After all the hype about violence in Denver, the provocative name of one of the protest coalitions (“Recreate ’68”) proved oddly prophetic, as slightly more than 68 people actually showed up for Sunday’s anti-war protests. Along with countless cops from numerous jurisdictions. The few hundred protesters, lacking a real place to convene (the “free speech zone,” once it was found in an area with one entrance and enclosed on three sides, turned out to be about 30′ x 30′ and was filled with counter-protesters; by contrast, the area set aside for law enforcement to process arrested protesters was several acres), simply marched around downtown and occasionally did random blockades of streets.
That’ll bring the war machine to its knees.
Not sure whether the pathetic turnout (hyperventilating coverage by Fox and local Denver media notwithstanding) is a reflection of bad organizing, the generally rudderless state of the anti-war movement, or people being scared away by police and media hype. (Tentative answer: yes.) Locals seem much more involved in organizing the immigrant march on Thursday, though the threat of police harassment could certainly keep a lot of those folks away, too. Regardless, even though disgust with Obama, Biden, and especially the Democratic Congress of the last two years is nearly universal among anti-war activists, most delegates hobnobbing in the various downtown hotels today had no idea protests were underway. The ones that did know were usually clueless about why people might be protesting — other than that somebody’s always protesting something. If first impressions are any guide (and they might not be), many of the attendees here, both the pols and the rank and file, seem blissfully unaware of just how much contempt they’re held in by folks who really, really wanted to believe the Democratic promises of 2006.
Instead, it’s been business as usual.
Which brings us to the swag.
Like any trade convention, attendees get canvas bags with lots of free gifts of dubious value. In this case, lots and lots of them. All, of course, provided by corporations (most of them big) and the occasional union, all hoping to buy a favorable impression.
If the Democratic Party’s standard bearer has vowed to turn his back on lobbyist business as usual in government (which is the rumor), someone organizing this convention never got the memo. Sponsorships are everywhere. Thanks to various loopholes in campaign finances laws, the parties and hospitality suites, all paid for by generous benefactors, are more elaborate than ever.
(One example of very, very many: the Washington state delegation is hosting four “Breakfast Meetings” on Monday through Thursday. They are sponsored by, in order, Amgen, Merck, Qwest, and Eli Lilly. Multiply that by fifty state delegations — plus D.C. and the territories — and every suite in several dozen upscale hotels, and one begins to appreciate why we don’t have any real movement toward universal health care, and why the Democrats caved on telecom immunity. Among many other things.)
In the absence of actual news, so far most of the media coverage seems to be media interviewing other media, and that includes the blogger tent (“The Big Tent”), which opened today. The DNCC does deserve credit for recognizing bloggers and setting up a special program for blogger access to the convention; the Republican convention in St. Paul next week has nothing similar. But at first glance — and bearing in mind that many of the Big Tent people had just seen each other in Austin — the whole exercise seemed just as incestuous as the MSM we endlessly criticize. Only, well, not as richly compensated. For all of the vaunted independence and orneriness of the blogosphere, so far not many people seem willing to be a skunk at the party. Or, you know, exercise critical judgment.
Most of that will happen outside the convention proper. For example, the Progressive Democrats of America are hosting symposia all week that look to be promising. (In a church, nearly two miles from the Pepsi Center.) But inside the convention, the one serious possibility of conflict, the Hillary fanatics (aka “PUMAs”) that have been openly fantasizing about disrupting the convention in various ways, is all about cult of personality and entitlement, not about any substantive differences to speak of on issues between Obama and Clinton. Sure, there will be the usual tussles over wording of the party platform that nobody reads. But you’d really never know that some polls recently have put favorable ratings for the Democratic-led Congress in the single digits, and that said rating among self-identified Democrats is worse than among Republicans.
Plenty of interesting things will undoubtably happen behind the scenes. But don’t expect any serious expression in Denver of the anger of many in the public over two years of failed congressional Democratic promises to reverse the disaster that has been George Bush (or even to try very hard) — not from delegates, not from media, and not even, apparently, from well-organized public protests.
It sounded to me like the whole “riots at the convention” meme was media hype.
What the fuck is a “Free Speech zone?”
Whoa, whoa, whoa, michael. Before you say that, please step over here into this friendly box.
Everyone keeps talking about how Democrats are angry at their own for not stopping the war. Aside from shutting down the government or playing chicken with the administration (starting impeachment for example), what do people want them to do? I would say, be careful what you wish for. We have seen how well robust, high risk tactics worked for the Georgians. Playing for small gains isn’t sexy, but it is effective, as the Republicans have demonstrated.
Actually, there was some amusement at the protests
Check the video here:
http://rejectmccain.com/
thank you, geov. any sign of 9-11 truth movement in denver?
You want a protest? Go to the Rock The Vote concert on the 25th and get there early for OTEP, who won a fan vote to get on the bill. Here’s a sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sctMMg6A-Tc
Taped live in Seattle, no less. Apologies for the shitty video quality.
Mayor John W. Hickenpooper of Denver: Democrat
1968 Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago: Democrat
Translation: Denver’s “threat of police action,” and swarms of “riot police,” and 1968 Chicago’s police beatdowns of protesters was, and will be, brought to you by the Democrats.
Pumas? You goddam right it is about a cult of personality. Politics is almost completely about personality. It isn’t about the issues at all. The earth is getting used up by rapacious corporations to provide us with better Happy Meals at McDonalds. The government borrowed on my children’s lives to fund a pointless war in Iraq. Universal healthcare? Why? Government should actually do good? Government of the people, by the people, for the people is a joke. It is government of the people, by the corporations, for the corporations.
/rant
Sorry, had to get that off my chest. It is my sincere belief that one of the structural failures of American democracy is that elections are based on personalities, not issues, and that the rise in the efficiency of public relations machines have provided a raking light with which to see that failure.
You can’t recreate ’68 without Republicans. Remember all the long-hairs who, um, got beat up in the Police Riot? (That’s right — for those of you too young to remember, it was the POLICE … not protesters … who rioted in Chicago in 1968). Well, they’re all NEOCONS now. So, if you want a really ripping riot, replete with overturned cars and smashed store windows, you need a bunch of future Republicans.
There’s just no other way to get the job done. Unions are too staid, political activists too busy trying to get laid. Hey! If you’re short of rioters maybe you can rent that bunch who threatened election works in Florida in ’00 — all you have to do is dial the RNC’s Rent-A-Riot phone number.
Ripped Off At The Pump
All you government-hating anti-regulation Republicans will LOVE this one!!
(That is, if you’re still alive after eating the tainted meat and vegetables the Bush administration lets Big Food sell to the hapless public.)
CBS News conducted an investigation of whether consumers are getting cheated at America’s gas pumps, and the results are shocking!!
On average, about 10% of America’s gas pumps short consumers. But there’s no way to really know for sure because inspection is so infrequent and haphazard. Do you realize there are only about 600 gas pump inspectors in all 50 states put together? That’s an average of 12 inspectors per state.
Many states allow gas pumps to go years between inspections. A couple don’t inspect at all, unless there are complaints. In Minnesota, only 25% of pumps that fail inspection are re-inspected after alleged repairs are made.
And because virtually all states allow a small error margin, large gas station and convenience store chains can make significant extra profits by deliberately shorting each pump a little bit. A lot of them do. And it’s perfectly legal as long as they’re within the permitted error margin.
The silver lining in this cloud is that the consumers getting ripped off the most are our government-hating anti-regulation Republican friends, because they like to drive gas guzzlers, and they like to drive a lot.
Republicans stealing from Republicans … ya gotta love it!
This is as good a time as any to remind folks of what Bush’s meat inspection plan was.
1. Increase spending on federal meat inspection. (When did Bush ever cut spending on anything?)
2. Fire all the federal meat inspectors.
3. Give federal grants to meatpackers to hire their own meat inspectors.
4. Of course, the taxpayers (not meatpackers) will pay for the cost of training these private, for-profit meat inspectors.
5. Needless to say, the privatized meat inspectors will be paid much lower wages than the former federal meat inspectors, so you’ll have amateurs (not experienced professionals) inspecting meat, and turnover will be high.
6. It goes without saying the private, for-profit meat inspectors will be supervised by company foremen whose priority will be profit, not food safety, and the inspectors will “inspect” accordingly.
The results speak for themselves. When was the last time there wasn’t a huge nationwide hamburger recall every month? How long has it been since you dared to eat meat? B.B., that’s when. (Before Bush.)
The silver lining to this cloud is that Republicans eat most of the meat in this country. That’s right, they laugh at us organic vegetarians while gorging themselves on fraudulently inspected red meat. After they all die from e.coli, we won’t have Republicans underfoot anymore, and will finally be able to restore sanity to this country.
@8 I like our thugs better than your thugs.
Remember how the RNC bussed in rioters to threaten, intimidate, and bully government election workers in Miami 8 years ago? Too bad all the old-time union thugs are gone. I sure would’ve liked to see a bunch of them show up at that election office and crack some fascist heads open. They would’ve done it, too.
@9 “It is my sincere belief that one of the structural failures of American democracy is that elections are based on personalities, not issues”
The blame for that belongs squarely on the doorstep of mainstream media. What now passes for “journalism” in this country is a joke.
I saw a rightwing blog complaining this morning that a Fox TV crew got beat up. I’m not in favor of riots, but if you’re gonna riot, you may as well do something construction, hey? Although you can’t really have much of a riot with only 68 people, especially when three-fourths of them are paid GOP provocateurs trying to artificially create an appearance of lawlessness and disorder outside the Democratic convention.
There won’t be any demonstrations at the GOP/BIAW convention. Or any free speech, either. As usual, the GOPers will run their convention like Nuremberg ’36. Actual American citizens — wage earners, war veterans, senior citizens, etc. — won’t be allowed within 2 miles of the place.
Remember the photo rightwingers circulated of a VFW guy wearing cardboard “Bullshit Protectors” over his ears?
For once, it was a real photo. The only thing they changed was the caption. The rightwing version claimed the VFW guy was listening to a speech by Ted Kennedy. The implication is that World War 2 veterans think Kennedy is a bullshitter.
In fact, he was listening to a speech by Bush. The reality is that a whole convention hall full of World War 2, Korea, and Vietnam veterans thought Bush was a bullshitter. They still do.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/earflap.asp
9 Dan–great post re: voting for personality brand
Gee what could the Democrats have done? How about reminding people that impeachment is more than a political game of chicken as an above poster thinks, and part of the whole checks and balances thing.
Or the Dems could have refused to fund the wars through emergency bills, which bypassed the oversight of Congress.
Or the Dems could have really investigated any number of corruption scandals.
But they Dems settled for the incremental change of getting the minimum wage to about 3/4 of the value it had during the 60s.
I can’t post the link, because if I do Goldy’s spam filter will vaporize it, but you can find it on Snopes.com by searching for “Photograph shows a veteran wearing a ‘bullshit protector’ flap during a speech by Ted Kennedy.”
Snopes.com goes on to explain that veteran Bill Moyer, age 73, was actually protesting George W. Bush’s anti-veteran policies.
The best way to protest is with your vote. I hate the war. I wish we never went there. I wish we were out today. I will continue to vote for who best seems likely to end that war. But what the fuck? Do they think voting for McSame will help? That GUARANTEES more war. That’s how the righties make money. We have to start by getting as many Dems in office as we can. Then we move to getting the BEST Dems we can. That’s a two step process.
@18 The Democrats’ voting behavior in Congress over the last few years reflected political reality. Let’s not lose sight of the real cause of all these things: Republicans … and people who vote for Republicans. They, not the spineless and cowardly Democrats in Congress, are ultimately to blame for what the Republicans in the administration and Congress did. Yes, there is plenty of reason to be dissatisfied with the spineless and cowardly Democrats in Congress, but the solution is electing more (and better) Democrats — not voting for Reopublicans, not voting, or throwing your vote away on third-party candidates who don’t have a prayer of getting elected.
@20 Don’t worry, God will take care of the warmongers (and those who voted for them). The Great Mother Rabbit Spirit told me so in a dream last night.
As if we needed more proof that Liberals are fascists,check out these bedwetters that were so intimidated by a TV news crew that they exacted their liberal values upon them.
Fucking fascist punks…Liberals are the new Nazi party. Congratulations
http://www.redstate.com/diarie.....servative/
@23: If Fox News were a neutral, news-gathering organization, Rick, you’d have more of a point. The attack was idiotic (and inexcusable) anyway – but so was the Fox report that made it sound like hordes of “far leftists” were overrunning the streets of Denver, when similarly sized (and similarly harmless) demonstrations can be found at Westlake pretty much any day of the week. In other words, Fox was hyping the protesters for its own propaganda purposes, scarcely how a real journalistic outfit would operate. And though I wasn’t at the attack and didn’t talk with any of the participants, I’d wager that if you asked any of them, it’s exactly that sort of bullshit behavior that makes them hate Fox.
By the way, “liberal fascist” is an oxymoron. Literally. Look it up.
Like I will believe ANYTHING that comes from…
Puddylicker/RickD
FauxNews
RedState Diaries
By the way asslick – PLEASE learn what a fascist is. You really are an embarrasment. You don’t even know what the talking points you spew mean.
Here since you’re an ignorant inbred rightie let me help you…
From Websters: “a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.”
Who’s that sound like? Oh yeah – the Bush Regime!
23 – LMAO@Little Rickie Dumbass!!
I refuse to click on right wing links but that TV crew was probably Faux Noise.
They deserved all the F yous handed out.
Even the Ron Paul supporters chased Insanity Hannity away in New Hampshire.
Never talk to Faux. They’re traitors.
About 15 minutes ago the DNC sent PCs an email to be on the look out for republicans posing as rioters sent to Denver for the express purpose of disrupting the Convention and then blaming it on “the radical left.”
Those patriots in Denver should be on the look out for buses coming onto Convention Center property – carrying people who are coming from out of state, and then changing into “radical” attire.
The plan is quite detailed so everyone out there in Denver keep the cameras rolling. We want to catch these fucking cowards in the act. I’d get close to the Faux News tent/trailer since that’s most likely where they’ll stage their bullshit so Faux News can get good video.
We should also have people trailing the Faux News staff to see what they’re up to at the convention.
Poor liberals, why do you kiddies hate free speech so much? Hate filled youngsters having a temper tantrum.
Liberal fascism is a redundancy, not an oxymoron.
Filthy stinking fascists. Thanks for displaying it so out in the open so that the rest of America can witness your traitorous acts.
Sieg Heil dein fascists!!
Just say NObama in NOvember…
28 – Silly little Rickie Dumbass.
We don’t hate free speech – we hate LIES.
Try shouting fire in a crowded theatre without cause. What your precious Faux Noise does is many times worse.
Little Rickie Dumbass..
Joe Biden?????????????????????
Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har!
Plagarizing, foot-in-mouth, says repeatedly O-blah-blah not ready to lead-
Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har!
@24…Geov…
Sadly, much of what’s written by HA Happy Hooligans mirrors the juvenile and intolerant protests seen in the linked YouTube video.
I noticed a couple things in it worthy of mention…
There were children present in that protest. Some parent or guardian thought it quite appropriate to subject what looked to be a five-year-old or younger girl to the pushing and shoving and the angry profanity that passes for intellectual rigor and constructive debate among many on the left.
This includes those in Denver and an untold many among the HA Happy Hooligans.
A second thing is that I saw a sign with an image of Che Guevara, a tired, cliched but still-popular-among-the-left iconic figure.
How typical of the tolerance crowd to pimp a failed thug and killer as a romantic figure of an intellectually bankrupt movement.
Akin to your commentary about swag, that Che now capitalistically sells more t-shirts than he ever did revolutionary ideology gives testimony to the oxymoronic nature of the left.
As for Fox News? If you want the perfect example of an unbalanced cable network, why not MSNBC? Both it and parent NBC have unabashedly been pimping BHO since day one.
While protestors on the left have conniption fits over Fox (no doubt because of the enormous strength and growing influence it has as evidenced by its ratings), those of us on the right regard MSNBC/NBC as a journalistic and opinion equivalent of a whining gnat as evidenced by its ratings.
Still, to watch Fox over an extended period of time is to see more and more Democrat operatives come on to testify how they get the fairest shake of all on that network.
Were it not for the ChiCom Olympics, MSNBC/NBC’s year would be an utter catastrophe and disaster. Yet the pairing of that GE-owned media outlet with the dictators of Bejing seems appropriate in a birds-of-a-feather sort of way.
BTW…my visceral reaction at hearing of the Biden pick? So much for the politics of change…Biden, the ultimate Washington insider, who’s been in office well over half his life and represents all that BHO seemed to be running against since the day he announced…Proves he’s just another political opportunist out to validate his own high opinion of himself.
In November, McCain by five to eight points.
The Piper
I’d love to protest at the convention, but alas am too poor to go to Denver. I wasn’t even able to go to Spokane for the state convention. I had to pass my seat to an alternate.
But I imagine, with the current economic decline, many would be protesters are in the same boat.
@23
No, liberal-fascist really is an oxymoron. Fascism is an ideology of the right not the left.
Maybe the protesters got their idea to shut Fox down from the Dino Rossi campaign?*
*Joking of course. I don’t support what the protesters did or Rossi’s pre-approved media only lists.
I DO support the protesters – they just didn’t go far enough. It looked to me like the Faux News camera man was attacking people. They should have defended themselves using deadly force.
Oh well – maybe next time.
And what does it say about the right that even when they read a dictionary definition – they are just too fucking stooooopid to understand what it means?
Probably home schooled by inbred religious fanatics. Explains the lack of intelligence and the vulnerability that would make them more likely to buy into the lies of the traitors on the right.
So Obama is man enough to pick a VP candidate that disagrees with him, what’s your beef about it?
McCain wasn’t even man enough to keep his wedding vows.
31 – LMAO!!! Pooper you got a kid in the Marines.
Are you watching Generation Kill?
You know who you remind me of?
CAPTAIN AMERICA!! What a moron!
The last ep by the way is the best – an apt depiction of the biggest fuckup in U.S., no make that WORLD History.
Pooper I hate to interrupt your fantasies – which no doubt include getting butt fucked by big studs while wearing your dress – er I mean kilt – but NBC/MSNBC have ratings Faux News only dreams about. NBC pulls in TEN times the audience of Faux News. While Faux News v. MSNBC is a toss up here and there – Faux News does usually win against MSNBC straight up – although in the last quarter – several MSNBC shows on individual nights trounced Faux News.
And oh by the way – Newscorp stock is down 33% this year – yeah they’re a powerhouse allright HE HE!
In one hundred years the liars at Faux News hope to have NBC-like ratings. That said, I wish it were true that NBC were to Democratic values what Faux News is to republican values. If it were true, we wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Unfortunately, the average inbred right winger (That would be you Pooper) thinks that ANY story – even ONE – that doesn’t tow the republican party line, makes a news organization (left-leaning.)
@36
I read the book, he’s totally CAPTAIN AMERICA!!
You know it’s going bad when even CNN is forced to report the truth.
How much longer can the democrats put their HOPE on such a flawed candidate. The bump all other candidates got when they announced their veep pick didn’t happen this time, yet more proof of the upcoming democrat disaster.
Once again this is how desperate the right is now. They’re forced to trumpit the fact that McSame is only in the single digits behind President Obama.
Hey Marvin the child rapist from California – will you be quick to post these poll results next week after the convention bounce?
Something tells me the answer is no.
It wasn’t too long ago that obama believed that there were 57 states.
Now he adds a new one, Eau Claire.
Or as obama would say, I mean DID say…
“Eau Claire is a big important state.”
Between the words of both obama the clean african american and biden, all the gop has to do is make ads of obama & biden speaking.
@23 Poor Rickie Dick has to get his “news” off wingnut blogs because he can’t stand the truth — namely, that unethical Fox Noise “journalists” were trying to create “news” by provoking the crowd.
@24 “By the way, “liberal fascist” is an oxymoron.”
True, but there is such a thing as “commie-fascists”. This site is infested with them. Trolls like that dicklicking Puddy or the goatfucking Marvin. A commie-fascist’s defining trait is an insatiable desire to fuck goats and to watch the world around them burn. Hell, they’ve gone so far right they’ve gone full circle-jerk only to find their heads stuffed up Stalin’s ass while Hitler gives it to them from behind.
Hey, you commie-fascist, goatfucking traitors, listen up! Baa means no!
http://buttons.cafepress.com/i...../209341556
Hey Marvin the child rapist from California – I think you “misremembered” that asshole.
We found out how Pooper’s kids feel about protests.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26224633/
Isn’t that your kid Pooper?
Wow, a 50+ year old adult is calling people childish names.
Grow up and act your age.
hahahahahaha
@45 “calling people childish names”
Indeed. And your calling our future president “Oh-Blah-Blah” is soooo mature of you, you goatfucking, commie-fascist traitor.
I’ve never referred to mcsame as Oh-Blah-Blah.
I haven’t even referred to obama as oh-blah-blah.
If you ignorantly believe I have, just google horsesass and prove what you wrote. Here’s a hint for googling, “site:horsesass.org Oh-Blah-Blah”
From now on I’ll refer to you as the immature 50+ year old liar.
hahahahahaha
Or try this “site:horsesass.org California – based child molester” you’ll get…
Marvin!
@47 “From now on I’ll refer to you as”
So fucking what? You’ll still be the same goatfucking, commie-fascist traitor that you were before.
@48 “California – based child molester”
Child molesting as well as goatfucking and treason, huh? The SOB should soon be posting from prison.
I’ll tell you what. You lied and got caught.
hahahahahaha
@50 “I’ll tell you what”
Sadly, you continue to confuse me with someone who could actually give a flying monkey fuck about what you might think about anything.
Marvin has NEVER denied ONE TIME on any HA thread that he is a child molester – FYI!
We both know that’s bullshit. You know you got caught lying just like bibigoober and you aren’t man enough to admit it. Must be tough being such an immature 50+ year old and get proven to be a liar by me.
hahahahahahaha