The Conventions

John Kerry had a great quote tonight. Paraphrasing, service members in harm’s way can’t just hide in a bunker. I’m sure Trump’s having fits with all the criticism of him tonight. He attacked Michelle Obama today, curious to see who he insults tomorrow.
One of the reporters on NPR criticized him tonight for listening to his son in law on the virus, not science.

I just finished watching, darn husband kept interrupting so I had to pause. Oh my, I’m just going to be a crying mess until the convention is over. Even though we live in this hot mess every day, you just can’t believe how bad it is until you see faith, and duty, and honor again.

I can’t decide how I feel. Part of me is full of hope, I wasn’t even this energized at Hillary but I’m also terrified. Terrified because we have so much more to lose.

"But then, as if to prove that an at-home convention didn’t have to be a dutiful slog, the roll call began! In a series of messages—some live, some prerecorded, but all charming—delegates took viewers to their home states and territories, where they said nice things about Biden, shared struggles from their lives, and/or sold us on the places they live. There was no cheering crowd, no ecstatic Macarena. And yet, undoubtedly, these video messages were way, way better than the real thing would have been.

Are you aware of how majestic this country is? Have you ever fully comprehended the vast diversity of architecture, geology, and fashion choices this great nation holds? If not, I suggest you watch the roll call from beginning to end. You’ve got the Pueblo of Sandia in New Mexico, with state Rep. Derrick Lente holding forth in a golden-hour windstorm. You’ve got Rep. Barbara Lee positively kvelling over vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in front of the breathtaking California coastline. You’ve got Maine state Rep. Craig Hickman, a Black gay man who owns a farm and bed-and-breakfast, bragging about his life. “My American dream? I’m living it!” he exclaimed. You sure are, Rep. Hickman! And I am jealous.

At a time when most of us have barely left our houses in months, a whirlwind trip around the ol’ amber waves of grain was a bit of escapism that feels increasingly hard to come by, especially because the main topic of this convention is an authoritarian racist who’s recently killed tens of thousands of Americans. And as a break from a set of speeches still too often reserved for the establishment and the wealthy (tell me, again, why Mike Bloomberg was invited to speak?), the self-produced roll call clips were delightfully homespun. In Kansas, farmer Mike Pringle was filmed in a full-body shot from what looked like a wobbly camera placed in the grass. In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser was barely audible over the drone of cicadas. Whoever shot state Rep. Claire Cronin in Massachusetts filmed her too close, too bright, and out of focus, allowing us to focus our attention on her brilliant accent. Ohio, which featured also-ran Rep. Tim Ryan and IBEW organizer Josh Abernathy bro-ing out in front of a wind turbine, offered all the production value of a used-car dealership commercial.

In normal years, the roll call segment of the convention would feature delegates giving their spiels from the floor of an arena, sometimes in region- or culture-specific garb, but otherwise subsumed into the homogenizing patriotic hum of the event. Not so in a pandemic! This year, we got to see more than just who these people are. We got to see where they live, and what murals make the best backdrops there. The popular narrative of the Democratic Party is centered in cities and blue states; a different image was conjured by the young woman talking about rural broadband access in front of a group of unbothered cows in an idyllic Montana meadow. When state stereotypes were confirmed, they were confirmed with flair: Vermont, the home state of white guys with ponytails, was repped by Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a white guy with a suitably lustrous ponytail. State Rep. Joseph McNamara praised the “calamari comeback state of Rhode Island” alongside a vaguely threatening looking masked chef holding a plate of squid prepared in the state’s signature style—studded, as it were, with cherry peppers. This land was made for him and me.

There was also an equalizing force at work in the virtual format. People who normally wouldn’t have been invited to the convention got to appear in these videos, some standing behind the delegates like members of a masked indie band. A kid jumped for joy in the background in Oregon; in New Jersey, some randos wandered through the frame. The U.S. island territories, which normally get the shit end of U.S. policy—and, not coincidentally, have no voting representation in Congress—came out ahead for once, juxtaposing their turquoise waters with the broadcast from an Arkansas parking lot."

slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/08/dnc-roll-call-america-amazing.html?via=rss_socialflow_twitter

 I agree with everything lucyg and zingermack said above. That roll call was just stupendous and fun! You know we all look forward to seeing our home states’ roll call. But those visuals of all the wonderful landscapes and historic places in America were wonderful.  I enjoyed seeing so many of the lovely vistas we’ve seen on our travels around the US, it’s National Parks and cities. Build Back Better! 

"Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention is upon us, and for the first time this week, viewers will hear from Senator Kamala Harris, the presumptive vice-presidential nominee.

Other big names speaking Wednesday evening include former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Scroll down for a full list of speakers."

www.nytimes.com/2020/08/19/us/politics/dnc-schedule-speakers-streaming-time.html

TY SO MUCH!! Off to sign up (as long as it doesn't require a FB acct)

I will have to catch up on tonight’s convention so I hope people post. We are eating out tonight and I didn’t bring headphones but I am recording it on YouTube tv.