What to wear to a protest

I took a hellacious red-eye that left Seattle at 12:15 AM. But I'm finally here. As I was running to catch the plane, I found a number of places that have the schedule of RNC protests. (Google RNC protest schedule) I had some fear that I would show up here and not get dialed into the events, but it's like a multitrack conference but instead of seminars, there are protests happening at various sites around the city. For this week, Manhattan is like a large hotel, and sites like the Fox building, CNN, Rockefeller square and Madison Square Garden (MSG) are the rooms for various venues.

It's like being at a conference, you choose from a schedule of protests. Today, I'm going to open with Grannies against War, then visit CNN and Fox studios for corporate media control protests, then finish off the night by protesting at a party thrown by Coke for RNC goers.

Links:
http://www.dailypress.com/news/nationworld/NYC-protest-GOP,0,5784728.story?coll=sns-newsnation-headlines
http://www.dailypress.com/news/nationworld/NYC-protest-bios,0,7730150.story?coll=sns-newsnation-headlines
http://live.axisofjustice.sparkart.net/

I'm sure many of you are wondering, what do you wear to a protest? Naturally anything goes--tank tops and shorts are the derigor. I chose to follow the advice of a card carrying ACLU friend who said, "Dress like a Republican. The cops are less likely to hassle you."

So I left the sandals and shorts home and brought the khakis, Eddie Bauer shirts, and polos. In my HP briefcase, I have my laptop, map, protest schedules, and gas mask. I just had a gyro at a shop across from MSG and struck up a conversation with a nice guy wearing a suite and RNC pass that said "security", so I think my cover is complete.

But a guy can only take so much right wing talk. My wired 'home away from home' is a Starbucks that is alongside MSG. As soon as I walked through the doors, a woman with a Kerry pin was ranting along with the baristas about why we decided to ship our young people to Iraq to be targets and kill other young people over there.
So I echoed some advice I got from a PK Dick novel, you have to look at who profits the most-- Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, and Haliburton. Though this too is a simplification, there is still the oil and the oil companies, and the list of keeps getting larger. But eventually you and I in America do get to profit by having gas to put in our cars, and maybe after that, at the bottom of the list the Iraqi people.

Perhaps that isn't fair. Perhaps there is some chance that country will reach the stability of other examples of American imperialism like Germany, Japan. Or maybe they will have to suffer as a third world country as Vietnam. It is possible.

But there is a guarantee-- Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, GWB, Haliburt--all those near the top of the list are going to make a bundle no matter if Iraq turns into Cambodia or Germany.

They know a sure buck when they see it.

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