|
It was an exorcism of sorts, but it didn’t work.
Because after our march came others still—New
York has been littered with them since the 30th—and
those marches and individual protests have been thwarted.
I was there for the big one wearing, along with my
best friend, a t-shirt that read “Wax Bush:
Vote 2004.” I can tell you that the protest
was peaceful, that the dissenters spit nasty, angry
words at us from behind barricades, that the solidarity
was one of a people unhappy and torn by a bad economy,
a bad war, and bad social policy. I can tell you that
the “New York as police state” mentality
that ensued once the convention had officially started
was grounded not in the belief that the opposition
posed a physical threat but, rather, in this belief:
That which we do not see can do us no harm.
But the Republicans have planted themselves in blue
territory and what’s fair is fair. Should the
Democrats be kept from speaking their minds as the
radical right espouses lies where the Knickerbockers—New
York’s Knickerbockers—play? Should the
Democrats have to suffer through band-aids with purple
hearts that insult the military service of every brave
American sent overseas for our so-called freedom?
Should the Democrats have to watch the ex-mayor who,
by the way, had faded in favor until the events of
September 11, evoke that day ten times in his half-hour
speech?
No. Of course not. At least, not without a fight.
But the Bushies seem to believe that the presence
of dissent would send the wrong message. And it would.
We would not bother protesting if we felt it accomplished
nothing. Someone ordered the police to arrest everyone.
Cuff first, ask questions later. Protesters have been
caught in giant fishing nets, designed to stop opposition
before it begins. What I remember from my year spent
studying American History was that Americans had the
right to assemble so long as no violence was involved.
These protests have been nothing short of docile.
Voices have been raised, but never fists. Civil disobedience
has not exceeded beyond hanging banners on public
buildings. And yet. Over 1,000 people have been arrested,
and still the protests will not end.
The Republicans are afraid. Even with their moderate
speakers, their campaign of lies, their attacks on
Kerry, their guarantees that they have made America
safer, Bush is slipping in the polls. Because no amount
of rhetoric can explain away 1.5 million lost jobs.
They should be afraid. The Republican platform is
insulting to anyone with half a brain. No one would
dare argue that the platform represents the beliefs
of most Americans. It doesn’t even represent
the beliefs of most Republicans. But Bush and Co.
thought that by tucking that platform away, that by
parading performers and ex-Dems around Madison Square
Garden they could win the swing states.
This election is not over. I took to the streets
because I believed that if middle America could see
how many people disagreed with the administration,
who paints itself as representative of the plight
of the common man, perhaps they would think differently
on November 2. I took to the streets because I know
that no matter how many times the Republicans promise
us education and healthcare and jobs, their promises
hold no water. I shared the street on Sunday with
the most diverse population I have ever seen. There
were young couples pushing strollers, their toddlers
donning political buttons. There were elderly men
and women, bent and wrinkled, marching on one of the
hottest days of the year for a future they will not
live to see. There were people my age with signs and
slogans, some of the most creative thought I have
seen in a long time. “Say No to Carbs,”
one sign said. “No Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld,
Bush, and ABSOLUTELY no Rice.” “The only
Bush I trust,” read another, “is my own.”
What I believe is that our passion trumps theirs,
that our need to strike back from poverty and war
is more desperate and necessary than their need to
protect themselves from increased taxes. What I believe
is that no matter how many of us end up in jail we
will still be fighting for the right things, while
Zell Miller and Arnold Schwartzenegger make a mockery
of politics. What I believe, and what I hope that
my fellow protesters believe, too, is that the more
of us there are, the more coverage there will be,
that for every one of us who gets arrested there are
more still, standing on street corners and yelling
out windows, because this is not what we signed on
for when we voted four years ago for a man who was
elected but never served.
Hog the limelight, Dems. Even handcuffs look shinier
on television.
| |
