Confab Welcome, Crazies Not
In an extraordinary act of solidarity with New York City, the World Economic Forum - a fixture in the picture-perfect Alpine ski resort of Davos, Switzerland, since 1971 - will convene Jan. 31 a few miles north of Ground Zero. Alas, so will legions of agitators who despise free enterprise and whose demonstrations have a habit of devolving into riots.
Message to protesters: New Yorkers have suffered enough of late. We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. You have a right to free speech, but try to disrupt this town, and you'll get your anti-globalization butts kicked. Capish?
New York welcomes the business, political and academic leaders as they hold Earth's bluest blue-chip convention - and spend their money and expend their brainpower in this, the vital center of world commerce. Some 2,200 CEOs, presidents, prime ministers and other assorted worldbeaters will be arriving. This is where they belong, and their presence will provide more proof that the city is up and running and will right itself from the cataclysm of Sept. 11.
Unfortunately, gatherings like this attract parasites. The presence of players such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton and their European and Asian counterparts - as well as another Davos veteran, Mike Bloomberg - will be a magnet for the anarchists, insurrectionists, syndicalists and assorted kooks who've marred confabs in Davos, Seattle, Genoa, Salzburg and Melbourne.
New York's Finest are prepared for the onslaught - and no police department in the world is better at crowd control. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has been conferring with the feds and other law enforcement experts. A massive "frozen zone" will be enforced in midtown. Attention will be paid. Measures will be taken.
This must be made abundantly clear to protesters, many of whom are hobbled by fuzzy thought processes. Consider the complaints of some that a WEF conference in New York is a waste of money because the funds could be better spent helping World Trade Center victims. Hello? The World Trade Center victims include the folks who have been suffering economically since Sept. 11: the hotel and restaurant workers, cab drivers and the rest of the labor force now laboring to make ends meet. They are glad to have the forum here. Peaceful protesters - even those deluded enough to believe that McDonald's and The Gap are evil incarnate - may demonstrate. But Davos delegates are not to be terrorized, either by the wackos or the truly vicious who like to use crowds of wackos for camouflage.
New York will not be terrorized. We already know what that's like. Chant your slogans. Carry your banners. Wear your gas masks. Just don't test our patience. Because we no longer have any.