The riots on New York 2004 are about to begin to coincide with the Republican National Convention. The Republicans have every intention of putting the protestors on TV and point out that those naked lunatics setting fire to stuff are supporters of Kerry.
History repeats itself; in Chicago 1968 students rioted and rebelled against the war and ended up achieving exactly opposite their goal: they swept the pro-war Nixon into power. The US population realized that Nixon’s opponent was backed by anarchists. The Village Voice has a terrific recap and comparison of history, 1968 and 2004. When one of these protestors is questioned whether their anarchy will have the exact opposite effect that they intend:
But she is not right in the sense that matters: the political sense. “I think people understand,” she says. Linger on that formulation. It is only inane arrogance that gives someone the confidence to pronounce that, magically, “people will understand.” They might not understand at all. Instead, what they might understand is: “Bush is better than anarchy in the streets.” It ain’t fair. But if it all goes down as unplanned, there’ll be a whole lot more unfairness coming down the pike in the next four years.

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