Posted on 03/27/2004 1:59:19 PM PST by Lando Lincoln
I expect there to be as much (or more) violence at the Republican National Convention in New York City this September as occurred at the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968. At the very least, the convention will almost certainly bring the worst civil disturbances that the United States has seen since the World Trade Organization met in Seattle. This, of course, is potentially perilous: but it might well also be a magnificent opportunity.
Frankly, I wouldn’t be shocked to see real street battles. The extreme left is angry. Angrier than I’ve ever seen them. And they will be made angrier still by the harsh security measures which will be required to protect the dignitaries in New York. But the right is angry too, and there will be a lot of conservatives converging in New York City for the event. If the left wants to fight, expect the right to fight back.
Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of “protestors” will flood into New York for the convention. They will be joined by various thrill-seekers, malcontents, and trouble-makers. It would be insane not to expect things to get ugly.
This, however, can all be turned to the benefit of President Bush. After all, while there might be occasional clashes between pro and anti-American demonstrators, the majority of the clashes that occur will be between the treason legion and the NYPD (or the National Guard). A few days of seeing that on television (backed by anti-Bush rhetoric) will sour many people who might have otherwise voted for John Kerry. This will be especially true given that, since the people rioting in the streets are a core component of John Kerry’s “base”, he’ll have a hard time denouncing them convincingly. He might not even denounce them at all, and instead curse out the President for being a “divider and not a uniter” while explaining that, as a result of his post-Vietnam activism, he “knows something about riots for real.”
President Bush can use the demonstrations (especially if they’ve turned violent) as a rallying point for both his base and swing voters. While, naturally, the President would have to tactfully dance around the point in his speech, there’d be plenty of Republican commentators around to transmit the meme: Democrats are violent, anti-American anarchists. Perhaps Rudy Giuliani could be brought before the convention to hammer this particular point home.
All of this could easily work to transform the Republican convention from a staid event, barely covered by the media (as opposed to the coverage which is sure to be lavished upon the Democratic Convention) into mesmerizing television with a message. After all, in any riot, the average American identifies far more strongly with those seeking to put down the riot than they do the rioters. Those who romanticism political “activism” of this sort aren’t going to be voting for George Bush in any case.
The enemy at home is as dangerous as the enemy abroad. The course which they advocate means more than the loss of this war: it means the staining of American honor and the dismemberment of American power. The people who will be on the streets hate America and will be given ample time to demonstrate the point.
A battle in the streets of New York City might well be an excellent prelude to the battle in the voting booths. It will crystallize the difference between the parties. The Republicans are the party busy fighting a global war against savages bent on murder and destruction. The Democrats are the party busy appeasing savages bent on murder and destruction both at home and abroad. A multi-day political riot by leftists would give the American people an extended demonstration of every single pathology which afflicts the diseased brains of liberals.
Some will respond to this by pointing out the detrimental effect that the Chicago riots had on Democratic fortunes in 1968. I don’t believe that the situations are comparable. The 1968 riots hurt the Democrats for two reasons: they were partially set off by events on the convention floor and they involved the sort of people who were, broadly, seen as the base of that party. If the riots had been staged by Southern segregationists wearing “Wallace” buttons, I think they would have been seen as something else altogether. That will be the case here.
The average American simply does not feel the hate towards President Bush that the far left feels. Not only do they not feel it, they don’t even understand it. Some of them (the duller, less moral, and less useful ones) might not support him, but they don’t hate him. A lengthy riot by his opponents will hammer home one major point to the average American: these people are crazy, and they support John Kerry.
It could even turn hot.
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That's for sure. The people who rioted in '68 are in their late 50's. They are now Republicans. Their kids are too spoiled and too lazy to riot.
But consider the *gotcha* second bomb intended to kill emergency responders and police after a first, diversionary bombing, and recall that plane crash in Queens a few days after the 09/11 attack. And consider that our enemies, foreign are likely more familiar with NY than any other of their favoured targets, and that an attack on NY as a followup to the sort of event you describe would not only guarantee them the publicity they crave from the assembled world's journalists, but would also prove that they can hit *the great satan's* largest city repeatedly, any time they so choose. And with the high concentration of a Jewish population in NY, HAMAS may find such a closely gathered collection of unarmed Jews to be a more inviting target for revenge for the death of one of their own leaders than Jews in Israel who can shoot- and bomb- right back.
There are lots of potential attack tactics, and many potential attackers. And it only takes one successful one to set the example for others to copycat any success, even a limited one.
Imagine what a police billy will do to those 60 year old knees...
:O)
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