Democratic National Convention 2004

[filkertom]

Beantown's rockin' as the Dems prepare to nominate John Kerry for President. Tonight we get Jimmy Carter, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore.

The Big Three networks are planning a whole three hours of coverage over four days. The cable news networks are planning to mention what a mega-rich smarty-pants flip-flopper John Kerry is an average of 457,891 times, and are ready to break into convention coverage at any time if Tom Ridge farts or Dubya attempts a four-syllable word. Ya want full, unbiased coverage? That's what C-Span is for.

Comments

[cheshyre]

And, as somebody who does not have cable or a dish, thank goodness for PBS.

[jss]

"Rockin'?" Hardly. Those of us who live here are treating it as if our city's under siege. We've got unconstitutional search-and-seizure of bags and people on the public transit system, we've got multiple-hour-long closures of one of the primary Interstates into the city, and we've got parking restrictions throughout the city and suburbia. About a third of my friends have left town for the week to avoid the chaos. It's costing us god only knows how much in tax revenue to pay for this thing, not to mention the time hassle and inconvenience.

I mean, really. If I were a terrorist I'd've planted the bombs before the security measures went into place. If I were gonna drive a truck full of fertilizer and fuel oil up to the Fleet Center I could still do it, using roads other than I-93. If I were going to blow up or otherwise damage the MBTA I still could, since random searches are on the Orange and Green Lines (which run by/through Fleet Center at North Station), not the Red and Blue Lines or on the buses. All this bullshit in the name of security is haphazard and functionally useless. But I digress.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Mucho sympathy, campadre. We just went through the scale-model version of only a fraction of that hell with the Art Fairs, and it still made everyone crazy.

And you're not wrong about the security people having no imagination. I've thought for years they should hire about a dozen gamers and game designers to do nothing but generate plausible scenarios. At least read some Bujold or something, y'know?

[jss]

I know very well. Sheesh, part of my job's included disaster-recovery ("business continuity") planning in the past, and the stuff these yabos have come up with is laughable at best.

Art Fair : { DNC | RNC } :: firecracker : multipetaton nuclear warhead.

And I've not had to deal with Fart Air in 15 years. Have to admit I've not missed it at all. I still think Danno and I should've stolen a couple of bulldozers from Facilities and started at either end of Main, State, and all three of South East and North University Streets and just met up in the middle.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

As mentioned, a scale-model of a fraction. But it ain't great living right down the street from it, if you want to, y'know, park in front of your own house 'n' stuff. I basically plotted errands to be done no later than Tuesday morning of last week, so that I could hibernate undisturbed and not lose my spot. Turned out not to be as much a problem this year, fortunately. But between that and construction all over the place, it's still annoying.

[jss]

Art Fair's always annoying to the locals. It drove me bats and I was living on fricking Athletic Campus at the time. ('F course, I was working at the Argus building as well as the School of Ed building, so I had either the Main St. or the State St. disasters to walk or bike through.)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Eeyup. I have to get one of those shirts that says, "Welcome to Ann Arbor. Now go home."

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

OK. What is Art Fair?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Every year, during the third week in July, Ann Arbor, MI is effectively shut down by four separate art exhibitions -- hundreds of booths are set up in the streets, and about a half-million people attend over the main four days (local pop. is about 100,000). Depending on your point of view, it's a great showcase for artists from around the country, a massive stimulus to the local economy, or a big honkin' pain in the tuchus. For more info, click here (http://www.annarbor.org/artfair2004/).

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

Hear hear for C-SPAN -- I rely on it for all my political coverage because I don't need some seven-figure-a-year corporate shill telling me what I'm supposed to think about it.

Here's the one that once and for all turned me off of CNN; it was the day after The Occupant's State of the Union in '02, and they had someone in the field talking to factory workers about what they thought of the address. And universally, they were at best luke-warm about it, if not genuinely negative. Paula Zahn, back in CNN Central, was showing some survey numbers that showed modest support for the address, and she was reduced to bleating "But the polls!" every time another worker spoke against the address.

Said field reporter was not shown again until he had a supporter of the speech and The Occupant safely at his side.

So the hell with network news. Give me the Unblinking Eye and no voice-over.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Apparently on NPR this evening, they followed Carter's amazing razoring of Dubya with commentary from... RNC chairman Ed Gillespie. As I said on another LJ this evening, if Gillespie tells you your own name, you should check your I.D. And he frankly isn't worthy of being in the same room as the transcript of a Carter speech, let alone commenting on it as if he has something edifying to say.

Fuckin' shill media.

4 more years?

[(Anonymous)]

Of BILL CLINTON!

Is it just me or does anyone else miss that guy? Strength, intelligence, charisma (as my wife says "she'd sleep with him")!

Great speech, I wonder what Gillespie will have to say about him but I really don't want the ulcer I would get listening to him.

So, who wants to think about the RNC Convention drinking game? (Take a drink everytime Bush mentions 9/11 - Finish the bottle if he admits he was wrong about anything.)

Re: 4 more years?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Not just you. Apparently, afterwards on CNN David "I'm Not Only A Shill, I'm A Wishy-Washy Shill" Brooks managed to mumble, "It's not so good..." while looking like he'd been clubbed. They're on the run.

Re: 4 more years?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

And I bet Dubya plays the game himself. Which would explain a lot about his inability to speak coherently, even when looking right at the teleprompter.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

Carter's speech floored me ... I only wish it had been delivered with Clinton's eloquence. But maybe Carter's measured tones and quiet outrage were better than fire and brimstone. I remember the '76 and '80 races (although the '80 race as an Anderson man), and don't ever recall hearing Carter that mad.

I just wish they could get away with saying what the rest of us are thinking: "Throw the goddamn lying bums OUT!"

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but all the media can talk about this morning is Teresa Heinz-Kerry telling some goofball conservative shill to "shove it."

I've got yer "fair-and-balanced" right here!!!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Not merely a goofball conservative shill. The networks are, for the most part, completely ignoring the simple-to-tell back story on this:

The "reporter" in question was Colin McNickle, the editorial page editor of the Scaife-owned Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. If you want to know why Mrs. Kerry might have a beef with Mr. McNickle, you can read part of the answer here: the Tribune-Review editorial page has been on a disgusting and dishonest jihad against the Heinz Endowments for nearly a year.

Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_07/004377.php) has the scoop.

[(Anonymous)]

Now that's a whole 'nother story...thanks for posting the link. Mr McNickle is damn lucky he didn't get something more than what he got.

[james-rayner.livejournal.com]

Tom, Tom, Tom. You poor bastard. You live in Michigan. You should come to Cleveland, where we're all nice, sane, normal folk and the closest thing to an art fair we have is when the Rock Hall puts up those kewl guitars or The Indians (or the browns) Get into the playoffs. ^^

That being said, I've only one thing to say about these wacky Demmy-crats.

Get Nancy Reagan to speak.

Please.

ANYTHING to balance Slick Billy.

[(Anonymous)]

Tune in tonight, then, Ron Jr. is scheduled to speak regarding stem-cell research. It's not Nancy, but it's as close as we are likely to get in this life.