But Will They Be Allowed to Smoke?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has long been one of my least-favorite politicians in America (though Pataki’s worse); this latest stunt only shows why:

For a limited time only, protestors at the upcoming GOP convention are eligible for discounts at hotels, restaurants, theaters and more, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday.

The city's "Welcome Peaceful Political Activists" promotion is designed to cash in on an estimated 200,000 demonstrators expected to descend on the city in two weeks to voice their opposition to President Bush…

"We want to make sure protesters feel welcome here and that they take advantage of all New York City has to offer . . . It's no fun to protest on an empty stomach," said the billionaire mayor.

And this comes just a few days after Da Mayor mistakenly referred to political protest as a “privilege.” Ugh. What’s to prevent not-so-peaceful activists from lying, and pretending to be peaceful? Are they going to listen to Bloomberg, when he’s clearly part of the Evil Capitalist Enemy of War-Profiteers? And how do they define “peaceful”? The protestors have all sorts of disinformation/sabotage plans that may not count as “violent,” but they’re certainly not peaceful either.

Salon’s been running some great pieces by Michelle Goldberg (here and here) on the protestors’ plans. They’ve got some BAD SHIT in store, whether it’s trying to shut down the actual convention, accosting people in restaurants, or destroying the property of companies “involved in the Iraq reconstruction.” And of course, it’s clear any sort of mass conflagration at the convention will help Bush much more than hurt him, shades of Chicago in ’68.

Posted by Stephen Silver at August 18, 2004 05:52 PM