled (in Time Square, not in a broadway show as Drudge implies). But then again, I've been called a heck of a lot worse things by New Yorkers merely for trying to be polite and wait my turn at a juice bar on the Staten Island Ferry. It's part of the whole "charm" of New York City. lol The GOP conventioneers shouldn't take it personally (and if they do, the blame should probably be put at the door of the Bush Re-election campaign that control every single appearance to avoid any protesters -- heck the Kerry campaign is used to the Bush hecklers).

two things that were repeated in lots of coverage were the size of the crowd and the amount of coffins being sent through. many channels (like Fox News) said the crowd was in the ten's of thousands. don't believe it. it was hundreds of thousands. you don't clog 30 blocks in nyc with only 20,000 people. you couldn't only walk a block in 15-20 minutes with only 30,000. don't believe it, it was HUGE. there were people stretched out as far as the eye can see.

regarding the caskets. there were reportedly a 1,000 going through. some news accounts said there were "several." look at any picture of the event, and it is clear there were hundreds of them in the crowd.

i just saw lots of careless lazy reporting.

__________________
"strength and wisdom are not opposing values." ~ bc

Thomas Kean for President!


there's what mccain says...then there's what JP5 says mccain says

I didn't watch Fox's coverage and therefore didn't see the anti-Fox cheers so no other news network deemed that aspect of the march to be news-worthy. lol

The Dallas local news said police estimated the crowd at above 100,000 while organizers said 500,000. I know it was massive though.

I saw video of the people in Central Park -- it looked very sixtiesh to me.

I'm glad that you are using your freedom to speak out on what you believe in. Too many people just sit at home and complain about everything. It's great to see people actually interested in what is going on in the world, even though I don't agree at all in their message (in the case of Sunday's protest).

In my paper, it said organizers estimated the crowd at 500,000, while unidentified police officials offered two numbers: one that agreed with the 500,000 estimate, another that said it was 120,000.

Split the difference, you're talking at least 300,000 people.

200 arrests, mostly for blocking traffic and disorderly conduct. An arrest rate of 0.0006 percent.

Glad it went well.

there were hundreds of thousands. NY police don't give estimates of crowd sizes. UPJ said early yesterday, they got 400,000. later in the day, they said it was closer to 500,000. an official with the nypd said, anonymously, that it was close to a half million.

in any event, there were people everywhere. some papers today are calling it the largest convention protest ever.

i didn't make it to the unofficial rally in central park. but on the news, they were showing people spelling out things or making peace signs from the air. good for them, but that's not my cup of tea.

__________________
"strength and wisdom are not opposing values." ~ bc

Thomas Kean for President!


there's what mccain says...then there's what JP5 says mccain says

I don't like attending protests, even if I agree with their message. Something about them just looks too radical, and too desperate. I prefer what I believe to be the most pragmatic way of changing society, and that is VOTING, and getting others to vote.

if we're this divided, maybe change is good