« beginning a week of freedom and democracy | Main | Looking for the New Che: Arundhati Roy »
After the President Speaks in Midtown
September 3, 2004
After hearing some great poets slam bush at the bowery poetry club, we walked up 2nd ave, stopped into a bar where an anti-bush crowd jeered the lasts 10 minutes of the presidents speech on television. Even though I missed most of the speech, it didn't seem to end very strong. And then in Union Square an excited older man came around telling people what seems to be a possible explanation. He said that he was interrupted at least twice during the speech by activists in Madison Square Garden, and that he had lost his flow of thought at least once.
Beyond whether or not the disruption will make a positive effect on the election, that level of disruption is historic, and this week has definitely been as well. While much has been made of "the protestors" and the cops' tactics to pre-empt and suppress, the full story is about the vast creative and democratic energy that has been present in the city this week. While there has been a little too much anger this past week from both the Republicans and the People (myself included), there is also an emerging feeling that the baby boomers will not be the last generation to stand for something politically transformative. As Complacent noted in its pre-convention email, "Generation lost has just found itself." We're in for an intense next few years.
Posted by Colin at September 3, 2004 5:28 AM
