If you're interested in watching the Democratic National Convention and don't have a very strong stomach for bullshit, you might not want to do what Bob Harris did yesterday and channel-hop. I started with CNN but all those pundits were doing was whining about the "shove it" remark, even though nobody seemed to be complaining about the far-worse Cheney expletive on the Senate floor. Then I turned to PBS and quickly grew frustrated with their spin, everything from terming Bill Clinton "a best-selling author... and President" like the latter was an afterthought, to proclaiming right after every speech that they were shocked at the amount of "Bush-bashing" even though I thought most of the speakers were too restrained if anything.
It became pretty clear that even the much-vaunted PBS was just there to spread Republican talking points rather than reporting on or analyzing what was actually said. (Aren't the conservative fundies the ones who go around saying "Hate the sin, not the sinner?" Don't they recognize that's exactly what's going on here? The Democrats, and many of the American people, have no love for the policies that got the country into the spot it's in today, but that doesn't mean they're saying nasty things about specific people. The message was the lack of leadership, not "George Bush is a horrid man.") So I turned to C-SPAN for uninterrupted coverage that let me make up my own mind about what everyone was saying.
Brief impressions: I loved the kids singing "This Land Is Your Land," obviously omitting the last two verses. I didn't think of JibJab even once. It was cool to see all nine Democratic female senators, although my first thought was "oughtn't there be more?" I loved and covet Madeleine Albright's dress. I thought it was weird that the Clintons didn't kiss. I couldn't help but shout out "Zappa Lives!" every time PMRC leader Tipper Gore was shown. It was nice to see the greatest living president in my lifetime, Jimmy Carter, get his due (and fie on the pundits who called him "frail," he looked pretty sprightly to me). Hillary isn't yet the speaker her husband is, but she's getting there. Bill Clinton is a much, much better rhetoritician now than he ever was, particularly back in '88 when he did that interminable nominating speech. Lots of info in his speech that I was hearing for the first time; I loved the line about not angering one's bankers. :) Gore was also pretty good, and much funnier than any of the other major speakers.
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