Tourists are pleasantly surprised when New Yorkers act as friendly and polite as the people back home in Mayberry. However, delegates to this month's Republican National Convention shouldn't expect to be treated to our standard out-of-towner treatment. The Republican delegates here to coronate George W. Bush are unwelcome members of a hostile invading army. Like the hapless saps whose blood they sent to be spilled into Middle Eastern sands, they will be given intentionally incorrect directions to nonexistent places. Objects will be thrown in their direction. Children will call them obscene names. They will not be greeted as liberators.
The Republicans and Democrats were both invited by New York to hold their conventions there. The Democrats said they would accept only if the the Republicans were disinvited. The city refused and the Democrats had their convention in Boston. The Republicans accepted, with no such restrictions.
And here we have Ted once again referring to our troops in derogatory terms. This time they are "hapless saps." Real high opinion you have for those who fight and sacrifice to protect your right to spew out this drivel, Ted.
Well aware that it is barren soil for their party's anti-urban, anti-immigrant, anti-feminist, overtly racist ideology, Republican leaders have wisely avoided New York City as a convention site for the past 150 years. Even as the rest of America turns red, we New Yorkers remain as liberal as the people's republic of San Francisco: fewer than 18 percent of the citizens of New York's five boroughs (which include relatively conservative places like Staten Island) cast ballots for Bush/Cheney in 2000. But White House strategist Karl Rove sees the continued exploitation of 9/11 for partisan political gain as Bush's key to victory in November. That means bringing the big bash three miles north of the hole where the Twin Towers used to stand, where most of the victims of 9/11 were burned, suffocated, impaled and pulverized.
Once again I must remind you that New York invited the conventions to the city. The Republicans did not ask first. He also makes an unintentionally insightful comment with that bit about the "people's republic of San Francisco." Since the words "People's Republic" usually translate to "Socialist/Communist regime," I'd say it's pretty accurate.
He then talks about plans that protest groups are making to demonstrate, refers to possible strikes by police and firefighters, and engages in come consipiracy theorizing about FBI harassment of leftist groups, though given these groups propensity for breaking the law a certain amount of FBI scrutiny is certainly warranted.
He closes with this:
If today's GOP retained a shred of the dignity and patriotism that it once possessed as the Party of Lincoln, it would have dumped Bush in favor of a candidate more interested in defending America than his wealthy contributors. Republicans are neofascists now, and that's why New Yorkers good and true will be yelling at them to go back home.
He's one to talk about dignity, especially when he described Pat Tillman as a dumb jock who joined the army just so he could go kill foreigners and who deserved to die in Afghanistan. And if the Republicans really are neofascists, why is it that he is still able to write his vitriolic rants and pen his political cartoons? Lest we forget, the Nazi party, who were true fascists, were properly named the National Socialist party. The Ba'ath party, which ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein, was also known as the Arab National Socialist party. Ted Rall is a socialist. Think about it.
Update: Dunno why I wrote "Detroit" instead of "Boston" for the location of the Democratic Convention. It has been corrected.
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