I'll cut to the chase: I did not get to see the Olympic torch today. Due to security concerns, the organizers kept changing the route. Basically, the people who went out to see the torchbearers got a fat lot of nothing. I won't get into the politics of it, but what we ended up seeing were a lot of pro-Tibet and pro-China protestors and anti-protestors. I hear some areas got violent, but everyone where I was was really friendly. The atmosphere felt more like a particularly lively street fair than an angry protest.
Maybe it was because it was such a beautiful day?
There was a crowd, but a pretty tame crowd by SF standards considering this was as thick as the crowd got while I was there. The anti-war protests a few years ago were about a hundred times scarier.
If you squint, you can see the banner says "Taiwanese for a Free Tibet."
This lovely gentleman manages to avoid crowds entirely by attaching his "FREE TIBET" sign to his yacht.
The Chinese sent out a huge delegation to "protect the torch." Of course, they came with mascots. The Chinese are physically unable to stage any kind of public event without the presence of mascots. Genetic predisposition to love stuffed animals? Possible.
Look, there are still people working hard to help Taiwan take back the Mainland. Hope is not dead!
And finally, what I thought was the most elaborately constructed protest tool of the day.
It was all very interesting, but in some ways just another day in SF. Is there such a thing as being protested to death? In the end, why can't we all just get along?
Maybe it was because it was such a beautiful day?
There was a crowd, but a pretty tame crowd by SF standards considering this was as thick as the crowd got while I was there. The anti-war protests a few years ago were about a hundred times scarier.
If you squint, you can see the banner says "Taiwanese for a Free Tibet."
This lovely gentleman manages to avoid crowds entirely by attaching his "FREE TIBET" sign to his yacht.
The Chinese sent out a huge delegation to "protect the torch." Of course, they came with mascots. The Chinese are physically unable to stage any kind of public event without the presence of mascots. Genetic predisposition to love stuffed animals? Possible.
Look, there are still people working hard to help Taiwan take back the Mainland. Hope is not dead!
And finally, what I thought was the most elaborately constructed protest tool of the day.
It was all very interesting, but in some ways just another day in SF. Is there such a thing as being protested to death? In the end, why can't we all just get along? 
3 comments:
Hahaha, awesome reporting -- I heard PETA was there too!
Yeah, every demonstration in SF eventually becomes a free for all. There were signs for everything.
As a DC resident, I also roll my eyes at a lot of the protests but I do like to see issues being brought into the public eye. It's easy for the well-informed to be jaded, but there are so many people who are only going to be aware of things like Tibet and Darfur if it's all over cable news. What real impact that will have who knows, but it's better than not knowing, I think.
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