Democratic Convention Comment Thread

[Elfdart]

Isn't Elfdart supposed to be a delegate at this thing? We need his info.

No, I was a delegate to the district convention here in Texas. We picked delegates to the state con, then they picked the ones who went to Denver.

[Raw Shark]

You don't get the full Denver experience until you read the hilarity from the folks with blogs and access.

You don't get the full Denver experience until you're there to see the demonstraters and cops in person. The 16th street mall is quite literally crawling with cops, with like 20 per block in full riot gear, bicycle cops, horseback cops, private security, you name it. It's a fucking zoo.

Ninjas?

That'd make it perfect. Ninjas!

More seriously, riot gear? Has shit gotten out of hand, or is it just 'ZOMG LIBERALS!' precautions?

A little of both, but mostly the latter I think. The City of Denver wants to look like it really has its shit together for the media, planners of large conventions, etc. I saw a large pack of cops the other night roaming downtown and peering into trash cans on busy corners with flashlights like they were expecting to find a bomb or something and was struck by the theatricality of it.

[Mr Bean]

A little of both, but mostly the latter I think. The City of Denver wants to look like it really has its shit together for the media, planners of large conventions, etc. I saw a large pack of cops the other night roaming downtown and peering into trash cans on busy corners with flashlights like they were expecting to find a bomb or something and was struck by the theatricality of it.

You do know those same cops arrested four people with rifles and drugs who said they wanted to kill Obama right?

You don't think during thier little pre-shift meetings they've already gotten that "They tried once, they might succeed the second time?" That was a day ago, until the Convention is over the Police are going to be in the "assuming a second strike is coming mode"

EDIT PS: The assassins to be might turn out to be just another group of druggies who had guns and said they wanted to kill someone, or the whole damn thing was a police plant. Regardless, except for the cops directly involved in that case, every other cop is going to regular it as true and the grape vine is going to add details to make the story better. (Don't be surprised if the story told in break rooms is that they had routes and plans staked out and a escape plan involving hostages or some such)

[General Zod]

Sigh.

DENVER – As the Rage Against the Machine concert let out at the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon, an unlicensed parade formed, poised to march toward the Pepsi Center.
Advertisement

The concert let out at 3 p.m., and the parade, led by a group called Iraq Vets Against the War, began their march toward the site of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

The veterans, who were dressed in uniform, did not have an official permit for the parade.

Before the concert let out, Rage Against the Machines and other bands asked the crowd of 8,000 to be peaceful during the march.

The parade was preparing to march down Brighton Boulevard, disrupting traffic in both directions.

At least 100 police officers in riot gear were in the area, along with a police helicopter overhead.

It was not known how long police would allow the march to proceed.

9NEWS and 9NEWS.com will update this story as more information becomes available.

and more!

DENVER – Defiant activists said they will no longer communicate with police, who dealt a blow to their organization with mass arrests Monday night.

There is no truce with police anymore," said Recreate '68 organizer Glenn Spagnuolo during a news conference in front of police headquarters Tuesday.

Spagnuolo, visibly upset over the events of Monday night, said police had broken pledges to cooperate with protest groups to keep things peaceful and calm.

"This doesn't mean that we're going to be confrontational," Spagnuolo said. "It just means we can't trust the police anymore."

Recreate '68 leaders say police provoked a panic in the crowd gathered in Civic Center Park Monday night by parading officers in full riot gear through people gathered in small groups.

Activists say the crowd was not given a chance to disperse before police used pepper spray and made about 100 arrests.

Those arrests made a serious dent in the protest groups' strength, estimated at around 1,000 people. Police say they moved in when protesters, some of whom were carrying rocks, refused to disperse.

"We can only assume that they are trying to get some people in jail to keep them off the streets for the rest of the week," said Brian Vicente of the People's Law Project, a group offering assistance to those arrested.

A plan by the anarchist group Unconventional Denver to put street blockades in the way of convention-going delegates Tuesday was scrapped. An organizer said Monday's arrests took a toll on the group and they were meeting to assess their options for continued protests.

There were even protestors holding up signs on Tuesday asking for help with bond money for those who were arrested.

Crowds in Civic Center Park were calm and police appeared to have heard protesters requests to have mounted patrols and riot police stationed across from the park rather than inside it.

Mark Cohen of Recreate '68 said protesters were illegally detained and may file suit against the city for failing to give them a chance to comply with orders and leave before being arrested.

Monday's melee shattered nearly two full days of largely peaceful protests. Up to the minute before the confrontation, both police and protest leaders were remarking on how well the week was progressing.

"We were cooperating with them. They were cooperating with us," Cohen said. "What happened to change that situation?"

Pressed for specifics on what the "ending of the truce" would mean on the streets for the final days of the DNC, Spagnuolo shrugged.

Hooray for media spectacles.

[MichaelFerrariF1]

California just abstained from voting. Considering how big California is, that's big news if they're not behind Obama.

[Guardsman Bass]

Do they get a chance to cast their vote again after everyone else does, or is that it?

[The Original Nex]

Considering this whole nomination bit is a ceremonial concession to the Clinton Campaign it really isn't a big deal, since they're going to cut the tally short anyways.

[Patrick Degan]

California just abstained from voting. Considering how big California is, that's big news if they're not behind Obama.

No, they're merely deferring to other states in the line. A common gesture so the candidate's home state gets to be the one to "put the nominee over the top".

[Patrick Degan]

And Barack Obama was just nominated by acclamation.

[Qwerty 42]

Has Biden been formally introduced yet?

[MichaelFerrariF1]

California just abstained from voting. Considering how big California is, that's big news if they're not behind Obama.

No, they're merely deferring to other states in the line. A common gesture so the candidate's home state gets to be the one to "put the nominee over the top".

Thanks. What I was thinking was that California might not be behind Obama in the general election.

[Guardsman Bass]

Clinton is really going on the attack. Take a gander over to C-SPAN and watch.

[Darksider]

against who?

[Scottish Ninja]

For much of his speech I was only half-paying attention, but watching on WTTW I caught a lot of hammering on the Republicans and their various failures of the last eight years.

[Elfdart]

And Barack Obama was just nominated by acclamation.

Motorhead endorses him, too: LINK

[Guardsman Bass]

against who?

Pretty much the entire Republican ethos and ideology of the past 30 years.

That said, I kind of wish they would just do a major speaker, give a brief break to take a piss and so forth, then move on to the next major speaker. Instead, we've got to listen to what seems like every Democratic celebrity in existence. That's not to slight Tammy Duckworth (who is talking right now), but I'm not particularly interested in a bunch of lesser players' talks.

[Jadeite]

Kerry apparently found a spine, I wish he'd shown that side of himself back in 2004.

[The Original Nex]

I agree, Kerry was one of the best speeches of the conventions. Too bad the talking heads on the networks that most people watching found it more pressing to ask if "Bill did enough in his speech" than showing Kerry's brilliance. You had to watch C-SPAN or PBS to see it in its entirety.

And then Pat Buchanan; senile, racist, dinosaur that he is, calls out the DNC for not attacking McCain enough, all the while missing Kerry's speech.

The Dems have attacked the Repubs and McCain plenty, but the networks miss it all while blathering on about the lack of attacks. They're all fools.

[Big Phil]

I agree, Kerry was one of the best speeches of the conventions. Too bad the talking heads on the networks that most people watching found it more pressing to ask if "Bill did enough in his speech" than showing Kerry's brilliance. You had to watch C-SPAN or PBS to see it in its entirety.

And then Pat Buchanan; senile, racist, dinosaur that he is, calls out the DNC for not attacking McCain enough, all the while missing Kerry's speech.

The Dems have attacked the Repubs and McCain plenty, but the networks miss it all while blathering on about the lack of attacks. They're all fools.

Buchanan's right; Obama won't win the election by not offending anyone. He has to convince 51% of the populace (or at least more voters than any other candidate) that voting for him is a better choice than voting for McCain. The last couple of months he hasn't done much to criticize McCain, Bush, Cheney, or the Republicans.

I'm hoping that he goes on the offensive tomorrow and points out all the places where the Republicans have fucked up, how McCain wants to continue fucking up, and why voting for Obama is a vote for fixing the fuckups. If Obama won't do it himself, then his surrogates (Biden, the Clintons, Kerry, etc.) need to be doing it for him. Come November, the decision needs to be McCain (more of the same) vs. Obama (change for the better), not McCain (WAR HERO) vs. Obama (uppity nigger).

[Raw Shark]

A little of both, but mostly the latter I think. The City of Denver wants to look like it really has its shit together for the media, planners of large conventions, etc. I saw a large pack of cops the other night roaming downtown and peering into trash cans on busy corners with flashlights like they were expecting to find a bomb or something and was struck by the theatricality of it.

You do know those same cops arrested four people with rifles and drugs who said they wanted to kill Obama right?

You don't think during thier little pre-shift meetings they've already gotten that "They tried once, they might succeed the second time?" That was a day ago, until the Convention is over the Police are going to be in the "assuming a second strike is coming mode"

EDIT PS: The assassins to be might turn out to be just another group of druggies who had guns and said they wanted to kill someone, or the whole damn thing was a police plant. Regardless, except for the cops directly involved in that case, every other cop is going to regular it as true and the grape vine is going to add details to make the story better. (Don't be surprised if the story told in break rooms is that they had routes and plans staked out and a escape plan involving hostages or some such)

I wasn't going to venture so far into foilhat territory as to suggest that the police do not believe in real potential threats or that they staged the all-too-realistic racist tweeker sniper wannabes, I'm just saying that a large group of cops wandering around peering into highly-visible trash cans strikes me as more of a PR move than say-for-example efficient two-cop teams that could cover more cans or the same cans more frequently but who would attract less attention from passers-by.

[Broomstick]

It doesn't occur to you that highly-visible police discourage crime to some degree by their very presence? That's one of the reasons cops wear visually distinct uniforms.

I'm sure there are also hordes of undercover cops milling around, too, but of course, they aren't as obvious.

[RedImperator]

California just abstained from voting. Considering how big California is, that's big news if they're not behind Obama.

No, they're merely deferring to other states in the line. A common gesture so the candidate's home state gets to be the one to "put the nominee over the top".

Thanks. What I was thinking was that California might not be behind Obama in the general election.

Hell will freeze over before California goes Republican this year or any year in the foreseeable future.

[The Original Nex]

I agree, Kerry was one of the best speeches of the conventions. Too bad the talking heads on the networks that most people watching found it more pressing to ask if "Bill did enough in his speech" than showing Kerry's brilliance. You had to watch C-SPAN or PBS to see it in its entirety.

And then Pat Buchanan; senile, racist, dinosaur that he is, calls out the DNC for not attacking McCain enough, all the while missing Kerry's speech.

The Dems have attacked the Repubs and McCain plenty, but the networks miss it all while blathering on about the lack of attacks. They're all fools.

Buchanan's right; Obama won't win the election by not offending anyone. He has to convince 51% of the populace (or at least more voters than any other candidate) that voting for him is a better choice than voting for McCain. The last couple of months he hasn't done much to criticize McCain, Bush, Cheney, or the Republicans.

I'm hoping that he goes on the offensive tomorrow and points out all the places where the Republicans have fucked up, how McCain wants to continue fucking up, and why voting for Obama is a vote for fixing the fuckups. If Obama won't do it himself, then his surrogates (Biden, the Clintons, Kerry, etc.) need to be doing it for him. Come November, the decision needs to be McCain (more of the same) vs. Obama (change for the better), not McCain (WAR HERO) vs. Obama (uppity nigger).

I would agree with you and Buchanan IF McCain was getting a free pass. My whole point was that the Dems ARE attacking McCain! This whole "they aren't attacking enough at the convention; McCain's getting a free pass" is bullshit (see Casey, Schweitzer, Kerry, Clinton, Biden and more), but they report it as fact anyways.

The talking heads CREATE a lack of attacks by NOT AIRING half the speeches that attack McCain and the Republicans. They are so desperate for conflict that they are creating their own truths for a story.

[The Original Nex]

EDIT:

In general Sanchez I agree with your overall point, if that wasn't clear. I just get annoying by the convention coverage is all. Watch it on C-SPAN or PBS if you want to actually see it at all. The pundits literally add nothing of worth to the conversation.

[Raw Shark]

It doesn't occur to you that highly-visible police discourage crime to some degree by their very presence? That's one of the reasons cops wear visually distinct uniforms.

I'm sure there are also hordes of undercover cops milling around, too, but of course, they aren't as obvious.

If you back up to the original exchange that I quoted, you'll notice that I was specifically replying to a "Shit Has Hit The Fan" vs "Just Precautions" question relating to the extremely visible police presence downtown. Deterring crime with public displays would fall solidly under Precautions in my opinion. I'm not asserting that the cops are only engaged in theatrics, merely that I believe that they are so engaged in some cases and that that is a major contributing factor to the visibility.