Too early for convention outrage?

Posted at 9:34 AM on August 27, 2010 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

One of the downsides of being in a city that's hosting a national political convention is the danger of "outrage overload."

Protesters and would-be protesters are always looking for an edge against "the man." There are usually plenty of actual transgressions during a convention to keep the news media busy documenting confrontation after confrontation. But it's a delicate balancing act. Timing is everything. The intended audience needs to be interested.

Is it too early to begin the outrage?

In Minneapolis, anti-war protestors are , err, outraged that the city of Minneapolis would not grant them a parade license to have a protest parade during the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

They said the city told them it's too early to be granting parade licenses for the convention that's still two years away.

And the Democrats haven't even awarded Minneapolis the convention, yet.

The organizers are holding a news conference this morning, which will also document just how a slow news day it is today.

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Comments (6)

I've had about all the outrage I can stand.

From Glenn Beck to Keith Oberman, you can keep them all. They make their living by fomenting outrage. It drives the national politics to either end of the spectrum and the result is a congress that can;t cooperate and pick a reasonable middle road on anything.

It's not good for the nation. It pushes us away from being a community and drags us into our individual camps.

Posted by John P | August 27, 2010 10:31 AM

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I call it the "Don Cherry Theory of Teambuilding."

Cherry was the coach of the Boston Bruins, back when I was a big Bruin fan and his modus operandi was instilling an "us against them" attitude in his players. "Them" was other teams, or his own's team's management. Whatever it took.

The problem with it as a management tool, is it's only effective in the very short term. Eventually it destroys the organization.

I've seen nothing in the last decade that has made the Don Cherry Theory of Teambuilding not applicable to the wider world.

It would make a swell theme for a church name, however. "Our Lady of Perpetual Outrage."

Posted by Bob Collins | August 27, 2010 10:48 AM

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If they can's wait until we know the convention will even BE in Minneapolis, I'd say they need to find a different hobby .

Posted by Heather | August 27, 2010 11:08 AM

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I am with you on the phony outrage but the city's position is quite thin. I have no doubt that Macys knows that they will be having a Holidazzle in 2012.

Posted by matt | August 27, 2010 11:22 AM

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True. But there IS a Macy's and there IS a Nicollet Mall and that's something -- knock on wood -- you can pretty much write in stone.

Heck, we might as well issue a parade permit for the 2012 World Series victory parade. Except it'll be held in Cleveland. (g)

That, by the way, is also likely to be the site of the Democratic National Convention.

Posted by Bob Collins | August 27, 2010 12:43 PM

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Agreed, but the protestors requesting the permit are real and undoubtedly have contingencies in Cleveland as well asking for permits. Once the site is chosen there will undoubtedly be a govt body that is established to oversee the process and will likely have control over parades. If the permit was granted by the city prior to that groups formation they would have to work around the protest parade rather than the protestors having to work around them. This would have been an important way to not just protect free speech but for the city to promote it!

Here is to hoping there is no need for a parade come 2012, here in Cleveland or anywhere else.

Posted by Matt | August 27, 2010 1:38 PM

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