BASETREE -- The RNC in NYC: The Un-Convention in the Streets

Two Kings

The John Lennon "Imagine" memorial, a circular mosaic embedded in a footpath in Strawberry Fields on the western side of Central Park, had been decorated with flowers and candles in the shape of a peace sign. When we found ourselves lost in the confusing spider web of footpaths in the southern area of the park, we asked a dog walker for directions to Fifth Avenue at the southeast corner of the park.

"Are you a Democrat or a Republican?" she asked. I was taken aback at the possibility of our being Republicans, because I didn't think we were dressed that badly.

"Oh, come on!" I joked. "We're from San Francisco."

She laughed and said, "Democrats go that way [eastward] and Republicans go that way [westward]." I later heard that many New Yorkers were intentionally misdirecting Republicans.

Outside Tiffany's, Insane Reagan performed their "Republicans Gone Wild" corporate orgy schtick while Medea Benjamin and other Code Pink members held mock glasses of champagne to toast the rich. Unfortunately, the Republican breakfast at Tiffany's had been canceled, so they were performing mostly for the police and passersby, including one skinny angry Republican wearing a blue checkered short-sleeved shirt and banana yellow pants. (Maybe if Republicans were less homophobic, they'd have some gay friends who could help them dress better, à la Queer Eye for the G.O.P. Guy.)

The cops admonished us about blocking the sidewalk and ordered Jeff to turn off the boom box, which was playing the porno music for "Republicans Gone Wild." As we walked away, we saw shiny, tinted-windowed bus after bus of delegates, but couldn't find a place to stop and perform. We made our way to the Hilton Hotel and proceeded to entertain more passersby. The sidewalk was lined with four different agitprop theatre groups: Code Pink, Insane Reagan, the Texas Republican Cheerleaders dressed in glittery red, white and blue costumes and wearing cowboy hats and a couple of guys in suits and ties walking around in Bush and Cheney masks. Since the NYPD currently doesn't have a contract -- and almost went on strike just before the RNC -- we chanted, "Give the cops contracts, not Halliburton!", as the police officers guarding the entrance to the hotel tried to suppress their smiles.

A few doors down from us, Larry King, dressed in a red shirt (I couldn't see the suspenders) stopped to admire the crazy hoopla on the sidewalk. He shook hands with the guy dressed as George Bush, and laughed as Bush wiped his hand on his jacket immediately afterward.

Just a few minutes later came boxing promoter Don King, whose physical height and large size made his famous crown of gray hair seem somehow smaller. Despite describing himself to CNN as a "Republicrat," he laughed at us and said "Yeah!" as he walked toward the hotel entrance.

We didn't see any delegates, so we continued to the Plaza Hotel back at the southeast corner of Central Park. As I donned a costume for W Dog (the rapper version of George Bush), a plump woman in her late fifties chided, "So Kerry's not rich, huh?" I turned my back and ignored her, resisting the urge to say, "You have to be rich to be elected. Who's fault is that?" A beefy hothead cop ordered us off the sidewalk, and Jeff kept pushing the envelope with him. "What if we stand in between these planters? That's not blocking the sidewalk." Eventually we were allowed to perform, turning around at times to face the Grand Army Plaza across the street.

Occasionally we saw a fifty-something man in a suit leading his scared-looking wife past us as quickly as possible, but it seemed that most of the delegates had already left the hotels. We'd arrived too late because, as Michael Moore said during his national MoveOn house party conference call, the only time liberals are awake at 6 AM is when we've stayed up all night.

And there was more :

Sitting on a sofa in "Bloggers' Alley" at The Tank between Markos Zuniga of the Daily Kos and Duncan ("Atrios") of Eschaton.
The Planned Parenthood "Stand Up for Choice!" concert, featuring Moby, Joan Osbourne, Lou Reed, comedian Lewis Black, Kathleen Turner, G.E. Smith, Michael McKean and Chuck D all singing "For What It's Worth" ("Stop, children, what's that sound/Everybody look what's going down").
Hanging out with Janeane Garofalo , Jason Bateman, Johnny Galecki and Joe Trippi after a live broadcast of Air America Radio's Majority Report .
Mass arrests of protesters who were taken to a toxic warehouse at Pier 57, dubbed Guantanamo-on-the-Hudson.
Watching Mandy Patinkin, Richard Gere, Alec Baldwin, Kathleen Turner, Betty Friedan, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee and others read the Constitution and Bill of Rights at Cooper Union.
Viewing original drafts and copies of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Crowding into a protest pen at the "Shut-Up-a-Thon" outside Fox Studios with Outfoxed director Robert Greenwald and his daughter, Outfoxed subject and dissed O'Reilly Factor guest Jeremy Glick, Insane Reagan's Jeff dressed as Bill O'Reilly, a giant carrot running for president, Code Pink's Medea Benjamin and blogger Annatopia.
The Coronation of George Bush II and subsequent reading of the Declaration of Independence in Union Square.
The ad hoc bazaar of anti-RNC kitsch in Union Square, growing larger all week.
Harlem residents laughing and cheering at our signs and costumes during the Artists and Activists United for Peace march and rally. Chuck D introducing former Black Panther member and 2005 New York City mayoral candidate Charles Barron, who called Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell a "minstrel show in whiteface."
A sighting of Dick and Lynne Cheney in the Vice Presidential motorcade traveling south on Fifth Avenue toward Madison Square Garden.
Peter Jennings nonchalantly nodding at Boo outside Madison Square Garden after Bush's speech.
Tagging along with a tough New York native in Times Square after Bush's speech as he told Republican delegates, "You're not welcome here; go back to Utah and take your homophobia with you."

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eric@basetree.com