Manhattan transfers

Just got in to NY via Amtrak -- kind of. The train broke down in Newark, and a couple RNC volunteers and I cabbed it to midtown. Sidewalks packed around Madison Square Garden -- but you walk five blocks from that, and it's just another sunny afternoon in Manhattan.

Security, as you well know, is at a premium this convention, and Amtrak is no different. On the train from DC this morning they required all passengers to have luggage tags -- a security measure I've never before seen on America's passenger-rail system. That's right, luggage tags -- so now when the evildoers blow us up, we'll have a better shot at IDing who did it. Other than that, no changes whatsoever, as far as I can tell. But I felt safer knowing that, had I been a tragic victim of catastrophe, my carry-on would have returned to 3340 Valley Drive, Alexandria, VA 22302, presumably after which my parents can sell my sport coats at an estate sale.

Another observation: Taking the train to New York, Amtrak seemed overwhelmed with Democrats headin' north to exercise their right to free assembly. That is, unless T-shirts that say www.deanforamerica.com are now the latest in ironic Republican fashion. The train ride seemed less like a convention trip than a People's Convergence -- we'll see if that plays out this week. (Or it might just be that Republicans prefer airplanes.)