Can someone explain to me why roads and rail transit are being shut down near the Democratic convention site in Boston for a whole week, while shutdowns in New York will take place only on the day Bush appears at the GOP convention, if what the New York Daily News says is correct? Furthermore, the News mentions curtailment of subway and commuter rail service, but makes no mention of shutting down the streets and avenues around Madison Square Garden.

Would it be paranoid to wonder whether someone in D.C. wants to make the Democratic convention more exasperating for locals and commuters than the Republicanican convention?