May I speak?

This past Wednesday, in honor of May Day, a retinue of thousands paraded from Union Square to City Hall. But why, what for? Because May Day's a holiday for Communists.

At least I was so informed by one of our city's finest, bright and Blue. I was crossing University at 12th and asked the fellow, 'What's going on?' And that's when he told me: The Communists are taking the city.

But isn't May Day a Pagan holiday? Yeah - Pagan, Communist, same thing. You know the USSR. Yes, I believe I've heard of it. They make a big deal today. Really? That's good to know. Don't you see all the Communist flags waving over there? They look like world flags to me. Trust me, I saw them. They're Communist. They got Cuban flags and everything. So you're trying to contain them, right? Contain? No we're not containing anything. Free Speech and everything. We just don't want people getting confused. Confused about Communism? People walking around, like you. And you don't want them linking up with the Communists? -Which you should continue doing.
[No good feeling having your tail thrust between your bandy cur-legs by the Mastiff.] I've a job to do, he says.

Now, I'm really confused. And he's real innocent. Really.

When I got closer to the banners, the bottom of his logic fell out a bit. Not a single one I saw was a national flag, let alone Communist. [Of course, the hammers and sickles were thrown up just beyond my view (a flattering little slide-show)]. What I happened to see were Human Rights Banners, Union banners, banners promoting better democratic representation: The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns were out, so was the 'Jazz musicians deserve Justice' constituency, The United Teachers Federation, contenders against The Gang 8 Plan, The NYC Transport Workers Union, &c, &c. Am I deluded in thinking this is a good thing? Honest question.

I need some help with my confusion.

Well, May Day is a historical adaptation of the old Roman Flora , the German Walpurgisnacht, and the Gaelic Beltane festivals. But May Day is also International Workers' Day - first recognized in Paris in 1891 (nearly 20 years before the October Revolution) by one of the first socialist and labor rights organizations, The Second International. It originally served as a commemoration of the haywire Haymarket Affair in Chicago, 1886. These days, Russia does cherish their 'Day of Spring and Labor' as a day of rest and relaxation, but it is no longer celebrated as a Communist holiday. The world over, International Workers' Day has become an auspicious occasion for labor, trade unions, and civil rights factors to promote their ideologies in demonstration. In today's economic climate, Socialist soapbox aside, this day is a necessary one for the General Assembly - in a world where corporate pillage and snake-oil are too prevalent in our lives, where a great deal of social mobilization is yoked by hungry cronyism, where price and value have fallen out of bed together - where NYC is continually stymied by outrageous pensions, where the NYC Policemen's Benevolent Association is perhaps the largest and most powerful in the civilized world, despite one of their own still cashing in on The Red Scare - taking all unions in his teeth and grumbling 'Communist.'

Yes, this is New York, and everyone is entitled to their opinion (except apparently Anti-Semites). Free Speech, you know. My only hope is that at the end of the day, when all ideas and platforms are mined, the most idiotic ones will slide on into the tailing pile.