(no subject)
August 31 -
Sotheby's, 72nd Street and York Avenue - 4:30pm
Outside the RNC today there was Johnny Cash and nothing else. Just kidding. But consider it for a moment. It's a nice thought.
The story goes like this: property from the estate of Johnny and June Carter Cash will be auctioned off at Sotheby's sometime in the near future. Some convention planning committee thought it'd be nice for the delegates from Tennessee to spend some of the precious few hours they have in New York City to trek uptown to Sotheby's for a sneak preview of the goods of a genius forever associated with, umm, Tennessee.
Johnny Cash fans on the political left do not, it is now abundantly clear, take kindly to their musical hero being exploited for political gain. He's not 9/11, for chrissakes.
By the time I arrived, the protest outside Sotheby's was in full swing. Anarchists, country folk and a banker belted out middling renditions of "Ring of Fire" and "I Walk the Line" in unison. The protesters closest to Sothebys' doors dispensed with singing, opting instead for boos and regular doses of the infamous Johnny Cash salute to cops - you may know it as "the finger."
Johnny Cash's name is fertile ground for protest chants. There was "No Cash for the rich," and "Whose Cash? Our Cash!" and the old standard: "Welcome to New York, now get the fuck out!" So that one didn't have Cash's name in it, but it was popular.
The singing and chanting had everyone so riled up, so energetic and eager, protesters resorted to vulgarities and insults. "You dumb, fat bitches!" they cried to passing delegates. How this had anything to do with Cash's blessed memory, is anyone's guess.
As the crowd downshifted into "This Land is Your Land" (a Woody Guthrie song, but whatever), I talked to an older woman about the profanity: "I don't like it, but I have the urge to call them baby killers for the babies dying in Iraq, but," she said sheepishly, punctuated by nervous laughter, "that's what they call women who have abortions."
There were but few couples over 40 at the Cash event, but one husband and wife I met - who described themselves as native New Yorkers but later confessed they were from Missouri and Indiana - were out there to "tell the GOP that Cash was pro-union, anti-war, and a real man of the people." I asked them if they thought that he has particular significance with the Republicans due to his rather illustrious initials. "Oh, wow, I never thought of that before. I did see a 'What would Johnny do?' sign." She paused and then offered: "That was neat."
Sotheby's, 72nd Street and York Avenue - 4:30pm
Outside the RNC today there was Johnny Cash and nothing else. Just kidding. But consider it for a moment. It's a nice thought.
The story goes like this: property from the estate of Johnny and June Carter Cash will be auctioned off at Sotheby's sometime in the near future. Some convention planning committee thought it'd be nice for the delegates from Tennessee to spend some of the precious few hours they have in New York City to trek uptown to Sotheby's for a sneak preview of the goods of a genius forever associated with, umm, Tennessee.
Johnny Cash fans on the political left do not, it is now abundantly clear, take kindly to their musical hero being exploited for political gain. He's not 9/11, for chrissakes.
By the time I arrived, the protest outside Sotheby's was in full swing. Anarchists, country folk and a banker belted out middling renditions of "Ring of Fire" and "I Walk the Line" in unison. The protesters closest to Sothebys' doors dispensed with singing, opting instead for boos and regular doses of the infamous Johnny Cash salute to cops - you may know it as "the finger."
Johnny Cash's name is fertile ground for protest chants. There was "No Cash for the rich," and "Whose Cash? Our Cash!" and the old standard: "Welcome to New York, now get the fuck out!" So that one didn't have Cash's name in it, but it was popular.
The singing and chanting had everyone so riled up, so energetic and eager, protesters resorted to vulgarities and insults. "You dumb, fat bitches!" they cried to passing delegates. How this had anything to do with Cash's blessed memory, is anyone's guess.
As the crowd downshifted into "This Land is Your Land" (a Woody Guthrie song, but whatever), I talked to an older woman about the profanity: "I don't like it, but I have the urge to call them baby killers for the babies dying in Iraq, but," she said sheepishly, punctuated by nervous laughter, "that's what they call women who have abortions."
There were but few couples over 40 at the Cash event, but one husband and wife I met - who described themselves as native New Yorkers but later confessed they were from Missouri and Indiana - were out there to "tell the GOP that Cash was pro-union, anti-war, and a real man of the people." I asked them if they thought that he has particular significance with the Republicans due to his rather illustrious initials. "Oh, wow, I never thought of that before. I did see a 'What would Johnny do?' sign." She paused and then offered: "That was neat."