Dowbrigade

Right
about now, according to Fox, the mass of anti-war protesters in New York
City are
finishing their march and filling up Union Square. First of all, let
us say that it is depressing to have to rely on Fox News for a 30-second
sound-bite snapshot to know what is going on in Union Square right now.
Google news
search turns up a few articles at the top about protesters plans, but
no current updates from the front. Technorati is
even worse - all blog entries about the bicycle protest - yesterday!
Even the story at the
top of the CNN
web site are about protesters plans and what is going
to happen - not about what is happening right now, in their own back
yard.

We want to know what is going on NOW! We  want to BE THERE, via
the Blogosphere. We want a site where we can read what people who are
in that crowd are writing or saying, blogging via Wi-Fi or cellular modem,
alongside a feed from a webcam in Union Sq.  There MUST be a webcam
in Union Sq, somewhere, probably several! Lord knows the authorities
have their cameras monitoring the crowd. What we don’t want is a 30-second
synopsis of what is going on provided by a Rupert Mrudock minion, but
that’s all we’ve got.

The question is where the crowd will go now that the parade is over.
There are rumors that thousands are expected to gather in Central Park.
March organizers, denied a permit to hold a rally in the park, maintains
that if marchers go to the part it would be simply as law-abiding citizens
off to enjoy the beautiful weather in a day at the park. Check out this NYT
interactive map of the area.

If they want to get a lot of press, take a stand, challenge the authorities
and have the makings of a hell of a party, they should ALL go to Central
Park - and refuse to leave.  Declare it "Liberated Territory", out
of the control of the illegal Bush regime. They could all camp out in
the park, which has the bathrooms, drinking water and food outlets to
make it a feasible proposition. By creating a liberated "Tent City" in
the heart of Manhattan, they would instantly create a focus and a headquarters
for what is increasingly appearing to be a disunited and capricious
coalition of protestors.

Their success at getting away with this tactic will depend in how many
people they can get on-board before the NYC Police take them as a serious
enough threat to hold the requisite meetings to authorize the use of
force to move the protestors out.

Somewhere there is a magic number, probably between a hundred and a
thousand, beyond which the political and police authorities would decline
to act on the simple reasoning that the benefits of rousting them would
be outweighed by the images of pitched battles between police and hundreds
of protesters.  They would probably let them stay until the end
of the week, and just keep them surrounded.

The authorities would probably at some point have to cut them off, like
the naval embargo of Cuba, because as the press commences with live broadcasts
from the liberated territory, Sam Donnaldson doing interviews with the
sounds of wild partying obviously off-screen, jungle drums beating around
a bonfire in the background, bare breasts hoisted on sturdy shoulders,
people would start to head down to the park, to join in the fun or just
to gawk, looking for love, or action, or trouble.

Soon, people from all up and down the East Coast would be heading for
Central Park.  It would be this generations Woodstock. Bands would
set up in the acoustic shell, Of course, at some point the Powers-that-be
would order the part cut off from the rest of the city, nobody in or
out, which they could do without the kind of violent confrontation necessary
to clear the area entirely.

Hell, the Dowbrigade would even play hooky from work, just for the opportunity
to blog from "liberated territory." This story defines what we consider
"news" and contrasts vividly with what is expected to transpire inside
Madison Square Garden.  Inside, the drama will be carefully scripted
and designed by experts for a desired impression.  Outside, on the
mean streets of Manhattan, nobody has any idea what is going to happen.

article from the NY Times