Well, it seems that journalists can't get close to the RNC. 


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/amy-goodman-arr.html


It seems that the RNC is vetting the people who get in more than they did the VP.



Cat

^The top of my head is steaming. This is soooooo 60s

When people are rioting in the streets you know the current Government is in threat of being overthrown.  RNC is trying to tell everyone that it's all under control and hope they'll be believed. 

I was discussing with some of my labmates that McCain would be a fairly cool candidate if he weren't bolted down by the current Republican dogma...doesn't even reflect true conservatism anymore.  As a result, McCain has to stick to the so-called "base" and isn't allowed to be as maverick-y as he wants to be.  Kinda sad really :(

I don't trust the current Republican Party, but at the same time, I hope some third party comes along that takes their place so the Democrats don't get absolute power :D

The whole convention has an air of desperation about it.  It would not surprise me in the least if agents provocateurs spearheaded the violence, which gave the pigs an excuse to start harrassing journalists!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/13/icon_porc.gif

Speaking of the '60s, have they learned nothing in four decades?  They just made Amy Goodman a martyr.

There was someone escorted out of the convention during Palin's speech last night. I don't know what happened.



Cat

There was someone escorted out of the convention during Palin's speech last night. I don't know what happened.



Cat


Suspected of having an original thought?

Suspected of having an original thought?


I saw the best minds of my generation
Destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical
I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think

I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
And I should be allowed to blurt the merest idea
If by random whim, one occurs to me
If necessary, leave paper stains on the grey utility pole

I saw the worst bands of my generation
applied by magic marker to dry wall
I should be allowed to shoot my mouth off
I should have a call in show

I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
And I should be allowed to blurt the merest idea
If by random whim, one occurs to me
If necessary, leave paper stains on the grey utility pole

I am not allowed
To ever come up with a single original thought
I am not allowed
To meet the criminal government agent who oppresses me

I was the worst hope of my generation
Destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical
I should be allowed to share my feelings
I should be allowed to feel

I should be allowed to glue my poster
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
I should be allowed to think
And I should be allowed to blurt the merest idea
If by random whim one occurs to me
But sadly, this can never be

I am not allowed to think
I am not allowed to think
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)
I am not allowed to think (I am not allowed to think)


Anyway, I thought the speech was well-written and probably well-delivered (I didn't watch her speak) but it was sorely lacking in anything other than "Obama sucks".  They really need to start rebuilding their platform on something other than "Obama sucks" in the next couple months.  The idiot vote will keep it close though.

Ah, 'twould seem I was not the only one to think that...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_obama

Anyway, I thought the speech was well-written and probably well-delivered (I didn't watch her speak) but it was sorely lacking in anything other than "Obama sucks".  They really need to start rebuilding their platform on something other than "Obama sucks" in the next couple months.  The idiot vote will keep it close though.



They are working very hard to keep the name "Biden" out of the conversation.  They are going to try to make it a McCain/Palin against an  Obama/Obama ticket.

It almost seems like the Dems are taking the high road this time though, because even Biden told the press to leave Palin's family alone, despite being the attack dog for the campaign...

They are working very hard to keep the name "Biden" out of the conversation.  They are going to try to make it a McCain/Palin against an  Obama/Obama ticket.



Michelle is on the ticket? Cool. I'll vote for her.  ;)



Cat

It almost seems like the Dems are taking the high road this time though, because even Biden told the press to leave Palin's family alone, despite being the attack dog for the campaign...



This time?  It has been the republican machine that gave new meaning to negative campaigns.  Lee Atwater to Karl Rove, the only ones more disgraceful than them is the people who swallowed their crap.

I see mud slung from both sides, just that the Republicans are particularly ruthless this time around.  That's the way I see it anyway.

I don't like either party right now. I voted Democrat in 2006 expecting for change...but it went only worse.

I made my decision for who to vote for and it's...Barack Obama.

But I'm doing it in a standpoint as "Here Barack, there's a mess in the White House. Clean it!"

There was someone escorted out of the convention during Palin's speech last night. I don't know what happened.



Cat


Some of the Code Pink ladies were there.  I saw a picture of one being "ejected" from the convention.

250 people were arrested.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080905/pl_nm/usa_politics_protests_dc_2



Cat

250 people were arrested.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080905/pl_nm/usa_politics_protests_dc_2



Cat


At least new coverage is so technologically advance that little can be hidden.  My parents tell of protest where the media couldn't get the whole story.

I don't like either party right now. I voted Democrat in 2006 expecting for change...but it went only worse.

I made my decision for who to vote for and it's...Barack Obama.

But I'm doing it in a standpoint as "Here Barack, there's a mess in the White House. Clean it!"


The problem with 2006 is that the Dems got only 1 vote majority in the Senate, which means that they can't stop a filibuster.  They did drop the ball in the house by not impeaching both Bush & Cheney and by backing down over funding the war, but that's politics.

I'll vote for Obama as well, but I don't expect miracles.

The problem with 2006 is that the Dems got only 1 vote majority in the Senate, which means that they can't stop a filibuster.  They did drop the ball in the house by not impeaching both Bush & Cheney and by backing down over funding the war, but that's politics.

I'll vote for Obama as well, but I don't expect miracles.


I don't either and Pelosi was TOO damn lazy to do any impeachment.

So to make it even, I'm going to find a Republican Speaker of the House so that Obama can't be filibustered.

I don't either and Pelosi was TOO damn lazy to do any impeachment.

So to make it even, I'm going to find a Republican Speaker of the House so that Obama can't be filibustered.


You can't filibuster in the House.

There was someone escorted out of the convention during Palin's speech last night. I don't know what happened. 


(I can't speak to the Palin protestor, I missed that one.)

I caught a few seconds of a dude holding up signs during McCain's speech.  His name was Adam Kokesh.  Although he was escorted out, it appears he wasn't roughed up, tazed, nor has he yet to be disappeared.  He should probably give himself an extra hour whenever traveling by air, however...

PROTIP:  At RNC events, it's pretty well established that the chant "USA! USA! USA!" is used to drown out protestors.  (Google can verify this.)  Every time you see a bunch of people looking away from the camera or the candidate, and hear the chant "USA! USA! USA!", there's a protestor off-camera who's either protesting or being led out.

QUESTION:  Do DNC events use the same chant?  Or do they use some other chant, such as the name of the candidate?  I'm sure there's a similar protocol communicated to the crowd during important speeches, I just don't know if it's the same one as used by the Elephants.  (I'm also sure there are fewer protestors at DNC events at the moment, but I don't want to wait until the 2016 convention to find out the answer :)

Kudos to McCain for the one-liner of suggesting that we should be talking to each other rather than shouting at each other.

Shame for not going the extra mile and saying "Yeah, there's a guy up there with a sign.  I happen to disagree with him.  But he's here and as entitled to hold his sign as any of us are to hold our signs.  The First Amendment means we have the right to peacably assemble for redress of greivances.  He's here for the same reason the rest of us xx,000 of us are."

McCain could have even gone one step further (and had he been coached to expect protestors, which he should have been) and finished with "I may disagree with him, but some my friends have already defended to death his right to express it."

Yes, there was suppression of the press at the RNC, but not much more than was at the DNC.  Yes, it not only sucks, it goes against the entire philosophy on which pre-9/11 America had been built.  Once upon a time, the entire fracking country was a free-speech zone.  Unfortunately, pre-emptive restrictions on (but not yet outright elimination of) unreliable elements is an inssue on which there's bipartisan agreement.

(I can't speak to the Palin protestor, I missed that one.)

I caught a few seconds of a dude holding up signs during McCain's speech.  His name was Adam Kokesh.  Although he was escorted out, it appears he wasn't roughed up, tazed, nor has he yet to be disappeared.  He should probably give himself an extra hour whenever traveling by air, however...

PROTIP:  At RNC events, it's pretty well established that the chant "USA! USA! USA!" is used to drown out protestors.  (Google can verify this.)  Every time you see a bunch of people looking away from the camera or the candidate, and hear the chant "USA! USA! USA!", there's a protestor off-camera who's either protesting or being led out.

QUESTION:  Do DNC events use the same chant?  Or do they use some other chant, such as the name of the candidate?  I'm sure there's a similar protocol communicated to the crowd during important speeches, I just don't know if it's the same one as used by the Elephants.  (I'm also sure there are fewer protestors at DNC events at the moment, but I don't want to wait until the 2016 convention to find out the answer :)

Kudos to McCain for the one-liner of suggesting that we should be talking to each other rather than shouting at each other.

Shame for not going the extra mile and saying "Yeah, there's a guy up there with a sign.  I happen to disagree with him.  But he's here and as entitled to hold his sign as any of us are to hold our signs.  The First Amendment means we have the right to peacably assemble for redress of greivances.  He's here for the same reason the rest of us xx,000 of us are."

McCain could have even gone one step further (and had he been coached to expect protestors, which he should have been) and finished with "I may disagree with him, but some my friends have already defended to death his right to express it."

Yes, there was suppression of the press at the RNC, but not much more than was at the DNC.  Yes, it not only sucks, it goes against the entire philosophy on which pre-9/11 America had been built.  Once upon a time, the entire fracking country was a free-speech zone.  Unfortunately, pre-emptive restrictions on (but not yet outright elimination of) unreliable elements is an inssue on which there's bipartisan agreement.



I agree with you that McCain SHOULD have said that the person has every right to speak his/her mind. Carlos said the same thing as they escorted the person out of the convention. I think that would have won over a lot more voters.


I find it a bit ironic to suppress someone's Constitutional rights with the chant of U.S.A. when in the U.S.A. you have to right to speak your mind.



Cat

The trouble is, Foo Bar, that the dude is NOT entitled to stand up there with a dissenting sign.  Not in post-Dubya America.

I agree with you that McCain SHOULD have said that the person has every right to speak his/her mind. Carlos said the same thing as they escorted the person out of the convention. I think that would have won over a lot more voters.


The 'net must be a different psychographic than the rest of America, because that opinion is pretty much universal (regardless of the protestor's affiliation, regardless of the speaker's affiliation) whenever the topic comes up.

Just once, I'd like to read the page of the pros' playbook that explains why a dignified "Hey, the First Amendment applies to that guy too", is somehow regarded as the wrong move.  But they hardly ever do.

(The other page I'd like to read is the page that says politicians must never apologize, even when caught red-handed.  It's not the indiscretion that matters, it's the coverup that draws more attention to it.  But the pros never play by that rule, even though the results have been universally disastrous.  How much worse would it be if they just manned up, admitted it, and asked "what of it?")