Shawn Macomber notes an irony:

The catch phrase of the day was, "Dissent is Patriotic." I saw not a hint of irony on the faces of the mob as they demanded, for hours on end, "Republicans go home!" and "GOP scum, leave our city!"

Let's think about this for a moment: There are 5,000 Republican delegates in town for the convention. Protest organizers predict the final count will be somewhere around 250,000 and I've no reason to doubt the figure. So protesters will outnumber delegates 50 to one. At what point exactly, I asked several members of the Question Authority Brigade, is one group far enough in the minority that they become, well, dissenters? Sputtering, uncomprehending rage was all I got in response. But considering the numbers and the fact that any small Republican counter-protest was immediately converged upon on by frothing-mouthed burst of vitriol and obscenity, it would seem those speaking truth to power (i.e., "dissenters") in New York City Sunday morning were Republicans.

. . . "This is what democracy looks like!" the crowd chants as they demand that Republicans' right to assembly and speech be beaten to a bloody pulp.

He has many more examples - read the whole thing.

Protest Warrior gets more press:

We passed a group of counter-protesters from the group protestwarrior.com, who were holding up signs mocking the protesters: "World Workers Party...the last thing we do is work." A guy just ahead of us in the march was covered in green make-up to look like the statue of liberty and was wearing just a robe, with a skeletal, scary-looking set of teeth painted on his face and � for some reason � a little flower in his ear. By any standard, this guy was dressed like a freak. But he stopped us to ask, in scandalized and mystified tones, of the counter-protesters, "Who were those people?"

Another man was arrested at Broadway and 34th Street after he assaulted a member of the Republican counterprotest group, Protest Warriors, known for its humorous signs that mock the leftist agenda. A protester wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt attempted to grab a sign held by a Protest Warrior, then took a swing at the pro-Bush activist who was standing along the parade route. As he was being carried away by police, the anti-Bush protester said, "They're not one of us, they're making us look bad."

Awww, poor baby . . .

Tom Paladino, who heads the New York chapter of Protest Warriors, said several members of his group were assaulted and shouted down when they tried to join the anti-Bush march. "We've marched in other rallies and we've had some hard times, but this one was just too dicey," Mr. Paladino said. He said that one anti-Bush protester grabbed a megaphone from his hands and smashed it on the street, and that at least 20 of his group's signs were destroyed by the protesters. He promised, though, that group members will continue to show up at the major anti-Bush rallies scheduled throughout the week.

For example:

The group that organized Sunday's enormous demonstration, United for Peace and Justice, found its headquarters a target of protest on Monday _ by pro-Bush demonstrators from a group called ProtestWarrior. About 15 members, chanting "Four more years!" and "USA! USA!", targeted the anti-Bush group. "They like protests so much. They're about to get a taste of their own medicine," said ProtestWarrior co-founder Alan Lipton of Austin, Texas.

Deep within the bowels of MSG, Roger chats with Ed Koch, another liberal Jewish Democrat for Bush.
Tacitus is there too.

As he did for the Democratic convention, Tim Blair is blogging from the Republican convention for Reason. So is Julian Sanchez, who spots the Libertarian candidate for president in Central Park.

Cox & Forkum.

VP Cheney kicks off the convention from Ellis Island (where my dad entered the US in 1944, at the age of 17).

Still fighting a cold, I'm off to meet up with Eric and Mary at a book event. (Wish Mary a happy birthday!)

Next installment here.