The Arkanssouri Blog.: I hope it rains in Stalag Boston.

Monday, July 26, 2004

I hope it rains in Stalag Boston.



From the St. Cloud Times Online:

Concerns about terrorism have led Boston officials to dramatically heighten security. The delegates were given a list of items they can't bring into the convention, including handmade signs, coolers, flashlights and even umbrellas.
 
The Palm Beach Post further characterizes the atmosphere:
 
As for the convention, well, you'd have to say the general reaction was mild apathy, mixed with a healthy dose of apprehension -- made more palpable by the swarms of police officers, camouflage-fatigued Army National Guardsmen and miles of back-to-back fences that have turned the FleetCenter convention hall into a makeshift high-security prison in the middle of the city.
 
and goes on to point out a particular incident that reeks of censorship and anti-Arab bigotry:

Like other TV networks, Al-Jazeera, the Arab cable network, sought to have a banner advertising its presence in the upper levels of the convention hall.

Nader Abed, operations head for the network, said Saturday that the sign went up last week.
"They approved the sign," he said. "And then I came back, and it was taken down."

The Al-Jazeera network sign had been hung in the sight lines of the podium, next to one of the Democratic National Committee banners.

"We didn't ask for that location," Abed said. "They put it there."

The DNC responded that the Al-Jazeera sign wasn't the only one removed from the hall. But it was the only media organization's.

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