America’s voices for peace refuse to be locked in a razor wire cage

By Caroline Overington, Herald Correspondent in Boston

A lot of people in the US are opposed to the war in Iraq, and they want
to vote for a party that will bring the troops home. The Democratic
Party has not promised to do that, which is why many protesters have
gathered in Boston.

They had hoped to stage a series of peaceful protests, to show the
Democrats, who are holding their convention in Boston this week, how
strongly they feel.

However, organisers of the convention have said protesters can gather
only in a large wire cage that has been built under Boston’s elevated
train tracks. It has one entrance and one exit, and is topped by razor wire.

Naturally, the protesters are protesting. Late last night they made
their views known in silence - they left the cage empty. They won’t go
in there. It resembles an internment camp and is an affront to free
speech, they say.

They also object to the site of the cage. Delegates don’t need to pass
it, and they won’t be able to see or hear the protesters once they are
inside the convention hall.
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So, what are the police to do, if the protesters refuse to be locked up
in the cage? Lock them in a cage?

It may not come to that: yesterday, lawyers for some protest groups said
they would go to court to ask for the cage to be removed. A panel of
three judges is likely to hear the case this week.

Convention organisers said the wire cage will prevent protesters from
hurling objects at delegates.

They could not, however, stop large groups of people from jeering and
cheering John Kerry, the Democrats’ choice for president, when he made a
surprise appearance at Sunday’s Boston Red Sox baseball game.

The Democratic Party’s convention is Kerry’s best chance to make an
impression on an electorate which knows little about him. A survey in
Time magazine says 70 per cent of Americans know a great deal about
George Bush, but only 29 per cent say the same about Kerry. The two
candidates are level in most polls.

Kerry will formally accept his party’s nomination on Thursday against
the background of the

Democrats’ slogan - "Stronger at Home, Respected in the World".

The war in Iraq, terrorism and the economy are the three issues that
most concern US voters, and Democrats are particularly keen to showcase
Kerry’s war experience. He will be introduced by former crewmates from
Vietnam, and by a former senator, Max Cleland, who lost three limbs there.

As a senator, Kerry voted to authorise the invasion of Iraq, but has
criticised President Bush’s handling of it. Many opponents of the
invasion want him to take a stronger stand.

The convention gets mass media coverage in the US. According to official
figures, there are three journalists for every one delegate in Boston
(15,000, compared to 4353). For the first time, internet "bloggers",
including some Australians, such as Tim Blair, have received
credentials. So has the Arab television network, Al-Jazeera, which will
show more of the proceedings live than some US networks.

Highlights of the convention will include a speech by former president
Bill Clinton, who will be introduced by his wife, Hillary.

Mr Clinton, who was in Boston to sign books on Sunday, told reporters he
would not overshadow Mr Kerry because he intends to give his speech "and
get out of town".

There will also be speeches by former president Jimmy Carter and former
vice-president Al Gore.

Mr Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and his daughters, Alexandra and
Vanessa, will also speak.

So will Mr Kerry’s former opponents for the Democratic nomination,
Howard Dean, Richard Gephardt, the former NATO commander Wesley Clark
and Senator Joseph Lieberman.

Because the business of choosing a candidate is a formality, many
delegates are looking forward to the parties, which include a seafood
barbecue at Senator Edward Kennedy’s home, and a rock concert starring Bono.

Actors Demi Moore and Glenn Close are also due to appear.

Republicans are also in town. They have chosen the former New York
mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, to deliver a rebuttal speech.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/26/1090693902852.html