You have the right to remain silent

[cyrano]

So apparently the City of Boston has allowed a place for people to say things the DNC might not want to hear.
It's tucked away under the tracks of the El (Or whatever it's called in Boston--I don't remember), surrounded by chainlink and topped with razor wire. Admittedly, this report is coming from people who have been inside it, so they might be biased. After all, it's not a real relocation camp, and they willingly entered it. And I do understand that the City has a right and a need to protect its citizens from what they feel might be inconvenient or dangerous. As Mayor Daley said on the eve of the '68 Convention, the police are not there to create disorder, they're there to preserve disorder.

But I still don't like it.

Comments

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

The "free speech zone" for protesters has been a standard part of many events (including presidential appearances) since 9/11 (I don't recall if it was in use before that or not). I'm not thrilled about the idea, but. Yeah.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I understand that Freedom of Speech needs to be carefully restricted during important events. It's just that they seem to be going out of their way, with this setting, to say (As Ice T's classic Iceberg album reminded us) Freedom of Speech, Just Watch What You Say.

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[windrose.livejournal.com]

It's tucked away under the tracks of the El (Or whatever it's called in Boston--I don't remember)

It's called the T, if I remember correctly from my friend stint in Boston.

[aberdeen.livejournal.com]

Yes, T, short for Mass Bay Transit Authority or MBTA or MTA, as in Charlie on the. (Did he ever return? No he never returned, and his fate is still unlearned.)

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

He will ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston: he's the man who never returned!

(I'd never heard the song until this summer, when I was helping write a set of puzzles around the theme of Charlie on the MTA.)

At any rate, coyote: Prog reports that no one's paying any attention to it.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Ehhhhhhxcellent.
My Plans for World Domination are one step closer to completion.

Never trust anyone who smiles a lot

[miss-friday.livejournal.com]

You have broadband, so I bet you'll appreciate this more than I (and I appreciated it a fair bit).

http://www.comedycentral.com/mp/play.php?reposid=/multimedia/indy04/dnc_black3.html

Re: Never trust anyone who smiles a lot

[l2g.livejournal.com]

Love Lewis Black. I love the way he leads off with something that really irritated me personally. "Brought to you by Bud Light! Okay? What level have we sunk to? The Democratic Party on their own can't collect enough money to put a sign up, and Boston can't do it, either? Are you kidding me? Bud Light, a beer company, bringing you the convention? Literally, why did I bother going to school in the late '60s?"

Re: Never trust anyone who smiles a lot

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Yay! I got to see both his segments plus the 'He's not John Kerry' advert!

[l2g.livejournal.com]

Ahh yes. I read a letter to the Seattle Times last night that put it very simply: Free Speech Zone? Isn't our entire country supposed to be a Free Speech Zone?

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, see, that's the problem with you liberals. You take all that Constitution crap and you expect it to actually apply to people we don't like.
And we don't like you. See that little booth where Anne Coulter is standing with the cattle prod and the tin snips? Just join the queue.