Mall Fight!

Putting together this piece on the battle over protest at D.C.'s National Mall was arduous and time-consuming, almost not worth it. And taking a look at the general lack of comments it has generated, I might have just given up on it altogether if I had to do it again. Which, of course, is exactly what the opposition wants you to do. Nice plan! In any case, it's a stellar piece that I am proud of, and I hope AlterNet digs it. Same with you, Morphizm pal. Same with you:

National Mall Redesign Could Seriously Restrict Free Speech
[Scott Thill, AlterNet]
The National Park Service (NPS) is planning to redesign the heavily trafficked National Mall -- the sprawling open area between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol that has become America's iconographic site of popular protest. It is where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his immortal "I Have a Dream" speech, where protests against everything from the Vietnam War and Iraq War have been launched, where locals and visitors alike lunch, jog and sightsee, and, in 2007, where Al Gore kicked off one of Live Earth's concerts.

In short, it is the premier destination for Americans from all walks of life to gather, relax, orate and bask in their collective freedoms.

But that might be coming to an end, as some organizations see it. Critics of the redesign including the ANSWER Coalition, Impeach Bush, Partnership for Civil Justice and more are complaining that the National Park Service's proposed redesign, still in its formative phase, is a subtle attempt to restrict that time-honored ability to congregate and complain.

For their part, they're suspicious of the National Park Service's recent partnership with the private foundation Trust for the National Mall to secure funding for the redesign, and they're not too happy about how current NPS Director Mary Bomar and the one she replaced, Fran P. Mainella, have connections to a Bush administration that is not exactly enthusiastic about either protest or the public trust... MORE @ ALTERNET