RNC Fun

This morning was per usual. Pretty typical for St. Paul. We typically have helicopters circling around town in formation. I said hi to old "Silenty" as I call him. Ol' Silenty was doing his usual lean against the side of the building watching the people at the bus stop. That's pretty normal.

When I got into the office we had a nice reminder of our building bomb threat procedures. That was good to get a refresher.

I keep scanning the tops of buildings thinking I'll see some activity, but I haven't seen anything.

All kidding aside I can't wait for the RNC to be over.

I do find it interesting seeing the things that are being done for the sake of security though. I don't know how much of it is for show. What's the helicopter going to do? I suppose it's there to observe activity and provide support for a situation.

Silenty, he's either looking for suspicious activity on the street or the bus stop. I'm sure if he saw something that was out of place it wouldn't take long for some people to come and deal with the situation.

I'm both fascinated and annoyed by the security around the RNC. I suppose I should probably be more angry about the things that are going on.  

One thing I noticed was how radical the media was painting the arrestees last week. I don't know those people. Maybe they are that radical. What I do know is that there are people who would like to peacefully protest the RNC and are being grouped with the radicals.

There have been stories in the local media that focused on the fringe groups. I don't know whether it is a planned move to associate other protesters with the most radical or if the media knows that the radical groups are the ones that are going to get the most attention.

Regardless of intention, the effect is the same. If you talk about protesters in St. Paul someone's going to bring up buckets of urine and caltrops. Who the hell are these protesters? I know that the Republicans aren't the far left's favorite people, but why try to mess with a city like that?

Don't these people know that they will fail to shut down the city? Seriously, it isn't going to happen.

I suppose many of them don't understand the forces that oppose their efforts. The net effect that I see is they become a visible minority of the people who choose to voice their opposition to the policies that the current administration and its party stands for. The anarchists put a very dispicable face on those who oppose the direction that the Bush/Cheney administration has taken this country.

Ultimately, I think that the people who oppose the current administration the most are helping them by putting a very unreasonable face on the protests.

I have family and friends on both sides of the political spectrum. I respect their positions, even the positions with which I disagree. I know many people who are not Republicans and most of them are very reasonable people. I really hate to see them portrayed as the nuts that are getting all the media exposure.