More escalation of tactics, and more Marxist fundamentalist zeal in action.

Just as people have no right to run in a Marathon race or live peacably in their own homes when there are more important issues, there's no right to attend the theater either:

....[I]ndividual protesters kept tensions high, some of them hissing or cursing at well-heeled couples heading to popular Broadway musicals like "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Fiddler on the Roof."

"Republican murderers go home and kill your babies!" one young man yelled at theatergoers, a far cry from local public service messages urging New Yorkers to "make nice" to party delegates in the city for the four-day convention, where Bush will be nominated for another four-year term.

A second protester shoved a middle-aged woman in a black cocktail dress, shouting:

"Bitch, go home! We don't want you here!" At one point, police cordoned off a city block after several dozen demonstrators jeered and razzed the incoming audience.

Old Berkeley stuff for me; I can tell this week will be a walk down memory lane.

But speaking of nostalgia, I should remind readers that at a large gay riot I attended, the crowd refused to storm the opera house.

In those days, attacking theater patrons was thought (by gay demonstrators, at least) to be gauche and tacky. More gorilla than guerilla theater. Perhaps the demonstrators need a makeover from "Queer Eye for the Demon-straight Guy."

MORE: There's another side to this argument, of course, and out of fairness to the demonstrators, here's an IndyMedia editorial in support of them:

If the goal is to make the Republicans here for the convention as uncomfortable as possible, we can take pride in our collective success. Regardless of how much you may enjoy Aida, you enjoy it much less if hundreds scream that they hate you while you step outside for intermission. The direct confrontation of protesters and the side effects of inconvenient checkpoints and spooky scenes of helmeted police wielding clubs has made things unpleasant for our red state friends.

But is discomfort the best we can hope for? Many delegates made a point of smiling and waving to the angry protesters, apparently not at all bothered by the unwashed masses held securely in place and safely at bay by burly officers. We’re winning in numbers, and the legions of anti-Bushies give each other hope and energy, but the protests seem like a losing battle. The happenings around the city are a metaphor for the larger situation in America. The rich and powerful dine in beautiful settings and enjoy elaborate entertainments in air-conditioned theaters, while the hungry, hot, and dehydrated majority wait in the sun for a chance to voice their frustrations.

The powers that be have learned many lessons over the years, and there will not be any Selma-like images of police raining down billy club blows in teargas smogged streets or demonstrators being pinned to walls by high-pressure jets of water from fire hoses. The oppression we face as the poor, hungry, and uninsured come in smaller chunks over long periods of time. You can’t photograph children being brought up in under funded public schools, only to face unemployment and the impossibility of medical care once they achieve adulthood. These tragedies don’t have the same power on television or the internet that a single photograph of Selma still has.

It’s not enough to intimidate our opposition in this class war. We need something to rally behind, something easy to understand that will win the hearts of our oppressors, much the way the public was moved to support civil rights by the brutality against African Americans during the civil rights movement. If the people in power will not and cannot see the damage that is being done to the rest of us, only a bloody and terrible revolution will save the United States.

When I was on Berkeley's Police Review Commission, arrested demonstrators would (as part of their strategy) routinely bring utterly groundless charges against Berkeley's police officers. As might be expected, Berkeley cops are well trained to cope with professional demonstrators, and bend over backwards to accomodate. Never mind: evoking Selma, Birmingham, and Bull Conner was standard fare.

"BERKELEY IS JUST LIKE BIRMINGHAM!" "CHIEF BUTLER IS JUST LIKE BULL CONNOR!"

Not many hearts and minds were moved.

Although a number of eyeballs did move -- upwards.....

UPDATE: It's getting even uglier. The New York Times reports punching of theatergoers, assaults on police, and other ways of winning hearts and minds.

Let's see if I have this right. Nonviolent activists attempting to exercise their constitutional rights are being attacked by organized violent thugs.....

You know, it does sound like Selma!

Perhaps there'll be some winning of hearts and minds after all....