Denver open thread

Thu, 08/28/2008 - 4:06pm — lambert

Back to painting.

lambert's blog
Login or register to post comments

Comments

the official DNC talking points--

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 5:11pm

NYT -- http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/... -- "Here’s a copy of the Democratic National Committee’s talking points, e-mailed to supporters and surrogates for use during television appearances and interviews with reporters – about Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Former President Bill Clinton’s speeches on Wednesday night, and the big Barack Obama address here tonight: ..."

Hah, they edit out all the good stuff from Clinton

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 5:20pm

He really soared on what happened when the Rs got all three branches of government, and on income inequality.

They leave out the meat and give us the mush. Assholes. From Clinton's speech:

Look at the example the Republicans have set: American workers have given us consistently rising productivity. They've worked harder and produced more. What did they get in return? Declining wages, less than a quarter as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller healthcare and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring healthcare costs and declining coverage. I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other severe conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn't afford healthcare and couldn't qualify their kids for Medicaid unless they quit work or got a divorce. Are these the family values the Republicans are so proud of?

[McCain] still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years, a philosophy we never had a real chance to see in action until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and Congress. Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades were implemented.

They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22m new jobs down to 5m; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8m Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty - and millions more losing their health insurance.

The truth that cannot be spoken and perhaps has never been said.

NOTE For those who say: "Then why the fuck don't you vote for the D?" I respond: Things can always get worse.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Schweitzer put stuff back in

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 5:38pm

that they had taken out-- "petro-dictators" -- http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0...

"... Schweitzer, other sources said, had already clashed with convention organizers over the editing of his speech. So when he took the stage, the Montana governor expanded dramatically on a prepared text sent by the campaign to reporters, adding signature language that stuck out from the rest of the speakers' words -- he was the only one talking about "petro-dictators" -- and offered a rhetorical merger of environmentalism and patriotism.

"If you would have turned around and looked at the teleprompter, you would have seen that for most of my speech, it didn't move," he said.

The result: The best received speeches in Denver, Schweitzer's and former President Bill Clinton's, were among those over which the Obama campaign had the least control.

"I thought it was a pretty good line when I said, 'The petro-dictators will never own American wind and sunshine,'" he said.
"

Schweitzer

By a little night ... on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 5:48pm

looks harmless*, but packs a punch.

I kinda like him!

*OK, some think he looks like Chucky. I see that too, and I interpret it as how scary Chucky was because of his normalcy. But YMMV.

—

---------------
We can't afford not to have single-payer!

that punch was in spite of

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 5:51pm

the Obama people's efforts, which is so wrong.

they softened everyone's speeches except for Schweitzer and Bill, apparently---giant mistake.

OK, y'all

By a little night ... on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 5:56pm

There's a mojito with my name on it, and a Dan Hicks song on the jukebox. (Where's the Money, if you must know) - and the Dodgers are playing in 15 minutes or so.

I won't listen to the Big Speech, but I'll read tomorrow. And I know how to read.

Fear me, Obama.

—

---------------
We can't afford not to have single-payer!

I Had a Dream, Too.

By Damon on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:05pm

It is now a nightmare. Obama here, tonight, for this black man, is not a poignant touchstone; it's just, well, plain ironic.

—

But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...

Why?

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:07pm

Expand, please.

I was thinking up on the ladder that it really is a great thing that a black man is running for President. Unfortunately, we're not voting for a black man. We're voting for a black man who gutted the rule of law. And that's an altogether iffier proposition.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

We're possibly voting for a black man who, if he mistakes

By cg.eye on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 1:56pm

his marketing strategy for full support from the Democratic Party, will end up as isolated as a, yes, Black Republican legislator during Reconstruction.

Yeah, I still have to read up -- but I'm wondering why neither Dems or Reps generally ask those questions about a president who demands that he should not have an openly partisan or ethnically-focused base.

If he'll refuse to address the problems of black people as a group, how will he ever find solutions, as the AA community takes on faith he will?

10PM Acceptance speech

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:08pm

Pass the vodka.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

the speech ---

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:08pm

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/poli...

Thanks, amberglow. Maybe I can start getting drunk immediately!

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:12pm

Not a bad speech, although that's only excerpts.

I don't see a thing on health care.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

it seems very defensive and reactive to me--

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:14pm

he's responding to GOP attacks and strawmen, i think.

and he just lists our problems without giving solutions--as usual for him lately.

why release excerpts that don't mention any

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:19pm

of the things he'll do as president?

damon, are you really surprised?

By chicago dyke on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:10pm

you didn't think that a black populist or radical would ever be allowed to rise so high, did you? obama is exactly like thatcher in this regard. "only nixon could go to china," or "so long as it michael jordan, my white daughter can date him" and all that. anyone 'real' would be taken out well before achieving such fame, as X and King proved to us long ago.

that's why so many thought Powell would be 1st--

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:27pm

pre-Iraq, that is.

pass me the vodka, lambert--

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:17pm

my plans of going out got canceled : <

-- and Sheryl Crow-- so very 90s and Clintonian, no? Is Hootie up next? ; >

Did Richardson always have that beard?

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:22pm

Readers?

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

borrowed from Gore-

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:26pm

it's new Dem law, i guess--you have to grow one after you've lost or something?

Lambert

By Damon on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:26pm

You answered your own question in your response. The irony to which I spoke of is that MLK fought against things like illegal wire-tapping and true social justice, and the man who will almost certainly claim his mantle, tonight, has squandered most of all of that, and my people are falling for it. They didn't just fall for it, they followed him off of the cliff as if it were an honor.

No, I'm not surprised. But, that doesn't mean it hurts any less, my friends. I've talked to relatives, today, who are falling all over themselves with pride, but it doesn't have anything to do with issues. Not one; and it hurts.

—

But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...

Sorry, DamonMI

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:29pm

That must have hurt. Proverbs 16:18....

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

hurts many many of us, Damon--

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:29pm

you're so not alone.

I watched the crowds leaving Invesco Field,

By cg.eye on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 2:03pm

as they made their way through nearby Larimer Square.

It felt as if everyone thought a deal was done; that not much else would be needed, or else someone else would do it.

I nodded to the black folks who passed by (don't get het up at the implied bigotry; it is as saying "Landsman!" to a rare fellow Jewish person in the Old West, very Southern, and expected). They were quiet, thinking the same things I was -- do we want to go through this, all over again?

Fight for the new mayors, new congresspeople, then watch as they fall away into their new tribe's habits of corruption and constituent inattention? Will that phalanx of men who shaped his image let him deliver a damn thing the people want, save spectacle?

And, as always, the Memphis question -- hell, during the RFK June mischegas, every black person in the US would have been tried to thoughtcrime, because it's discussed every time we have a quiet moment to think what an Obama presidency would bring. On the bus, coming home a few days ago, it was either that or conjectures of complete election theft, to stop him.

Rabid white men have taught us, you see. If someone is too precious to us to lose, kill him quick or corrupt him quicker. That's more than the Chicago Way; it's the American Way.

The spam detector is very sensitive about the "J" word n/t

By vastleft on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 7:27pm

Because a lot of CT types are really sensitive...

By lambert on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 7:54pm

... about it, although for a different reason. Protocols of the Elders of Zion territory.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Don't know if I'm double-posting, but I got no notice

By cg.eye on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 2:06pm

of anything being in moderation....

I saw people leave Invesco Field, and it was as if something had finished, not begun. There is so much work to do, but will these people do it?

Richardson

By Damon on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:27pm

Yeah, he grew the beard after he dropped out of the primaries. It was quite a story for a few days when he came back out to endorse Obama during the primaries.

—

But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...

Crowds, wise or not

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:27pm

Back to that earlier discussion on the "surprise visit" -- I finally figured out what made me nervous about it: Obama was addressing a crowd -- that's the flip side of being a rock star. But convention delegates, if you take them seriously, are not just a crowd.* But at that moment, they were.

Which is water bothers me about this stadium, too. It's a crowd, period. That is the purpose of a convention. It's a change in the constitutional order, signaled by all sorts of little cultural events like this.

Gore "coming up"

NOTE * And both Clintons showed how to "work a crowd" while simultaneously giving them respect as delegates.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

also, the long/wide shots make it very impersonal--

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:32pm

everytime they zoom out it's like any other concert/stadium event.

richardson hates the gaiis

By chicago dyke on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:28pm

which of course means...

this is like a weak FarmAid, LiveAid, etc--

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:31pm

musical acts mixed with earnest talks that aren't paid attention to...

it's weak.

dammit, damon: i am the mulatto dyke, lambert is the

By chicago dyke on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:32pm

str8 white guy. can't you tell the difference?

jus funnin wit you, bro.

...anyway, yes. i know *exactly* what you mean. however, it's important, lesson-wise, as it shows just how little "race" matters in our media-driven imperial age. everyone, of any age, race or class, is susceptible to the media narrative. thinking people are rare, of any color, and all of america suffers from the religion of Celebrity.

speaking of Celebrity--the bad eyejob & hairplugs

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:34pm

on Biden really don't help Obama, celebrity duo-wise.

/shallow and bitchy

: >

amberglow: snap!

By chicago dyke on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:33pm

"weak farm aid." that's brilliant.

it's so true, no?

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:34pm

it's like all those events--and certainly is coming off the same way they do on tv.

just replace Blitzer/Matthews with Kurt Loder and Kennedy

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:36pm

; >

Waving flags!

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 7:37pm

Love the T-shirt on the congas guy.

"Barack the Vote."

Tell that to the TX caucuses. Change in the Constitutional order once again.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Acceptance speech now 10:15PM

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:02pm

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Did I miss Al Gore?

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:05pm

Tribute to retired generals seems to be the next item on the agenda.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

yup--he lied to us about "experience"

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:06pm

that Obama supposedly now has--and threw in a little environmental scary stuff too.

Antidote to Michael MacDonald

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:08pm

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

"the message tonight is that Democrats like to go to concerts?"

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:10pm

-- http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/8/28/...

Susan Eisenhower!

By lambert on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:12pm

Why not Mamie?

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Eisenhower sold the shit out of the stupid...

By vastleft on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:27pm

... partisan gridlock meme.

they could've had a 2-fer--the Nixon-Eisenhower

By amberglow on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:29pm

; >

Who will critique the media-critiquers?

By vastleft on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 8:25pm

I just heard Thom Hartmann (on a replay of his daytime show, I gathered) talking with two guys from MediaMatters.

A caller complained that Obama and the various conventioneers, outside of Bill Clinton briefly, hadn't been talking about restoring the 4th Amendment and other parts of the Constitution lost to the FISA Bill, the Patriot Act extension, etc.

The panel discussed this topic for a few minutes and not once came near mentioning that Obama had voted for both, including lying about his plan to actively oppose the FISA bill.

Goddamn it, truthiness rots everything.