I was stuck in traffic on the way home, so I heard several speeches at DNC on the Sirius satellite radio in my car. The firefighter from Ohio said good stuff, but his delivery was that of a firefighter from Ohio and not a politician, which I suppose was the point. Harry Reid was awesome. There were no reports of a fat guy from West Virginia streaking or an Angry Black Lady from California whacking people with an axe handle.
I’ll check in later after I watch the season finale of Breaking Bad on DVR.
What are ya’ll’s impressions of DNC so far, and let us all know how you’re tuning in.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I am watching on MSNBC. And the last episode of Breaking Bad contained the most cringe inducing 2 minutes of television I have ever seen. Enjoy.
Litlebritdifrnt
The Dems are fired up and ready to go. And I mean fired up and ready to go. We are so going to kick ass this year. I am hopeful for a reelect of POTUS, keeping the Senate and taking back the house. I so want to see Nancy Smash take the gavel back from Orange Julius.
RoonieRoo
We’re watching via cspan. Waiting anxiously to see fellow Texan Castro.
Just Some Fuckhead
I just found out the guy that won the West Virginia Democratic primary for President was snubbed.
thruppence
Listening to (not watching) MSNBC while I try to get ceiling speakers stuck in a hole too small for them.
Mr Stagger Lee
The final episode is kick ass, it is going to be good how they tie up the loose ends.
mamayaga
Amazing how persistent those Kennedy genes are — you’d spot this kid as a member of the clan from a mile away.
Villago Delenda Est
Lester Maddox was reincarnated as ABL?
Oh my!
Anya
OMG! The dems had Teddy Kennedy debating Romney.
slag
Not bad so far. Of course the feed is flaking on me. Oh Interwebs!!
Patricia Kayden
Watching C-span. Loved Harry Reid’s speech too. Too bad that he probably won’t run again after his term is over. Also loved the women of Congress (Pelosi, Maloney, etc.). Loved when Maloney started shouting “Where are the women”. Got the crowd going. Looks like fun.
PsiFighter37
Gotta miss Ted Kennedy. I do believe he would’ve enjoyed helping Obama taking down Mittens.
Mary G
Tribute to Teddy Kennedy, including footage of him schooling the MittBot in a debate, is awesome.
different-church-lady
Looking forward to detailed descriptions of how Cole managed to break his collarbone while trying to remove the tags from his new shirts.
Anya
We miss you Teddy!
arguingwithsignposts
Wow, my internetz got an upgrade from last week. It seems I have color on my monitor again.
General Stuck
So far, in my lifetime, this convention is starting as full throated embracing mainstream dem party principles without so much as a whiff of apology for those basic ideals.
With no homage paid, or with an undercurrent of republican light we’ve seen in recent decades, up until Obama took office as presnit. It is in your face all the color and hue and culture, of a multicultural society we claim to be. Showing our pragmatic liberal freak flags flying high.
so far
hep kitty
@Anya: Sure do, I want E Warren to detoxify and bring dignity back to that seat!
PsiFighter37
I like how in the Teddy tribute, they included a clip that said (I’m paraphrasing from memory) “I’m not going to shy away from being called a liberal”.
Damn straight, no reason to act like being a liberal is a bad thing.
hep kitty
@Anya: Sure do, I want E Warren to detoxify and bring dignity back to that seat!
Sly
@Mary G:
“Multiple-choice” on important issues and unwilling to disclose important documents. It’s probably a coincidence that the DNC aired those two sections.
Elizabelle
@Litlebritdifrnt:
From your lips to
…. the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s noodly appendage.
My mom is praying Nancy Pelosi is House Speaker again. Can’t come too soon.
And keep that morose hound dog face from Kentucky morose.
Harry Reid, for the win.
hep kitty
@Anya: Sure do, I want E Warren to detoxify and bring dignity back to that seat!
Ann Rynd
Loved the Teddy thing. Anyone else here do it with Teddy?
hep kitty
@Anya: Sure do, I want E Warren to detoxify and bring dignity back to that seat!
SteveinSC
@Anya: Finest thing I ever heard was Kennedy on the floor of the Senate. the Old Lion thundered out: “What is it? What is it about working men and women that Republicans find so offensive!?” It was right up there with fucking William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech. Fuck every Republican who ever lived. Drag out Madame Le Guillotine and let’s fucking rumble.
General Stuck
All with a splash of genuine sassy attitude. luv it.
Ann Rynd
Loved the Teddy thing. Anyone else here do it with Teddy?
Waldo
I can’t bear to watch these types of sell jobs — even when it’s for my preferred brand.
arguingwithsignposts
ahh, the sloppy wet kiss to Israel.
ETA: CSPAN cameras cutting to Rev. Jesse Jackson during the Wexler speech for quite a while. THAT wasn’t intentional, no way.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
That was the season finale? Damn that went fast!
hep kitty
I’m kinda liking switching back and forth b/w msnbc and cspan, since Tweety was just chatting with Reid now.
(sorry for double post, dunno whah happen)
gogol's wife
@Waldo:
Me either. That’s why I need Balloon Juice. I get it in a refracted version that I can just about take. I’m easily embarrassed and made nervous by this kind of stuff.
Just Some Fuckhead
@arguingwithsignposts: The constituency check-off list for Democrats is really fucking long. The Republican’s list was just one item: bigots.
Nellcote
Must see Teddy Kennedy tribute film Includes sentate debate with Rmoney and endorsement of PBO. Seriously, must see…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ7GixLTWPY&feature=player_embedded
Publius39
David Atkins has a very interesting read on why Occupy will never make that the next leap that they should have to become a legitimate movement.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/occupiers-and-organization-at-dnc_4.html
Anya
@SteveinSC: We need someone to take Teddy’s place. I don’t feel anyone at the senate is as uncompromisingly liberal as he was. Maybe Sherrod Brown.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I just flipped on Fox and some dude was interviewing Michael Dukakis. They also have a running national debt ticker in the bottom right part of their screen.
geg6
Teddy schooling Mittens was pure fucking gold. They’re openly mocking him. Loved it! Miss him! The Lion of the Senate indeed
jl
I watched a few minutes and decided to turn it off. I am conflicted. Ken Salazar, front man of UN takeover Kenyan soshulist human hating fad alternative energy hapless hippy dippy fool/evil genius sending us back to living in holes and gnawing on bark and roots?
Or evil crypto fascist corporate front man for big oil, fake clean coal, mountain top removal and general destruction of the plaent earth, for money, just money, that’s all, nothing but money.
Can’t be anything in between, that would be too complicated.
Maybe I have a hangover from corporate media coverage and GOP convention, which have perhaps stupified me even more than I usually am. I will take a breather, clear my head and tune in later for the greatest FLOTUS ever. And that is pretty great, since recent FLOTUSes have often been better than their he man presidentin’ deciderer in chief spouses.
hep kitty
Okay, our women can smile without looking like they’re going to crack their faces.
(in my best Robert Shaw: “republican wimmen’s eyes, the’ like a doll’s eyes, don’t seem to be livin, until she bites ya”)
Comrade Mary
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: It was the half season finale. Only 8 episodes were broadcast this year, and the final 8 will show up next summer. They’re being filmed around November of this year, according to this neat RS interview.
Anya
@Just Some Fuckhead: LOL!
Publius39
@Anya:
My favorite quote was the last part of Teddy’s rant on Romney’s flip-flopping:
“If you give this guy two more weeks, he would probably vote for me!”
Nikita
Anybody watching PBS? I’m totally loving the mayor of Minneapolis. He’s awesome.
Anya
Who’s the speaker?
arguingwithsignposts
The guy from Minnesota (?) was pretty good.
Anya
@Publius39: I loved that part. That video rocked!
jl
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Win. But then the pitch for the dupe vote was for the TV audience only? Maybe so. The conventioneers were bigots willing to pay the price for going back to their non existent fantasy 1950s.
What I watched of the GOP convention made me think of rubber chicken dinners, and a perhaps mythical Laurel and Hardy conventioneering movie. They make a movie about going to some convention? Been so long since Sat morning reruns were good.
hep kitty
@Nellcote: Romney: I believe abortion should be safe and legal.
Elizabelle
@arguingwithsignposts:
Yeah. I like seeing the up and comers, and knowing what the mayor of Minneapolis looks and sounds like. Public education.
rdldot
ok the celebs came in. on cspan’s cameras now.
Waldo
@gogol’s wife: My sentiments exactly. I still cringe every time I think about Kerry’s ham-handed salute in ’04. What was the line? “I’m John Kerry and I’m just following my handlers orders.”
The Ancient Randonneur
@arguingwithsignposts: R.T. Rybak, current mayor of Minneapolis.
TaMara (BHF)
My congressman is gay? How did I not know this? Loving his speech right now.
jl
@Elizabelle: Ok, you folks win, I will tune in to see some speakers before FLOTUS appears.
Chris
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Yes, but what I find truly impressive is their ability to pander to bigots of all stripes. Even now, in their most dominionist phase yet, I’ve met gay Republicans who vote Republican because of Skeery Hajjis, and Muslim Republicans who votes Republican because of Skeery Fagz – both apparently oblivious to the fact that the majority of their pals would lynch them without a second thought if they could get away with it.
SBJules
@Elizabelle: I’m sure I’ve mentioned that my favorite Mormon is Harry Read. I’m so glad he’s on the side of the angels.
mamayaga
@Nikita:
Me, too — hadn’t seen him before.
Shawn in ShowMe
@gogol’s wife:
I get uncomfortable with the maudlin tributes as well. But what would make me even more uncomfortable is not to have them. These are people they dedicated their lives to fighting for the values of the party and they deserve to be honored at the convention.
And you better believe that if there is an afterlife, Ted Kennedy loves that his beatdown of Romney was broadcast on the big screen. Couldn’t be more relevant.
Elizabelle
Tim Kaine interview on PBS now.
hep kitty
@rdldot: Yeh, I saw ‘She who has to see Alan Greenspan naked’ and switched back to CSPAN
Sorry about that y’all. Sometimes I’m just mean.
gogol's wife
@Shawn in ShowMe:
I agree with you completely. I’m happy it’s going well. I just can’t watch it in real time. But I did follow Nellcote’s link to the Ted Kennedy tribute, and it was great. Great to have (young, handsome) Romney saying so clearly he supports Roe v. Wade. Romney actually looked somewhat human in that clip, which seems to support some people’s hypothesis that he actually believed what he said back then. His rictus-like grin now is because he doesn’t believe a word he is saying.
Robin G.
Watching on PBS. Loved the content of Reid’s speech, but I think he was weaker than a lot of these other speakers. They’re lighting it up, in my biased opinion.
Knee jerk: if Joe Kennedy III’s got a brain in his head and no more than a few skeletons in his closet, he’ll run for president one day.
Dennis SGMM
Watching the convention on a link provided here. No pundits, just coverage. Love seeing the faces, the faces of the country as I’ve seen it. The Dems seem to be coming out fighting for a change and I loved the invocation of Hubert Humphrey.
hep kitty
@Waldo: Ugh! I forgot about that. What an awful fucking campaign and Kerry was awful. I hated voting for him.
I still can’t forgive the Dem party for that one. And I’ve forgiven them for lots of shit.
Davis X. Machina
@Publius39: They’ll hand Atkins his head for that one. He does not appear to be correctly oriented.
asiangrrlMN
@mamayaga: Mayor Rybak is awesome. I’m just sorry I missed him.
Robin G.
@mamayaga: Rybak is sleeze, but he can give a speech.
What is Nancy Keenan doing here? Ugh. Couldn’t there be someone else doing this speech?
arguingwithsignposts
Well, I think we know which side the Dems are on in the War against Women.
PurpleGirl
I have the OFA live stream open. It’s been a choppy and jumping between speakers but I like not having the commentary from news broadcasters.
I’m eagerly awaiting Michelle Obama’s speech.
Anya
Joe Kennedy III is impressive. I hope he stays scandal free.
Comrade Mary
God DAMN, the women are hitting hard on choice.
arguingwithsignposts
@PurpleGirl: Try CSPAN – it’s the same, but not choppy. That youtube stream just sucked.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Waldo:
Kerry was such an awful choice. He was pretty much already the nominee when I showed up to vote in the primary that year. The Democrats at the polling place were gushing over him and I told them I was unhappy with the choice and they’d come to regret it.
But the fix was in. Salon had already done hit pieces on all the Democratic primary candidates except Kerry. The Kerry piece was basically a knob-slobbering job.
I was a Wes Clark supporter, BTW.
hep kitty
@gogol’s wife: I really don’t know much about Asperger’s but I read speculation that he might have it or some form of that. Perhaps it wasn’t as bad back then? Maybe some of our informed readers can enlighten.
mainmati
@Just Some Fuckhead: Yeah, he’s a state prisoner, maybe he couldn’t get parole in time. /snark
mamayaga
@Robin G.: Well, she is really sticking it to Akin and the Repugs at least.
SteveinSC
@Anya: Well, he looks a lot like Prince Harry and well…
Elizabelle
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Yeah, I was never enthusiastic about John Kerry as a presidential candidate.
I was a John Edwards supporter, though. Good message, flawed messenger.
hep kitty
BTW, Clint Eastwood has 7 kids by 5 different baby mamas. What if the DNC had some celeb up there with those kinds of family values as a featured speaker? Even worse, what if he was blah!
PsiFighter37
@Anya: If Elizabeth Warren doesn’t pull out the race against Scott Brown, I think we have our challenger against Scott Brown in 2018.
Sullivan Hyde
@Publius39: Torn between skepticism of Occupy tactics and skepticism of digbyblog concern drama.
Robin G.
@mamayaga: Yeah, I’m not wild about her, but that was a hell of a speech.
Nikita
Oh man, Tammy Duckworth should have taken a breath and let that U.S.A. chant build. She totally missed a moment.
PurpleGirl
@arguingwithsignposts: Thank you.
Publius39
@Sullivan Hyde: I don’t think that Atkins is concern trolling, I think that he’s acknowledging the fatal flaw in the Occupy movement; they want to change the system, but they don’t want to participate in the system. That’s the key. I agree with almost all of the Occupy plank(there is a fringe anarchist wing in there), but you can’t change shit if you don’t either pull the lever, or run liberal candidates. I think it is a very reasonable critique.
hep kitty
I can’t believe she is running against that shitstain Walsh. How can there be any contest? Too lazy to google the poll numbers.
Publius39
@hep kitty:
Walsh was fucked after 2010 because the state re-wrote his district. He can’t win in the district, and he has little chance of winning in any of the surrounding districts. See you later Dead-Beat Joe.
jgaugust
@hep kitty: Saw a poll a few weeks ago that had her 9 points up.
hep kitty
Is it just me? I seem to remember the visual of the RNC convention floor and I’m looking at the same thing now on the teevee. I don’t remember RNC conv’n floor being packed like it is here. I remember lots of blue empty spaces. But I guess it was all delegates so maybe I was hallucinating. I’m always thinking that. Well, I was after the RNC conv’n. This is bringing me back to reality a little bit
hep kitty
@jgaugust: good, thx!
Publius39
For those that missed the Teddy tribute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ7GixLTWPY&feature=player_embedded
The really good part starts around 2:52
redshirt
Let’s not bad mouth Kerry too badly. He’s a good man and a great Senator for the state of Mass. He’s just not Presidential material, even though he looks the part. That doesn’t mean he’s terrible – very few are made to be President. Praise FSM that Barack Obama is one of them.
I did not enthuse about voting for him either, though I was totally bummed I didn’t get to go to the victory party in Copley Square.
I was for Dean. He was a good candidate, undid by ratfuckery. Bush even focused his State of the Union on him, which was totally lame but showed the strength of Dean’s candidacy, at the time.
hep kitty
And now, the horrors of Obama/Romney Care.
Hungry Joe
We’re only halfway through Season 4 of “Breaking Bad,” so reading these posts — even looking at Facebook — is like hop-skip-jumping through a minefield. I’m hoping that neither Castro nor Ms. Obama will divulge any key plot points tonight.
Robin G.
Strickland’s nailing this and knows it.
The Ancient Randonneur
Strickland is on fire!
jl
@Robin G.:
Strickland does political sledgehammer well.
I assume he won’t apologize when Mitt whines about negativism and meany meany insultisults.
Strickland have a family business? Srickland Hammer, Industrial Presspunch and Piledriver Co? I like it.
PurpleGirl
@The Ancient Randonneur: Yes he is. I want to see a transcript for what he called Romney at the end.
jl
I like the back handed compliments to Romney on ObomneyCare. Hope some one can explain to the worthless corporate pundits what the Dems are talking about.
PurpleGirl
I’m liking the crowd shots, showing how diverse the Democratic Party is — crazy glasses with flag stars, to flags and hats with buttons.
hep kitty
@Johngcole Sebelius is so boring I feel like I an in a high school calculus class in a 90 degree room with a hangover #makeitstop #scotchplease
@cassandra_pony
jl
@hep kitty: Plain spoken Kansas charm, is all.
dance around in your bones
Breaking Bad was breath-taking Sunday night. I can’t wait to see what limits Bad Walt
goes tobreaks next year.The DNC is pretty good so far – waiting for FLOTUS to knock it out of the park in a few. She fucking rocks.
The Ancient Randonneur
Best Tweet of the night (so far)L
Robin G.
I think Patrick hates Romney personally…
Emma
@hep kitty: *spews Diet Pepsi all over the floor* me too, me too!
4jkb4ia
It’s official. Baltimore and FTFY are tied for first. This is a high level of awesome.
(US Open night session cancelled as the Roddick-Del Potro tiebreaker was starting)
(Julian Castro is doing a nice job)