Month: August 2008

MDT Morning.

Hey y’all — So, as of late last night, I’ve arrived in Denver to partake of the DNC milieu as best I can. At the moment, I’m reporting in from the Big Tent, a few blocks over from the Pepsi Center, where they’re housing and attempting to satiate the new media types. (In fact, I may currently be sitting dangerously close to the fluffy couches reserved for dKos.) All in all, it seems like a pretty nice set-up, with a large amount of workspace here on the first floor, a stage up above for various scheduled talks and events over the next few days (some sort of rainbow choir was performing when I got here), and goodly amounts of free stuff already being handed out (including a swag bag of eco-friendly mugs, Skype headsets, progressive–minded books, etc. etc.)

On the down side, while we seem to be in the midst of the action media-wise, and democratic happenings seem to have taken over all of the nearby environs (Lower Downtown, or “LoDo”) — I stumbled into 2 or 3 just checking out the nearest bookstore and looking for a croissant — these Big Tent passes don’t appear to be transferable to the actual convention floor. (I may look for alternate methods of getting down there, if I manage to run into any of my old DC friends, acquaintances, and/or employers.) Also, I left my camera wire back at my Denver base (a high school friend’s home in Wash Park), so any pictures will have to wait. Finally, PC battery time is at a premium, so –even with my extra laptop batteries on hand — updates around here look to be relatively scarce during the day. Still, it looks like it’s shaping up to be an interesting week.

Frost Specced.

“When the president does it that means that it is not illegal.” The new trailer for Ron Howard’s film adaptation of Frost / Nixon is now online, starring Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Oliver Platt, Matthew McFadyen, Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones, and (naturally) Clint Howard. I’m intrigued by this project (haven’t seen the play), but this, sadly, is a pretty poor trailer (“In a world where the president blah blah blah, these men stood up for the truth…”) And, while I know he played the part on Broadway, Langella’s Nixon-voice sounds even more distracting to me than Christian Bale’s bat-rasp.

The Dream Redeemed.

“‘We played with great character in one of the great games in international basketball history, I think,’ U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.” Congrats to the US men’s Olympic basketball team, who returned to golden form this morning by closing out Spain 118-107. (Now, Coach D’Antoni, get thee to the Knickerbockers. We have work to do!)

The Ticket.

As many surmised (and I hoped) earlier in the week, Sen. Obama has apparently chosen Senator Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate and future vice-president. In brief, I’m very happy with this choice (and particularly considering the evening’s early word suggested Bayh.) As I said the other day, Obama-Biden seems both a good match and a winning ticket to me. Bring on the convention.

Update: “Joe Biden is that rare mix. For decades, he has brought change to Washington, but Washington hasn’t changed him.” The ticket is unveiled in Springfield, Illinois. And other than Ron Fournier, embarrassingly having the AP carry water for McCain (again), and a handful of Clintonite dead-enders (to which McCain is now making blatant appeals), the pick seems to go over swimmingly.

That’s Me in the Corner…

(That’s Obama, our next president, in the spotlight.) So, as a convenient appetizer to next’s week convention in Denver, Sen. Barack Obama swung by nearby Oscar Smith High School — my little sister‘s alma mater, not five minutes away from my current roost here in Chesapeake — for a town hall meeting last night. And, not only did I manage to procure a ticket, but my mom and I, for whatever reason, had the requisite “look” to get gold-banded into the premium section, right behind the Senator. (For the full ninety minutes of us nodding along and clapping, the video of the event is here and below.)

As far as Sen. Obama’s talk went, it was about what you’d expect, if you’ve been keeping up with the election so far. It focused heavily on the economy and bread-and-butter issues such as health insurance and education, gave the GOP a lot of guff for their usual idiocies and fear-mongering antics, and was also considerably more earthy and populist than much of his primary rhetoric. (But that’s the general for you, and particularly when you’re facing a candidate amazingly unable to count up his number of McMansions.) In any case, at the end of the proceedings, I was close enough to shake the Senator’s hand on the rope line, and got to tell him “I’m looking forward to January.” And, hey, aren’t we all?

So, however my flitting around the convention hall turns out next week, I’m happy to say I got in a choice Obama sighting before even getting on the plane to Denver. (And now I feel much less bad about missing out on tix for the nomination speech next Thursday.)

Oscar Mike at Last?

“‘We have a text,’ Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said after a day-long visit Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.” How badly do the Republicans want to keep the White House? Apparently enough that the Dubya administration, contrary to its earlier stance (and to McCain’s promises of “100 years” in Baghdad), seems to be on the verge of signing a withdrawal accord with Iraq that would have all U.S. troops out by the end of 2011. (Not that we have much choice in the matter, given that Baghdad has already made it clear it wants us gone.) Well, however politically influenced, this is clearly a step in the right direction…but it’s way too late in the game to save the GOP now. It’s not like we’re all going to forget who started — and enabled — this disastrous sideshow.

You’re no Ivan Denisovich.

Sure, Reagan did this all the time. Still, it takes either a man whose memory is too wracked by age to be president — or an inveterate liar — to simply make up this kind of story. (See also Reagan.) Apparently, John McCain’s heartwarming tale of the Christian guard in Hanoi, which he related again over the weekend at the mutual kissing of Rick Warren’s ring, was in fact lifted from Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago. (Apparently McCain, and/or his ghostwriters, are fans of the man.) Uh, Senator McCain, did you really feel you had to embellish your time in a Vietnamese prison camp? The situation should speak for itself.

For what it’s worth, McCain is blaming the controversy on “the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd.” Well, speaking as a member of the prObama World of Warcraft crowd (really, Senator, you’re dating yourself — again), I should note that the story actually originated with the Freepers several years ago, once the mythical maverick felt the need to start peddling false wares to the nation’s conservative Christians. For shame, Senator.

Update: Forget Solzhenitsyn. According to scholars (via TPM), this tale isn’t from The Gulag Archipelago at all, but rather seems to be a right-wing fairy tale emanating from the likes of Chuck Colson and Jesse Helms.

Any Second Now. | I’ll Say Biden.

“Obama had not notified his choice — or any of those not selected — of his decision as of late Monday, advisers said. Going into the final days, Obama was said to be focused mainly on three candidates: Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Joseph Biden Jr. of Delaware…Aides said the announcement would come at the earliest on Wednesday morning.” With the convention a week away — I’ll see y’all in Denver — Sen. Obama would seem on the verge of a veep. (Colleague Dr. Vendre gave a concise round-up of the top potentials a few days ago.)

Of late, I’ve swung pretty strongly into the Biden-for-veep camp. I had him pegged as our next secretary of state, but the more I think about it, the more he seems the best complement for Obama in 2008, and particularly now that recent events in Georgia have given the election more of a foreign policy cast. He’s well-known, he’s experienced, he’s distinguished, he’s got impeccable foreign policy bona fides (his Iraq vote notwithstanding, of course), he’s a white male of a certain age, which should soothe those swing voters for whom such stuff matters, and, most importantly, he’s very comfortable in — and, in fact, would seem to relish — the acerbic attack dog role one desires in a #2. (Plus, Delaware’s governorship, while up in November, is nonetheless as safe a Dem seat as they come, meaning we’d keep Biden’s vote in the Senate.)

In short, I think Obama-Biden is a winner. Then again, I’m still of the mind that “Obama-Anyone Not Named Dubya or Clinton” is as close to a shoo-in this year as we’ll see in many moons to come.

Also: The Cratchits were Welfare Scum.

Incoming! That whistling sound you may hear in the background is James Woods, Kelsey Grammar, and assorted other C-listers in search of a paycheck veritably screaming down the Murphometer after I just witnessed the trailer for An American Carol, a.k.a. David Zucker’s new spoof for — alas, not of — right-wing idiots. When Bill O’Reilly’s in your ad and he’s not the butt of the punchline, you know there’s trouble. (And, what, was Stephen Baldwin busy? Somehow, I doubt it.) Unfortunately, however funny Airplane was, Zucker seems to have lost his mind some time ago.