Some quick observations from Denver.
I had a few minutes between events in Denver and I’m working on a long post about the bad puppets protests on Sunday but I wanted to offer some initial thoughts. This shit is interesting, to say the least, and whatever it looks like on television it’s just madness here. Managed, police-state madness clad in bunting, but madness nonetheless.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell showed up at the Salon.com party with two young women on his arm, causing a little bit of a stir. Last night I was eating dinner next to Cokie Roberts (She had the clams. Anyone?) and walked past Madeline Albright, sans brooch. The funny thing here is that there are so many important people that basically nobody is important; I saw a congresswoman from Florida lost on a corner, looking at her map of Downtown Denver and then asking for directions at a Chipolte.
The point here is to party. Last night we hit 5, clearly pushing the boundaries of “this invitation non-transferrable” email forwards. We missed Kanye West by 20 minutes at one party; Charleze Theron was supposed to be at this art museum thing but I think it was just a random blonde lady. There are free bikes, free booze, pro-lifers driving a bus around town wrapped in photos of a fetus, which is ineffective because the fetus-arm is like, all you can see on one side of the bus and there is maybe some collapsed skull on the side but you just can’t make it out. The message is simple, that Barack Obama wants to kill babies, but why else would we have voted for the guy?
Lastly, and to depart from cynicism for a minute, there is a palpable sense of hope. I said it. I’m sorry. It’s true! These people are psyched, and there are literally conversations about race, gender, history and social movements happening every ten feet. I’ll write more later — tonight is Michelle night I love her!
(Quick thing: my colleague Richard Kim has a great post up that nails Denver in a nutshell, describing the strange scene on 16th Street which is basically this street with every chain store ever made. PF Chang’s y’all! It’s good and it links the scene in Denver to the efficacy of the protesters here in some interesting ways.)
* What garrulous swing-state Governor showed up at the Salon.com party with two young women on his arm?
* What former Secretary of State was seen noshing on oysters and clams sans her trademark brooch?
Gay Marry It… or Abort It? Mile High Edition
It’s only been two years, but now, finally, the political season is finally really getting started! The Olympics are over. School is back in session. People are beginning to pay attention. The Democrats have chosen Joe Biden as their VP. (The Republicans have chosen Mitt Romney as their VP, but they’re going to hold off until August 29th to tell us so they can dominate the Labor Day Weekend news cycle when everyone will be watching the news and totally not barbecuing or at the beach or whatever. The McCain team is scary. They are SO GOOD!) Oh, and Ben is in Denver trying to convince someone to let him be a super delegate by bribing them with drink tickets and free copies of The Nation from 1979.
This can all only mean one thing. It’s time to Gay Marry the things we love and Abort the things we don’t while we still can and before John McCain stocks the Supreme Court with craziness and has us all put in camps. On to the list!
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Back to school tomorrow!
This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. It’s a photo gallery of disgusting school lunches. My favorite is the taco patty. Gross! Here is a great Farm to School program you can support if the gallery has spurred you to act!
Pinko, live from Denver.
TO: Ben
FR: Stirling, Pinko Staff, Loyal Pinko Readers
RE: Goals for 2008 Pinko Democratic National Convention Coverage
Saturday August 23, 2008
Dear Ben,
We know you will be in Denver all week, and that you will be there with a press credential and everything. Pinko has come so far! Although it may be hard for you to post, this is a big opportunity for Pinko readers to get an exclusive front row seat to Boyztown Denver’s only gay strip club history in the making. Don’t tip with quarters let us down!
Please update us throughout the week with
* Thoughtful essays on the Salon and Rock the Vote parties Democratic Party platform. Will there be mini-crabcakes health care for all? mmm mini-crabcakes
* Photos of liberal luminaries like Ludacris Howard Dean, Scarlett Johannsen Caroline Kennedy and Phil Donahue Mario Cuomo, if you see them around.
* Stories about Boyztown the many cultural attractions in Denver.
* A first hand account of Barack Obama’s historic speech. Seriously Ben if you’re still at Boyztown during the speech you’re so fired.
We’re not posting bail counting on you.
Stirling, The Pinko Staff, and Loyal Pinko Readers
[Seriously: Posts may come fast and furious or few and far between, but I’ll be bringing you some coverage you won’t find anywhere else. Tell me what you want me to report on in the comments section and I’ll try to make it happen!}
John McCain to be beamed up to Jesus.
I got a press release from the Republican National Committee about one of the single biggest issues facing America today: The design and construction of the podium where John McCain will accidentally fall asleep give his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Not kidding here! I got a press release. About a podium. A podium. Working valiantly to spin this into news, Convention CEO Maria Cino explained why this podium is so exciting:
“The stage was designed to facilitate the candid and personal tone that Americans have come to expect from Senator McCain. The intimate setting will be a fitting backdrop for Senator McCain’s acceptance speech.” When designing the podium area, every effort was made to ensure it would complement the direct and personal interaction that has characterized John McCain’s candidacy.
Hmmm. Well, the podium is swaddled in meaningless and garish patriotism. That seems about right. My favorite part is about the “intimate setting,” which is a valiant way to spin the fact that nobody is going to the RNC — at least not sitting Republican Senators who are up for re-election. To date, (8) different GOP incumbents want to be a lot further than four feet from the floor while McCain gives his remarks.
To their credit the set is designed to look more like a town hall setup than a “speech,” since we know that speeches are “just words” but McCain at a town hall = straight talk. (Remember when Elizabeth Dole wore that Madonna mic? That was so great.) So for McCain it’s good planning, meant to highlight his strengths. It’s the lights that are out of control though! Thursday September 5th the Christian Right may finally get their wish: John McCain is headed right upstairs.
An even larger image of the podium after the jump. My favorite thing about the rendering is the extreme whiteness of the stand-in McCain.
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Breaking: Obama Picks Joe Biden as VP!
As of (very) late last night, Joe Biden has officially been tapped as Barack Obama’s running mate. So now it’s officially Obama Biden! (Try saying that 5 times fast…)
I can’t say I’m surprised. Clearly if I spent all this time coming up with this fancy photoshop image I must have had some indication that Biden was the clear front runner.
For those of you who may not be that familiar with Joe Biden, I’ve compiled a short list of things you need to know about Barry O’s new BFF. Some are good, some are bad. Some are just reflective of my own internalized racism and self loathing as a Scotch Irish Pennsylvanian.
So here it is. Everything you need to know about Delaware’s articulate, bright, clean and a nice-looking Senator VP candidate:
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Tilting at Windmills
If I get the chance I have a much longer piece I want to write about this, but I’ve become really fascinated by Mayor Bloombergs stubborn determination to make really bold gestures around sustainability. This week he proposed this plan that would put windmills on major city skyscrapers, on some bridges, landmarks, and possibly in the East River.
It took about a day for the naysayers to come out against it. It’s complicated! It will only generate a tiny slice of the city’s needs! Windmills are ugly! Even the realization that the New York City seal includes a windmill (albeit a funny little Dutch one) couldn’t quiet the windmill naysaying. By and large the plan has been panned as sustainability showboating: a very public but largely impotent project that would create only minimal electricity.
What I don’t understand — and haven’t seen discussed — is what’s so wrong with that? Mayor Bloomberg is a smart man and if there is one thing he knows it’s marketing and branding. Obviously a few windmills won’t wean the city off the grid. But what would it say to the world if the largest city in America was home to some very high-profile, very public alternative energy? Frankly I don’t believe for a minute that Bloomberg thinks windmills on the East River will be enough to gird the city from a summer blackout. But I imagine he has larger global ambitions, and he knows what it would say to the world if the torch in the Statue of Liberty was powered by the wind or the sun or the currents, and not Con-Ed. What a symbol, especially if private investment is paying for it.
I feel bad for Bloomberg sometimes; congestion pricing should have happened; so should Moynihan Station and so should this windmill plan but it’s likely that none will. If he had run 8 years ago as a sustainability preaching, transit-loving Democrat would we have trusted him more, and maybe more of these initiatives would have passed?
Update: Pinko loyalist Carl has some great thoughts on this too.
Mark Halperin: It’s Mittens!
So much for McJoe-mentum. Time’s Mark Halperin says it’s McMittens 08.
Update: Mittens, in non-junkie speak, is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He wears funny underpants.
Oh NYPD Why!
What a great little item from yesterday. The City of New York finally settled a lawsuit over a 2003 incident where the NYPD rounded up 52 protesters who were demonstrating against the (then) impending War in Iraq:
They were charged with blocking pedestrians, but videotapes show that at their most annoying, they might have slowed a few people carrying coffee into work.
At my most annoying I probably slow a few people carrying coffee to work even if I’m not protesting anything. The arrests came just as New York City was awarded the 2004 9-11 exploitation-fest Republican National Convention and were widely considered an irrational and gratuitous show of force by the city. Anyway the protesters split over $2 million dollars between them; how great is that!
The best part? One of the protesters arrested was Sarah Kunstler, the daughter of legendary civil liberties attorney William Kunstler, and an up and coming social justice attorney in her own right. So not only did they arrest a bunch of people for doing nothing, they rounded up the daughter of probably the most famous civil rights attorneys in the 20th Century. Good job guys.
Counterpoint: McCain poll numbers are “No Cause for Alarm”
Paul Hogarth, frequent commenter and longtime friend of Pinkomag, has a new article over at The Huffington Post that could easily be a counterpoint to my “Oh Shit We’re PWNED!” article from yesterday.
One of his arguments is that while McCain has hammered away a Obama during the summer duldrums, Obama’s fund raising edge and superior ground game paint a rosy picture heading in to the fall.
From the article:
…McCain won’t be able to sustain these attacks. Although Obama nearly doubled McCain’s fundraising in July and has more cash on hand, McCain has actually outspent Obama in the “swing states.” McCain has spent a million dollars more than Obama in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, $800,000 more in Nevada and $500,000 more in Missouri…
…But Obama has TV ads running in all the same states where McCain is outspending him. And he’s also airing commercials in Indiana, Alaska, Montana, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Virginia - where McCain has no air presence at all.
I guess the point here is that while we need to remain vigilant, there are still plenty of reasons to be hopeful. I would still caution against getting cocky, but we also don’t need to wallow in despair… At least not yet.
More here.
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