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Well, this is interesting. Even as the Obama campaign has limited the number of tickets and is focusing on security concerns, our benevolent mayor has invited any- and everyone down to Grant Park next Tuesday night, tickets be damned!
Now, we hate to sound like Debbie Downer. After all, it's a nice gesture for a historic night, but having been squished and jostled the entire length of Radiohead's set at Lollalpalooza back in August (the exact spot where the rally will be held), we have some concerns about security. It's going to be nuts and with that many people...
We'll let MayDay describe it in his own words.
You think I'm nuts? You think I'm not going to invite people down? This is a celebration. It's a celebration of people firmly believing in Sen. Obama's belief in making changes in Washington, D.C., which we've heard time and time again...See you there, Mayor.No way I'm going to tell people they should not come down and celebrate with Sen. Obama and his family and others. It doesn't matter who you are. If you want to come down, we're asking you to come down. This is a celebration. Let's not look at it negative about people celebrating a political victory...You work all the logistics out...This is going to be a great celebration...you can't say this is only for 65,000 … I think Sen. Obama and the campaign understands that … You cannot make it just an exclusive party for a few...
It's big enough to hold a lot of people. Remember that. We've got the streets, We've got the sidewalks. People are going to come down. They're coming down. We know that. This is something they want to do. I think Sen. Obama understands that as well.
It's not a burden! This is not a burden! Let's not say a celebration is a burden of who is going to be the next president of the United States, who hails from Chicago and his family. This is not a burden. This is an excitement. This is a celebration. We're very proud that he comes from Chicago. We're very, very proud. And this is a moment of celebration.
Image of Obamapalooza setup by Karl Klockars
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people w/o tickets were going to show up anyway, might as well take away one excuse for when/if things get out of hand.
"This is an excitement."
LOLcat Daley speaks!
Well, I can see his point. This will probably end up being many little private parties anyway.....scattered all over the place.
Just the fact that you're downtown, with your own friends, means you're part of this hugely historic night. You don't have to be one of the few "el-leet" with a ticket.
I think I have my new mission: to reconstruct the words of Mayor Daley into poetry. He's the Lewis Carroll of Chicago politics.
Caroll:
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
Daley:
It's not a burden! This is not a burden!
Let's not say a celebration
is a burden of who is going to be
the next president of the United States,
who hails from Chicago
and his family.
This is not a burden.
This is an excitement.
This is a celebration.
We're very proud
that he comes from Chicago.
We're very, very proud.
And this is a moment
of celebration.
"This is one thing that--I was gonna wait a while before we talked about--maybe we'll talk about it now so you can think about it.
It's a free concert from now on. That doesn't mean that anything goes. What that means is, we're gonna put the music up here for free.
What it means is that the people who are put--backing this thing who put up the money for it are gonna take a bit of a bath--a big bath. That's no hype. That's truth. They're gonna get hurt.
But what it means is that these people have it in their heads that your welfare is a hell of a lot more important--and the music is--than a dollar."
Good God, Stealth, that's brilliant.
Hey, I'm just working with the material I've been given. I think he sucks as a mayor, but as an public speaker (off script) he is a GOLDMINE. He makes you WORK to understand him.
" It's a celebration of people firmly believing in Sen. Obama's belief..."
Yes, I believe in his right to believe.
"We've got the streets, We've got the sidewalks. People are going to come down."
They're coming down to see those fantastic streets and sidewalks he keeps going on about.
"the next president of the United States, who hails from Chicago and his family. "
Wow, Obama hails from Chicago AND he hails from his family!
let's be honest here, do you really think some hipster in a greenpeace t-shirt is going to be able to collect tickets and hold a crowd of 500,000+ at bay? Get real, it's going to be Obama in some sort of 'Pope-mobile' surrounded by the secret service, while the rest of us (tickets/or not) hang out in the wild-wild-west.
Even if the Union thugs that usually show up to these things to make sure everybody is cheering for the home team come out, the numbers are just too big.
I havent heard back from the Democratic Party yet, but supposedly i have a ticket. And with it i think it might be safe to bring:
flask of bushmills
table leg
brass knuckles
photocopies of those tickets to sell (if they were gullible enough to vote for the messiah, they're used to not looking to close to what they're buying).
I didnt vote for either candidate, but this is going to be history, whether a race riot or love fest.....im not going to miss it!
You all are so negative about this.
So, what would you do then? If you were Obama's party planner, how would you do election night?
some hipster in a greenpeace t-shirt
does not compute.
"Messaiah"
"I didn't vote for either candidate"
Hey Chris, are you that d-bag who tried to argue with me on the 77 bus when he saw my Obama sticker?
Let me tell you what I should have told him if we hadn't reached my stop:
Go ahead and vote for your 3rd party candidate if you want. After all, like me, you're a white, male, middle-class guy with a college degree. Your life will turn out just fine no matter who gets elected -- just like mine.
Just be prepared to apologize to all the women in your life, your sister, mother, girlfriend(s) and coworkers, who will lose the right to control their own bodies.
And apologize to all the young blue collar folks who will end up dying in the next terrible republican war. After all, you won't be going.
Go ahead and make your statement.
Oh, and instead of picking fights on buses and blogs, why don't you go out (like I did) and canvass for your candidate and actually try to make a difference, instead of smoking weed and bitching about the "duo-opoly" or whatever with your hipster friends.
I made the mistake of thinking both candidates were the same in 2000. Anyone want to tell me that things would be exactly the same today if Al Gore had been elected?
Ingrid,
I'd move it to Soldier field, in a venue somewhat designed for crowd control.
Even if the crowd is jubilant, 500,000 and up with 360 degrees of ingress/egress points is asking for trouble.
Sorry to sound negative, I do think it will be an historic event worth risking it to see.
Btw, I stand by the ticket thing as a scam to get email addresses, since I registered for the tickets, I have received no less than five emails from Joe Biden, and such.
chris:
the actual event in hutchinson field will be roughly 70k and the security will be taken care of by the Secret Service, CPD, etc. I think they are up to the task. The overflow crowd that will not be able to enter the immediate vicinity will probably congregate throughout Grant Park and the Suntimes reports there is a possibility of screens being installed ala Movies in the Park so that everyone can watch/hear the speech.
What are you talking about?
Oh and good copy/paste of something you already posted.
I am looking forward to this event - historic to say the least.
tecki,
Im usually on the 22, so it wasnt me. And some guy bitching about an Obama sticker on the Belmont Bus seems about as likely as someone tatooing a B on a McCain supporters face in PA.
If it did happen, I hear ya, we all have our George Costanza moments when we come up with all those witty things to say right after the moment has passed....we've all been there.
Gerobimbo,
Sorry bout the copy/paste, im multi-tasking.
You think the CPD is up to the task??? could be 1 million people?
braahahahahahahahaha!!! Hello, 4th o July!
Unless they have a 10 foot razor wire fence around the hutch field....bedlam.
Keep the screens, and have it in soldier field.
Daley should invite everybody over to his house for a beer.
Soldier Field is a MUCH better idea.
Like the event in Denver, it's not a fucking security NIGHTMARE. Cops and firemen are being told to take their gear home and be ready on call.
Even if Obama wins and it's jubilant, the Phillies idiots tore shit up over a VICTORY last night. Humans in large numbers are very very dumb animals.
I was doing a crossword last night; the clue was "Type of rule" and the answer was "Mob". :)
Think of the countless hours spent teaching kids grammar and pronunciation in this city.
Then, while Mom and Dad are watching the news, the same kids here this gibberish coming from the person who runs the city.
If I was one of those kids, I might say "Screw the grammar. Heck, listen to this guy--and he's the Mayor!"
Despite the current polls, I still think it's a bit premature to use the word "celebration" 20 times before the guy has actually won.
Ingrid said: "So, what would you do then? If you were Obama's party planner, how would you do election night?"
In what's becoming more rare lately I agreed with Eric Zorn on this one -- he posited that Obama should have the traditional hotel ballroom deal on election night, then, you know, first see if the guy has actually won and have the victory rally in Grant Park during the day on the following Saturday. But of course, that's not "in the moment" enough for David Axelrod.
The stormtrooper Chicago Cops are going to be gunning for any hipster dufus dumb enough to ride their fixed-wheel down there Ala- Critical Mass
I'll be there with my video camera documenting the positive and negative sides of this one....
chris:
"You think the CPD is up to the task??? could be 1 million people?
braahahahahahahahaha!!! Hello, 4th o July!"
Yes, I do. Along with the Secret Service and other authorities on hand, I believe things will go alright - as alright as any planned and secured event in chicago has gone in recent memory.
I do agree that the event should have been held at Soldier Field for the convenience and ease that such a venue would provide.
Wait, did Obama in the election?
In Chicago he will always win the election.
Tecki,
Voting for a third party candidate, especially in Illinois, will not affect any of the women in our lives, or their ability to control their bodies. Obama will win Illinois, make no mistake. I could get a million people to vote for Nader or McKinney or Barr, and it would have no effect on Obama. I won't vote for him because I don't believe in voting for the "least worst", but I have no illusions that he will win. My vote will send a message, but it won't tip things in McCain's favor. Have you ever heard of the Electoral College?
I won't apologize for voting for Nader in 2000, and I won't apologize for voting for a third party candidate this year either.
And apologize to all the young blue collar folks who will end up dying in the next terrible republican war. After all, you won't be going.
Are you kidding me? They are voting for McCain
Tecki
You're full of it
I'm tired of begging them. Its funny how if Shaquita don't pay her taxes she then O'bama and Bill Cosby are leading a pack of lions to savage her. But when when we found out that "Joe the Plumber", hasn't paid his, then its not his fault because the taxes are too high! Lets get him on the radio to talk about His problems as a plumber, even though he's not a plumber. I'm voting Green
Oh and when you talk that its only going to matter for the people at the bottom, think again O'bama has never had a poor people's agenda and didn't have a working people's agenda until after Clinton dropped out. People make me not wanna vote for the guy and here I was trying really hard.
Yea I'm voting green even though O'Bama would benefit me more economically as some one who is doing o.k.