Banished to the island?

From www.buzz.mn (the Star Tribune's blog; not to be confused with www.vita.mn, the Strib's ersatz alternative weekly):

At Wednesday's City Council meeting, Erin Dady, marketing director in St. Paul, said the city is scheduled to sign a city-services contract Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C., which will finalize terms for hosting the Republican National Convention Sept. 1 to Sept. 4, 2008. She also mentioned that Harriet Island is "on hold" during the convention, but she wouldn't say whether protesters will be sent there.

Crafty! Make 'em stay on an island in the middle of the Mississippi, where you'd basically need to make your protest signs the size of billboards to be legible from the Xcel Energy Center. The X is way up on the bluffs above the river, though, so perhaps the idea is to force the protestors to recall the concept of the city on a hill as they strain their necks and yell across the expanses of water and parking lots.

City on a hill, beacon of hope, shining example for the world.

Then again, there are some benefits for the protestors: with the nice band stand, the killer views, and the fraught-with-meaning backdrop of Old Man River, the island would really be a kick-ass setting for a music video or blurry documentary filled with jump-cuts and massive puppets. And it's so close to Saint Paul's West Side, the better to have a quick side-trip in the middle of the documentary to bond with the Real People who live there and, y'know, work in the obligatory "si se puede!" chants. Peeerfect setting. Everyone's happy.