The Fizzle Festival: Coming soon to St. Paul

Posted at 2:23 AM on August 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: The political conventions

Protest groups often complain that if money weren't being spent on the military, it could be used to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and rebuild our broken bridges. This week in Denver -- and certainly next week in St. Paul -- the same can be said for the money it takes to keep the protesters under control, if not under wraps.

In St. Paul, there'll be a significant number of relevant protests. There'll also be plenty of levitating wizards.

Update: It turns out the wizard, Mark Cohen of the umbrella protest group Recreate '68, intended to levitate the mint. It didn't levitate either. Some news reports said police estimated the crowd at 50-75. I counted 3. Later, perhaps, people looking for something to protest stopped to watch.

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Comments (2)

Please - protests that harm no property or persons shouldn't be an issue for the police.

In Saint Paul we are giving the city to the GOP visitors, and protecting them from being discomfited about their retrograde views.

You know darn well that the money being spent on police wouldn't be spent on anything altruistic. To compare the cost of protest with the cost of war is shocking in its inaptness - it may be cute facile clever soundbytey prose, but it's beneath what MPR once was.

Posted by Anonymous | August 26, 2008 7:49 AM

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I wasn't comparing the COST, I was comparing the philosophy of the argument, anonymous. But I think you knew that. A waste of money is a waste of money .

Many (not all) protest groups are all about trying to get publicity and they invite us to help spread their message. Sometimes their message is "we're more heat than light." In this environment, their message gets amplified to a point where it no longer is reality. It's the same orchestrated showbiz that takes place inside the Pepsi Center and they should be called on it , too.

I would submit to you, anonymous, that the levitating wizard and the promises to "encircle the mint" (hard to do when only three people show up to your protest) were the very definition of heat.

All that money for a levitating wizard. Unbelievable.

Posted by Bob Collins | August 26, 2008 8:35 AM

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