Alex Linder
09-01-2004, 03:43 AM
by John Smith
Greetings once again from Nueva York, El Distrito Aburrido Federal. What follows here is simply a dispassionate accounting of what I'm experiencing daily in the City of New York, Manhattan during this week of the Republican Party's National Convention at Madison Square Garden. I'm afraid it's pretty boring stuff as far as reportage goes. It only deals with my walk to and from work. I'll leave the reporting of the drivel driven goings on within the Garden itself to any of those privy to said proceedings.
Well, if you read yesterday's report, it's just more of the same. The kinks seem to have been ironed out as far as security goes. There are many many concrete stanchions on sidewalks, in the avenues, in the intersections etc. There are many many gates and wire fences and orange cones. The avenues begin to be bifurcated once one reaches West 23rd St. (by the cones) and vehicular traffic is halted altogether by West 27th St. I might add that there are staggering numbers of cops abroad, of all description. Many of these firearm toting peace officers are not white. I mean it. Most of these non white police men and women are black and/or hispanic. There are also many oriental police officers among them.
Overhead can be heard the unremittant whirring of helicopter blades. There's a virtual hornets nest number of helicopters aloft in NY. This aerial activity actually started well before the convention, and come to think of it, it's actually going on all the time in NY but there is much more of it now.
At the checkpoints (especially at Madison Square Garden/Penn Plaza/Penn Station; for those of you not familiar with Gotham, they all occupy the same city block) are again manned by a conglomeration of uniformed NYPD, plainclothes NYPD, Uniformed Feds, and smartly attired plainclothes steely eyed something or others. Many of these must be Secret Service or FBI. That's just my assumption.
Today the mood at these hotspot checkpoints was a bit different. I recognized many of the feds and cops from yesterday and many of them have begun to flirt with the women who enter and exit. I say this only because I picked up a more jovial vibe in my comings and goings today.
Once you reach the actual city block that houses the convention, there are many SWAT type officers carrying somewhat elaborate rifles.
As for the protesters? It appears they fell for the sop offered by the NYPD and shot their collective misguided load on Sunday when they were given permission for their parade. There was the vaguest smattering of people walking around with anti-George Bush buttons, pro-Kerry Buttons etc.
Dear Readers, please bear with me, but the tiresome agony of having to live in the gathering police state and racial filth of NY and then having to come upon weak gaggles of beatifically countenanced Kerry supporters, well, it's sometimes too much to bear.
I mean, one must constantly rub elbows with those who people the execrably idiotic equation wherein it's stated: Kerry Good/Bush Bad
There you have it, my humble take on today's slice of NY life which seems to be a morphing of Blade Runner type futuristic Orwellian police state with more than a soupçon of corporo-sheen all adding up to a nice urban stew of zombified idiocy. I feel quite strongly that once the velvet glove of this stifling military/police presence has been laid upon us, it will not be wholly withdrawn post convention.
Stay tuned for day 3.
JOHN SMITH
Greetings once again from Nueva York, El Distrito Aburrido Federal. What follows here is simply a dispassionate accounting of what I'm experiencing daily in the City of New York, Manhattan during this week of the Republican Party's National Convention at Madison Square Garden. I'm afraid it's pretty boring stuff as far as reportage goes. It only deals with my walk to and from work. I'll leave the reporting of the drivel driven goings on within the Garden itself to any of those privy to said proceedings.
Well, if you read yesterday's report, it's just more of the same. The kinks seem to have been ironed out as far as security goes. There are many many concrete stanchions on sidewalks, in the avenues, in the intersections etc. There are many many gates and wire fences and orange cones. The avenues begin to be bifurcated once one reaches West 23rd St. (by the cones) and vehicular traffic is halted altogether by West 27th St. I might add that there are staggering numbers of cops abroad, of all description. Many of these firearm toting peace officers are not white. I mean it. Most of these non white police men and women are black and/or hispanic. There are also many oriental police officers among them.
Overhead can be heard the unremittant whirring of helicopter blades. There's a virtual hornets nest number of helicopters aloft in NY. This aerial activity actually started well before the convention, and come to think of it, it's actually going on all the time in NY but there is much more of it now.
At the checkpoints (especially at Madison Square Garden/Penn Plaza/Penn Station; for those of you not familiar with Gotham, they all occupy the same city block) are again manned by a conglomeration of uniformed NYPD, plainclothes NYPD, Uniformed Feds, and smartly attired plainclothes steely eyed something or others. Many of these must be Secret Service or FBI. That's just my assumption.
Today the mood at these hotspot checkpoints was a bit different. I recognized many of the feds and cops from yesterday and many of them have begun to flirt with the women who enter and exit. I say this only because I picked up a more jovial vibe in my comings and goings today.
Once you reach the actual city block that houses the convention, there are many SWAT type officers carrying somewhat elaborate rifles.
As for the protesters? It appears they fell for the sop offered by the NYPD and shot their collective misguided load on Sunday when they were given permission for their parade. There was the vaguest smattering of people walking around with anti-George Bush buttons, pro-Kerry Buttons etc.
Dear Readers, please bear with me, but the tiresome agony of having to live in the gathering police state and racial filth of NY and then having to come upon weak gaggles of beatifically countenanced Kerry supporters, well, it's sometimes too much to bear.
I mean, one must constantly rub elbows with those who people the execrably idiotic equation wherein it's stated: Kerry Good/Bush Bad
There you have it, my humble take on today's slice of NY life which seems to be a morphing of Blade Runner type futuristic Orwellian police state with more than a soupçon of corporo-sheen all adding up to a nice urban stew of zombified idiocy. I feel quite strongly that once the velvet glove of this stifling military/police presence has been laid upon us, it will not be wholly withdrawn post convention.
Stay tuned for day 3.
JOHN SMITH