The Potential of the New York Protests

Eric Alterman, whose opinions I respect without necessarily agreeing with all of them, is VERY worried about the potential for the New York City protests at the Republican National Convention being turned to Bush's benefit. Like Alterman, I can remember the Democratic National Convention of 1968 and how those anti-war protests were used against Hubert Humphrey. But, here, let Alterman speak for himself: "Anarchists and idiots ruined the Seattle protests and the media -- loving conflict and hating context -- will eat any violence and property destruction, even bad language, to smear not only the protesters but also anyone and everyone who opposes Bush. Chicago '68 unquestionably helped elect Nixon. And the same thing could happen here. Second, as with Johnson, Nixon and Reagan, it hardly requires an act of imagination to prepare for the possibility that Republican conservative spies and thugs will infiltrate these protests and cause the violence themselves, with the knowledge that it will be blamed on the protesters and their cause."

As in ... Karl Rove will DO ANYTHING to win this election.

So now Alterman has me worried too (and his posting today on his blog "Altercation", about how wrong John Kerry is on the Iraq war, is right on!)