2004-08-26 - 12:54 p.m. I really have placed the RNC in the back of my mind since I first learned of it. Sure, I planned on being in the protests, artistic and otherwise, but still the idea of the Republicans crawling in and around my neighborhood, in broad daylight, self-righteous morals on display for all to see, was kept at bay most of this summer. Now it is upon us. Part of me wants to leave (which isn�t possible this weekend), part of me wants to fight and yet another part of me just wants to hunker down, try to forget this is going on HERE and get through it with minimal scarring. I can feel a curtain over this City, I could sense it yesterday afternoon. There was a definite switch in flow and energy. I listen to this party, this administration, I read what they write, I watch them�since W ushered in the new dark ages, it has become perfectly acceptable to hate again. It�s ok to bully again. It�s ok to be stupid again. It�s ok to hate foreigners and faggots because they threaten the sanctity of our great American life. It�s ok to say women have no right to control their bodies and should be controlled by men because hey, women all over the place are saying it themselves (well if the women you listen to all the time include Ann Coulter, Condy Rice or Midge Decter). It�s ok to use your religious beliefs as the basis to determine what rights your neighbor has or doesn�t have. So you�re a Christian and you�re neighbor belongs to one of those funny, weird religions or worse, is atheist or agnostic!!!!??? Well then they are terribly misguided and obviously quite incapable of making a decision for themselves anyway, so as a good American it is your DUTY to see that these people find the light on the path. It's ok to want this to continue and to ensure this lives on in the Supreme Court long after the blood stops pumping through King George's body. I just don�t want the RNC and their smug mugs here. They don�t belong here and it will not benefit those of us who live here, despite what Bloomberg, Guiliani, Pataki, et al, would like us to believe. Now�what should we write on the poster for the protest?? Any ideas????? � �