Saint Paul - For months now, the powers that be in Saint Paul have vowed that, come the Republican Convention next fall, "The City of Saint Paul will be a First Amendment Zone." That people will be free to come to the city, and express their political views.
But with the convention becoming more of a reality every day, the authorities have developed a set of guidelines that seem somewhat less ebullient.
The guidelines include a primary event area (the area in and around the Xcel Energy Center, a secondary event area (a wider perimeter, the boundaries of which are yet to be determined) and something called a, "designated public assembly area".
To be located at the edge of the primary event area, the designated public assembly area looks suspiciously like a first amendment zone.
According to the guidelines, groups and organizations who have applied for and received permits will assemble in a "parade staging area". Then they will march along a "secondary event area parade route" to that designated public assembly area.
At that point, groups will be free to demonstrate. To go ahead and knock themselves out.
When their time is up, they will be expected to leave the designated public assembly area -- hopefully cleaning up after themselves, making it nice for the next scheduled group of protesters. Nobody likes a litterbug.
Can you feel the waves of gratification? Can you imagine yourself hiking back to wherever you parked the Prius, 'No Blood For Oil' sign under your arm, thinking, "There. Guess we told those bastards off"?
In all fairness to the authorities, there isn't that much more they can do to plan for and accommodate the protesters. There is talk of equipping the designated public assembly area with a stage and a sound system. And the Saint Paul Police are on record saying they will do everything possible to make sure that the designated public assembly area will be within sight and sound of the delegates as they enter and exit the Xcel Energy Center. Like so much here in Minnesota, it all makes perfect and orderly sense.
It's just that the Constitution designates the entire country a public assembly area/first amendment zone -- a point that may come up again when the Republicans come to town in September.