As I rode in the CQ bus over to the Republican National Convention site today, I saw a group of protesters walking down Market St. carrying a flag-draped coffin. My first question was, "Where is the 'protest cage' that was in use at the Dem convention?" After getting checked into my workspace, I headed back out to see where the protesters were at.
A group of police officers pointed me toward 7th Street, where I could find the "protest triangle." When I got to 7th, the police officers on the scene pointed me back to where I'd come from saying there was no protest triangle/cage/area. Back near the main convention security checkpoint I was told by yet another officer, "We got sued over that [protest cage]. It's my job to protect their First Amendment Rights, so if they want to run around and yell, I'm going to make sure they get to do that."
It's pretty ironic that the Republicans are allowing for more freedom of dissent then their Democratic counterparts. The cage in Denver was a sad sight to behold. Don't expect Republicans to get much credit for it, but kudos to them if they are in fact taking a more freedom-oriented approach to their own critics. Counter-programming at its best.
UPDATE: Click to the 1:50 mark to see the Dems' protest cage. I find most protesters annoying, so it's got to be pretty bad if I'm feeling sorry for them:
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