Bloomberg's plan for peaceful protest makes strange assumption

Workers of the world, shop till you drop! Then belly up to a five-course meal! Say, how about a visit to a nice comedy club?

That's how New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg might express his novel offer to the many protesters expected at the Republican National Convention.

In exchange for their promise to be peaceful, the violence-averse mayor has announced, protesters can receive discounts at local restaurants, theaters and other tourist attractions much like (although not as upscale as) the discount offers Republican delegates receive.

All a protester has to do is to wear a ''peaceful political activist'' pledge pin, available at city tourism offices, to receive the discounts. ...

It seems unlikely that hot-blooded, anarcho-socialists would moderate their outrage over global capitalism to receive a discount on a T-bone at Broadway Joe Steakhouse on 46th Street. Yet, even streetfighting men and women should any actually surface in New York eventually may want to take a guided walking tour of the city, shop for a new tattoo or perhaps take in a theater performance between arrests. At a healthy percentage off. ...

Chicago Tribune

Aug. 21