As the 2004 Democratic National Convention descended into Boston, so did a major affront to democracy. Although a free speech zone was erected to keep the peace amongst various interest groups and concerned citizens vying to have their voices heard, this space proved to be anything but democratic. Epitomizing the stringent security measures have become the norm in our post-9/11 world, authorities stifled the voices of groups competing for space to express their opinions on matters of significance to them.

But the predictability of this censorship didn’t assuage my concern. A Canadian with a long-standing interest in American politics, I was elated at the prospect of covering the Democratic National Convention. After all, political conventions are where history is made, where a party’s image and ideals are showcased to the world, and where people begin to think more deeply about a nation’s state of affairs. The potential for change becomes tangible and one can feel hope in the air with impassioned and inspirational speakers like Illinois Senatorial hopeful Barrack Obama, who eloquently spoke of reviving a proud and patriotic nation where the American dream of opportunity and prosperity could become attainable for all people.

As songs like Sister Sledge’s 1979 smash hit “We are Family” blasted through the loudspeakers, people jostled back and forth clapped their hands and swayed from side to side. It was in these moments that a sense of unity prevailed. But as I walked around the Fleet Center where the convention was held, I realized that what was occurring outside in the free speech zone was equally as important as what was happening inside, even if it was antithetical to the spirit of the convention.

Naturally, there was no shortage of cameras and media representatives inside the Fleet Center. The convention walls were adorned with CNN banners, ABC signs, and the names of other major media outlets. But despite the wealth of media coverage of the convention, the mainstream media showed no interest in what was occurring in the so-called “free speech” zone, save for the chaos that ensued when four protesters were arrested for disobedience on Thursday afternoon.

Considering the ease with which one could get in and out of the convention without even seeing the demonstrators and hearing what they had to say, I decided to engage these silenced voices of dissent.

Welcome to the terror dome

Along with several delegates and convention attendees, I snaked around a hidden entrance to the Fleet Center where we could catch wind of the protesters‚ messages. Greeting us was a blaring loudspeaker announcement mocking the security checks we would soon encounter. As a man dressed in a bear costume with makeshift plastic buttocks dangling from his rear, who identified himself only as 47-year-old Boston-based Vermin Supreme, bellowed, “Please prepare yourself for a full-body cavity rectal search. Remember,” he cautioned, “It is in the name of national security, and it will make you safer; much like the Patriot Act which John Kerry voted for. Smile. Have a nice day,” he jeered. Hearing this as they filed inside, even delegates and other convention attendees couldn’t help but muster a grin or laugh outwardly.

Ari Maller, a 29-year-old Boston area representative from Rock the Vote, was competing for a space to be heard. Because he believes that youth have the power to influence and affect positive change collectively, he’s passionate about engaging youth in the electoral process. “This is about empowering youth to vote. Only 33 percent of people under the age of 24 voted in the last election (2000),” he explained. “A lot of issues are important to youth, such as education, jobs and war. We‚re just making sure that they have the information they need to make a difference.”

Protesters chanted, “If you‚re trying to bring democracy to Iraq, think of us too!” And with abortion surfacing as a divisive issue along the campaign trail, a group of female demonstrators yelled, “Choice for women. Protect our right to choose.”

Bob McLane, 43, who traveled from Texas to attend the convention, was selling bumper stickers that boldly read: “George Bush, Jr. couldn’t run a laundromat.” Selling these stickers for $1 each, McLane boasts that he sells about 100-150 per day, which helps supplement the travel and lodging expenses he incurs from traveling across the nation. “When someone sticks one of these on their car,” he roared, as he beckoned towards the stack of bumper stickers in his hand, “they’re not going to vote for Bush if they’re an undecided voter. This is about competence. This man is way under qualified to be a spokesperson for our country, much less to try and run it. I’m from Texas, and I’ve been around George a long time, and I’ve seen what an idiot he is,” he hollered. “New Yorkers are my best customers, because they know what a dummy Bush is.”

Carrying a sign that read, “Troops out of Iraq,” Jeff Knudsen, 44 and from the Boston area, explained why he chose to be in the free speech zone on the final day of the convention. “I’m not a Democrat, and although I often vote Democratic, I really wish the Dems would go back to their roots and become a People’s party once again — to be pro-peace, pro-working class, pro-women’s rights, and pro-minority rights. They need to increase social justice spending and to increase money for schools, job training, welfare and social security.”

As the crowd began to disperse on the last night of the convention, 54-year-old Bostonian Michael Schwartz, articulated a sentiment that was increasingly palpable throughout the four days of lockdown in the “free speech zone”: “The police have conflated dissent and terrorism, so to dissent is to be a terrorist. They‚re allowing the two separate issues to become one in the public eye, which is completely irrational. There‚s been an overwhelming police presence here. It’s provocative and it’s overkill.”

Troubled times

With civil liberties being drastically curtailed in the wake of 9/11, protesters are increasingly faced with difficulties as they attempt to organize demonstrations that seek to subvert conventional wisdom and to challenge those in power who serve to stifle the emergence of meaningful debate and dialogue on the array of issues facing the world’s lone superpower.

Such demonstrators, regardless of their motivation, demand a stake in the decision-making process. They seek to permeate the public’s conscience with their messages of hope, anger, disillusion, and a healthy dose of sardonic humor, epitomized by Vermin Supreme’s wry warning of “a full-body cavity rectal search.”

It was a sad four days for democracy in a nation that extols the virtues of such ideals and continues to use the issue of democracy to justify — at least in part — its disastrous invasion of Iraq. At the DNC, American hypocrisy was on full display for the world to see. I spent much of the four days of the convention holed up in the so-called “free speech zone,” where it often seemed as if there were more police in riot gear, citing “security” concerns to justify their excessive presence, than protesters, who symbolically placed duct tape over their mouths as a sign of the times. That is, times where to speak one’s mind and where to waver from conventional wisdom is tantamount to treason. The Patriot Act only serves to confirm this widespread sentiment.

Over the course of the convention, it became increasingly apparent that John Kerry’s Democrats could have used the convention’s glimmering spotlight to prove to Americans that this party is truly a people’s party. That they’re serious about fostering meaningful debate on the complex issues facing a divided nation.

Essentially, Kerry and the law enforcement officials could have succeeded in doing this by welcoming the protesters onto the convention’s premises, where they could be heard and where they could be visible and not on the outskirts of the site, down a dingy alley littered with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cups, cigarette butts, and discarded pizza boxes.

Voters may now be inclined to think that Kerry won’t be the “man for all people” after all “that the image of inclusion and tolerance that he and his vice-presidential running mate, John Edwards, have projected is nothing more than a façade aimed at deceiving the American populace.

With three months before the much-anticipated election takes place, Kerry will have to do a massive overhaul if he hopes to garner much-needed votes from the disillusioned people who have seen no indication that he’ll be open to diverging viewpoints thus far.

STORY INDEX

Commentary >

“John Kerry’s Waffles” by Michael Grunwald
URL: http://slate.msn.com/id/2096540/

Legislation >

The Patriot Act
URL:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

In The Fray Contributor