Convention security: necessary precaution or police state?
Apr/105
Perhaps most troubling has been the involvement of government security agencies in trying to repress those protesting and reporting on the corruption. During a walk through downtown at lunch today, the police were (as they have been all week) patrolling the street in full riot gear. While I understand the need for security at events like this, the visual expression of force – the billy clubs, armor, helmets, and military-style patrols – are clearly designed to intimidate anyone from raising any kind of uncomfortable questions in any kind of public way. And that intimidation includes jailing reporters. ABC News reports that just yesterday, “Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.” ABC caught the whole thing on tape – and it perfectly captures the obscene use of Denver’s municipal government to trample the First Amendment and cover-up brazen corruption. Denver’s municipal government has, in effect, used the need for enhanced security as a rationalization to declare a kind of martial law over the whole city – a martial law enforced by taxpayer-funded security forces whose mission is to serve the public, yet which has too often been deployed this week to crush the public and serve the private Big Money interests that still run the Democratic Party. As a Denver taxpayer and voter, I am frankly …
Listening Post – Republican convention – 05 Sep 08 – Part 1
Apr/108
This week on The Listening Post, we bring you a critique of the media coverage of the run up to and during the week-long Republican National Convention. We look back at the Ingrid Betancourt rescue by the Colombian government and ask some searching questions. In News Divide, we see what happened when the mccain ‘Straight Talk Express’ made a stop at in Minnesota for the Republican National Convention, despite the threat of derailment by Hurricane Gustav and shock news of a teenage pregnancy. Like the Democratic party did the past week during its convention, the Republicans wanted to seize this opportunity to display party unity and show off mccain’s chosen running mate: Sarah Palin. However, with Hurricane Gustav cutting a devastating path along the Gulf Coast, the party re-choreographed the event to avoid a major PR blunder. When the hurricane was at its fiercest, reporters learned that the dyed-in-the-wool conservative’s daughter, Bristol Palin, was about to become a mother, out of wedlock and at the age of 17. In the second half of our show, Salah Khadr poses the following question: was the release of Ingrid Betancourt (and 14 other hostages) by the South American FARC rebel group earlier this year too good to be true? It has been alleged that military personnel impersonated both humanitarian workers in the form of Red Cross and journalists from pan-Latin American TV station, Telesur, as part of the ruse that enabled them to get close to the guerrillas, and release the …
Eleanor Smeal at the Democratic Convention
Mar/100
I ran into Feminist Majority president Eleanor Smeal, former president of NOW, at the CNN tent at the convention, and she was kind enough to do a seven minute interview. The lady is a total kick. Spirited, smart, totally what the Democratic party lacks and needs. It’s a fun interview, enjoy.
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Acceptance Speech Democratic National Convention
Mar/102
Courtesy public.resource.org
Senator Ted Kennedy Speaks at Alaska Democratic Convention in 1968
Mar/1011
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy speaks to the Alaska Democratic Party Convention in Sitka on April 7, 1968, shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Senator Kennedy was standing in for his brother, Robert, who’d been scheduled to speak. Courtesy the Alaska State Library Historical Collections. The original material is a 1 open reel video tape in an unusual format, labeled only Ted Kennedy Sitka. The tape was transferred to an accessible tape format by a contractor specializing in media conservation. When we watched the video for the first time, we were quite surprised, says Damon Stuebner, Media Specialist for the Alaska State Digital Archives program. For being a 40-year-old video tape, it is in near perfect condition.
Roll Call Vote – 2008 Democratic National Convention
Mar/1025
The Roll Call Vote at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo.
By the Numbers – Texas Democratic Party Convention
Mar/100
The potential for Democrats to upset the political status in Texas is moving forward.
Tim Kaine Texas Democratic Party Convention 2008
Feb/106
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine speaking at the Texas Democratic Party Convention.
The Democratic Convention
Feb/100
People are starting to fret opening. Will the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slug fest eventually wind up costing the Democrats the 2008 election? Will they steal the defeat from the jaws of victory? Is there an answer that will satisfy everyone and not wind up as a disaster at this summers Democratic National Convention? Maybe, and maybe not!
On August 25-28, the 2008 Democratic National Convention will deliver a sizeable impact on the City and County of Denver and the seven counties that encompass the greater metro area. But just what will that impact be?
Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo said the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could be ruinous for the Democratic Party if the contest isn’t resolved before the August nominating convention. Cuomo, a Democrat, said the party may be able to avoid a damaging convention fight if Clinton and Obama teamed up on a party ticket, or if the media forced the candidates before then to substantively address big policy issues facing the nation, such as the economy and the war in Iraq.
Read my lips. The dream ticket is NOT going to happen! Can someone answer the red phone please.
And now some donors (in Florida) are wanting their money back as Democrats in Michigan and Florida struggled Friday to resolve the impasse over their disputed January primaries, coming up with a plan to hold a June primary in Michigan while remaining deadlocked in Florida. Is there a compromise, a solution here? The Democratic dilemma only grows.
What happens if one person wins the polular vote (Hillary) and another wins the delegate vote (Obama)? Nancy Pelosi had the answer. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it would be damaging to the Democratic party for its leaders to buck the will of national convention delegates picked in primaries and caucuses, a declaration that gives a boost to Sen. Barack Obama. The Hillary Clinton campaign didn’t want to hear that!
Ah but here we are at the mid point of March and it’s looking more and more difficult.
ernie@lrchouston.com
Democratic Convention Deadlock?
Feb/100
Please someone win the Democratic presidential nomination! Terry McAuliffe totally changed the priamry scenario for the Democrats, even to the point of denying Michigan and Florida, so that Hillary, his queen be, could have it all wrapped up on Super Tuesday. Now what Terry? What a mess you’ve created, or is it Obama’s fault?
No one know for sure just who has how many delegates because the Democratic party has the most complex and convoluted format imaginable. But, what is for sure is that Obama holds a narrow lead: anywhere from 15 to 125 delegates depending upon which way the wind is blowing for all those super delegates: who change their mind at will. The Democrats are inching closer to smelling victory in November: however, a brokered convetion this summer could kill all of that!
So,former Vice President Al Gore and a number of other senior Democrats plan to remain neutral for now in the presidential race in part to keep open the option to broker a peaceful resolution to what they fear could be a bitterly divided convention.
Democratic Party officials said that in the past week Gore and other leading Democrats had held private talks as worry mounted that the close race between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could be decided by a group of 795 party insiders known as superdelegates. The signs that party elders are weighing whether and how to intervene reflects the extraordinary nature of the contest now and the concern among some Democrats that they not risk an internal battle that could harm the party in the general election.
The issues party leaders are grappling with include how to avoid the perception of a back-room deal that thwarts the will of millions of voters who have cast ballots in primaries and caucuses. That perception could cripple the eventual Democratic nominee’s chances of winning the presidency in November, they said.
A number of senior Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and three candidates who have dropped out of the 2008 race, former Senator John Edwards and Senators Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph R. Biden Jr., have spoken with Mr. Gore in recent days. None have endorsed a candidate, although Ms. Pelosi made comments on Friday that were widely seen as supportive of Mr. Obama when it came to the process the party should use to make its choice of candidate.
“It would be a problem for the party if the verdict would be something different than the public has decided,” Ms. Pelosi said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Ms. Pelosi said she intended to remain neutral, though some of her closest friends and allies in the House are publicly supporting Mr. Obama. She said the nomination should not be decided by delegates from Florida and Michigan.
Right now the best bet is that Obama wins the Wisconsin primary Tuesday, upsets Hillary in two weeks in Texas and Ohio, and the thoughts of a brokered convention doesn’t have to be a side circus. We’ll know in a little over two weeks won’t we.
ernie@lrchouston.com