Notes on a walk around the Big Apple.

1. Sunday (August 29) was a lovely day for a walk. Yes, it was a hot day, but I went with a friend, besides I was also with maybe as many as half a million people. While we all complained of the heat and how long we had to wait to start walking, we were there because we shared a common
concern: overthrowing the regime of George W. Bush. And that was pretty cool.

2. As for me, I was there not to protest the Republican National Convention but to protest the
war and the increasing repression and attacks on civil rights as well as the increased
militarization of the country.

3. Normally, I do not go to demonstrations in strange cities. I want to know my way around, and
I want to know something about the culture of the cops I may be facing. But I was born in New
York and for many years spent my Augusts apartment-sitting for a friend who had the money to get out of town during the dog days. In fact the weather this Sunday reminded me of a line I had
in Thornton Wilder’s play Skin of Our Teeth, “It’s so hot, the dogs are sticking to the sidewalk.‿

4. The spirit of the protestors was fantastic. They, we, were there having fun, enjoying each
other, enjoying the cleverness and wit in many of the signs and costumes. Don’t misconstrue
what was going on: our ends were quite serious. But in our instant comradeship, we were also a
part of a shared movement.

5. This is not to say that we ignored the differences. There were the committed Democrats and
ABBs wearing their Kerrey/Edwards buttons, the Progressive Labor Party (which is neither
progressive nor a party), the Socialists in various incarnations, the New Collectivists and the old
marxist-leninists factions, the black bloc and the pink bloc. We walked for a while with the
disability rights activists although we did miss the later “kiss-in‿ held on Broadway by a lesbian
contingent.

6. As we marched by the Faux News Network billboard on 34th Street a loud cheer went up from
the crowd. I couldn’t make out exactly what was said, but its tone was one of ridicule.

7. By one convention hotel, standing on the sidewalk behind the police barrier, a small group of
white, male Republicans in long-sleeved White male shirts–and some with ties–loudly heckled
us as we walked by. I was impressed by the adolescent character of their screams.While they
were a pitiable bunch of counter protestors, a few blocks away some 20 men and women holding
well-made posters screamed at us almost hysterically. Their signs and screeches were drawn
from the radical right. They likened Kerrie to a communist, advocated black student segregation
and an end to immigration. They opposed gun control, the UN, and the American Civil Liberties
Union. The ACLU, they screamed, is against Christianity. Unfortunately, quite a few marchers
felt obliged to enter into a screaming match with them. Fortunately some street marshals
intervened.

8. While the demonstrators were demonstrating, the police were protecting us from terrorists
and, presumably, ourselves. One person counted seven helicopters flying over. Then there was
the police blimp and its photo surveillance fly overs. It’s odd how quickly you can get used to it.

9. We did not hear an estimate of the size of the police forces, but the day before I read of the
likelihood of 10,000 cops, not all in uniform. Many seemed tense and jumpy; others seemed
relaxed recognizing this as soft duty–with overtime. But I had no doubt that the slightest
incident would yield a platoon of angry police not overly concerned with what they learned in the
academy.

10. One interesting observation was the placement of the cops. Wherever the demonstration
passed by a bank, the number of cops was doubled.The idea of an attempted bank robbery in the
midst of this event seemed ludicrous.

11. In many ways, the highlight of the demonstration was the carrying of hundreds of flag-
draped coffins along the avenue in memory of those who died in Bush’s war and as a reminder
that death is the inescapable partner of war.

12. It was my impression that for the overwhelming majority of the marchers the Democrats
were the default, while their passsions were against the war and against the current occupant of
the White House.

13. I am still chuckling over one placard. “Bush, like a rock–only dumber.‿