Quotes & amp;amp; Notes

by Inlander Staff


Is Roe v. Wade Moot? -- Political conventions are usually used to showcase the future of the party. If that's true, the future of the Republican Party looks to be pro-choice. Yes, the GOP's official platform still stands by the anti-abortion movement, but the party's biggest stars do not. Even though Arnold Schwarzenegger may never be able to run for president, he was clearly the star of this show: Anybody who can diss an entire party with one "girlie-man" zinger is a winner in the red states. And Rudy Guiliani stepped up to remind the party faithful of 9/11, to raucous ovations. These guys are the face of the party, and they are also pro-choice.





Like Booing Your Grandpa? -- Another weird convention moment came when Arnold was showing off his political biceps for the crowd: "If you believe this country -- not the United Nations -- is the best hope for democracy, then you are a Republican."


The delegates ate it up, booing the mere mention of the United Nations. So the entity charged with sustaining peace among nations and helping in times of crisis gets booed by our country's ruling elite? And while George W. Bush is reportedly trying to get the nations of the world to help out in Iraq?


Bush's team was in damage control mode afterwards, with former Missouri Sen. John Danforth -- Bush's appointee to the United Nations -- scrambling to salvage whatever goodwill he had been able to patch together after the invasion of Iraq.


"I can only say that when President Bush asked me to do this job, he said that the United Nations is very important," Danforth told reporters.





Clever Messengers -- Humor can be a good weapon, so we were on the lookout for particularly funny protest messages on the streets of New York last week. Here are a few:


4 Bush look-a-likes are always fun, and New York had its share: one in a figure-emphasizing "Mission Accomplished" flight suit; another bound in duct tape, waving the placard: "Protect America with duct tape."


4 Another memorable Bush sign: "Read My Apocalips."


4 The feminist group, Axis of Eve, got a ton of attention -- surprise! -- for threatening to take it all off to, um, expose Bush's lies. The amassed police and media only got to see underwear, however, with messages like "Fire Bush" and "Which Side Are You On? The Panty Lines Are Drawn!"


4 Our favorite was the group that handed out thousands of custom-made fortune cookies. If a delegate opened one, they'd be sure to agree with the message -- to a point: "Do not change horses midstream ... unless horse lies to you and stream is on fire."





Publication date: 09/09/04