2008 The Procession
posted by on August 27 at 10:30 AM
I think I’ve finally settled into a good daily rhythm here in Denver. It took a little while, partly because this whole experience is a huge swirl of logistical and technical and celebrity-gawking madness, but mostly because convention time takes some getting used to. It turns out to be close to the ideal type of time, but it’s definitely something different.
I’m not talking about the one-hour time difference between Seattle and Denver. I’m talking about the fact that nothing happens at the Democratic National Convention before 3 p.m. Think about that. If you’re a journalist, you’re used to politicians holding conference calls and press availabilities at insanely early hours of the morning, but here in Denver, the rule is that no big public business gets done before 3. It’s lovely. It’s also a recognition of the fact that most people here, including the politicians, were probably out drinking until 3 a.m. the previous night and need some time to sleep before showering and heading to one of the early afternoon free cocktail hours that precede the opening gavel.
So, for example, yesterday I woke up early (the fatal flaw in my daily convention cycle is that I don’t have time for the sleep-in-until-noon part); grabbed one of the free bikes (a much better one than before, whoever thought up the idea of automatic transmissions for bicycles should be shot); rode to a light rail station to grab my computer from Annie Wagner (don’t ask); rode back to the journalist tenement I’m crashing at and started riding the Slog; showered; rode across town to the convention hall; checked out the scene; left to go to a free 4 p.m. cocktail hour hosted by Media Matters; and then joined the procession:
That’s not me sweating through my shirt, but the amount of hustle and perspiration this guy was showing is representative of what happens at the security checkpoints around the Pepsi Center starting in the late afternoon each day and increasing in intensity as the prime-time speech hour approaches. Yesterday’s late-afternoon line to see Hillary speak was huge, with all kinds of important D.C. types trying to cut in front, using the trick of pretending to talk about urgent matters on their cell phones while walking briskly to try to avoid being stopped by the police who were attempting to maintain order. My view from the Hillary line:
It took about 40 minutes under a very hot sun to get past security, and then I was in and on the floor and watching Clinton speak, and then I was out and hustling off to a party hosted by Politico and the Glover Park Group. Then, after about an hour of free booze and high-end-journalist-schmoozing there, and just as Congressman Rahm Emanuel was pulling up to the door and his Secret Service detail clearing a path at the crowded entryway, we rushed across town to catch Death Cab for Cutie playing an acoustic set in the upstairs of an old church in honor of an environmental group. I missed Gov. Gregoire introducing Death Cab, but I caught most of the set and it was an amazing event—the set, the setting, the sweatiness of the young crowd, all of it. Charles has a lot he wants to say about this, so look for that on Slog later today, but I want to say simply that the Death Cab concert was the embodiment of the liberal utopia that has materialized in Denver this week—free music, free drink, politics on the agenda but not as the only item on the only agenda, sex in the air, dancing, and afterward stumbling out smiling, headed back to the Politico party (it took up two bars, we wanted to check out the second one) where Howard Wolfson sang his favorite political song for a new friend from Seattle who I met on the plane here, and everyone was talking loudly about Hillary or some other bit of political intrigue, and the lights came up a little before two, and then off to sleep so that I could wake up a few hours later and do it all over again.
Lord of the Credit Cards
He chose who?
Joe BIDEN?????
Why aren't Progressives or Liberal Democrats or even "mainstream" Democrats shrieking, rioting, setting themselves on fire, about this insane choice? Was there any resistance in the Democratic Party (other than among the Clinton True Believers; they wanted their "gal" in the VP slot so they could experience, finally, catharsis) to this selection? Any at all? Apparently not, and the absence of that resistance is a fairly accurate gauge of the degree to which the Democratic Party has died, passed away, evaporated in a steamy mist of defeatist miasma. It is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corporate America - like the Republican Party - only not yet as murderous, as foul, as the other Corporate Owned Party. Not quite. Close, though. So, wave the white flag, boys and girls; it's all over but the Benediction as four days from now the delegates shuffle from the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field and all the various gatherings sponsored and paid for by those Blessed Corporate Souls such as AT&T, Comcast, General Motors, Microsoft, Motorola and on and on and on . . .
Okay. So, who's to argue with the DLC? It's their party, their presidential candidate, and their vice-presidential candidate. Pardon moi, theirs and Corporate America's. Which makes the selection of Joe Biden perfect. Nauseatingly, gaggingly, perfect.
Who remembers or cares about Biden's breathless cheer-leading (and vote) for the passage of the (ha-ha) "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005?" Who cares about Biden's relentless support of this ugly, anti-consumer act and the seemingly limitless financial support Biden has received from the credit card behemoth MBNA - now subsumed into the financial snake pit known as the Bank of America? From Wikipedia:
MBNA was one of the prime movers in lobbying for the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which took 11 years and millions of dollars spent on lobbying before the act was finally passed when 15 Democrats (all of whom had received campaign contributions from MBNA, notably Joseph Biden, (D-DE) $147,700) joined with their Republican colleagues to sign it into law.
MBNA was one of the companies mentioned on a 2004 Frontline PBS special about unfair business practices by credit card companies. Some industry practices which MBNA possibly engaged in previously included doubling or tripling of interest rates, shifting billing due dates/payment cycles monthly, and raising rates for customers whose payments were a day or two late which earned it the sobriquet, Misrepresentation Bank of North America . . .
It is a well known banking industry fact that after the MBNA / Bank of America deal of January 1, 2006, a number of MBNA execs were booted off the BofA board of directors due to their fears that their unethical practices could result in criminal charges against them under a number of statutes including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. (For a thorough understanding of this legislation, Hunter, a diarist at Daily Kos nailed it two-plus years ago. Go here).
Oh, my. "Criminal charges . . ." And, Biden right in there with the scum. Glomming up the money, shuffling back and forth on the train nightly (so we are now told) between D.C. and Delaware like a ghost, a lost soul . . . sigh . . . alone with the darkness, and the passing lights of small town America whizzing past . . . time to reflect on the damage about to be done to what was left of working-class America as a result of his support for this vile bill . . . or not reflecting . . . who really knows? . . . and this filthy piece of legislation, yet another bullet-proof slab of Corporate Protection at the expense of real people . . . oh, well . . . sigh . . .
So . . . now? Well, now Senator Biden is the Vice Presidential Nominee of the Democratic Party! The running mate of our Great Agent of Change, Barack Obama!!! And we should be - we must be - happy! We have a Winning Team! A New Dawn is coming! Vote Democratic! Vote Obama/Biden! Vote for Change!!!! Blessed Change!
And, there's so much more about Senator Biden's legislative efforts that brings smiles to the faces of the Blessed Corporate Overlords who have funded so much of the Democratic Party, who have written check after check, sometimes even more (gasp!) than to Republicans, who now can relax, don't worry, it's been handled, all is okay, we're home free, Bush is on the way out, the new "Bush" is in the wings. Obama/Biden! A vote for change! Change We Can Believe In!!!!!!
God Bless Us, Everyone!
Maybe it's time to ? The bold makes my eyes burn.
Ack, there's supposed to be a close tag somewhere in there.
Close your bold tag, you broke the Slog.
I hit refresh and all is well with Slog. Carry on...
I've never actually rode the Slog, but I'm not surprised you had to shower after.
I'm so jealous! I hate my job :(
@1 needs to get a life.
That said, the problem is that you think you're at a "convention" where the business goes on in meetings from 8 am to 4 pm like many others do.
You're not.
You're in a reality TV show, geared to pump out prime time TV from 6 pm EST to 8 pm PST.
Learn it. Love it. Make frenemies and show up for the omnipresent TV cameras this entire event EXISTS for.
Sounds like recreate 68 turned into recreate 69...
I'm curious as to where all the parties are being held. Where do the important go to drink? Have I actually heard of those places?
My mom says that people are actually out walking around in Denver in the evenings, it's amazing.
Sounds like recreate 68 turned into recreate 69...
Will in Seattle just said someone needs to get a life.
I'm a Portlander and don't usually read slog, but I really, really enjoy how you've been writing up the convention.
"liberal utopia" yes qu'elles mots justes.
because all the parying ignores the fact that Obama's trending downward -- and there's no discussion of how to reverse this. There's no critique of how he is not putting out any message and has trended down the last few weeks.
Wow let's celebrate that we're liberals & we are 46% ofthe population woo hoo woo hoo. What? You need 51% to win? Really? Who cares!
That's liberal utopia. We had the same thrill with McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry etc.
Our governor is Indie-Rock Jones.
@10 - where do they drink? Well, it's a series of parties, really. There are the ones you can get into, where they make an appearance for a set amount of time. Then there are the parties for a select group which you probably can't get into, where they hang out for a bit.
But when they really want to drink they usually go out to a restaurant a friend knows or they like with a gang of about 5-8 people and get plastered.
The staff drives so they don't get to drink much.
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