favorite dem pick-up line

We thought President Clinton has the best dem pick-up line from the convention: “People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.”

He always did have a way with words.

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Some lines that we felt were a bit over-worked in the Mile High City were:

*I'm here for the cops and the firefighters, the teachers and the union workers.

*Our cause is just.

*the lure of this great nation.

*We face enormous challenges and if you watched the Olympics, you know that China is going for the gold.

*We are on the right side of history
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The NY Times sent one of it's reporters, David Carr, who covers business and culture to the convention to examine issues and happenings at the edges. Carr, who vlogs and blogs under the moniker The Carpetbagger is adept at this, inherited the middle-American fascination with celebrity and power - two things at the heart of politics and conventions.

While in Denver, Carr, a music aficinado, covered the Rage Against the Machine show and the following 5000 strong anti-war protest sponsored by the Iraq War Veterans Against the War. While reporting, the CarpetBagger found himself locked in with the power elite and locked out from the people. We found this to be a hoot. You can find his convention vlog/blog entries under the NYTimes Caucus blog. Here's moi's riposte to Carr's Rage Against the Machine blog entry.

Getting fenced out (and into the power structure) while trying to cover an anti-war demonstration is a perfect metaphor for the current state of the media and politics.

As much as I enjoy the baggers trenchant observations on cultural happenings, it's a sad day in the 4th estate when only 2 journalists (David Carr and Amy Goodman) attempt to cover a demonstration of thousands of Iraq war veterans and non-violent civilians marching through the heart of major American city. And this the day before the anniversary of an historic march. Did the rest of the press corps have a hang-over from drinking free bourbon that kept them from the thin air of rarefied ideas?

Worse yet, and truly shameful for the Democrats, is they stand on the wrong side of the fence here. I'm not even sure they know there's even a fence. And this happens during what is purported to be a meeting of ideas about what matters most to Americans. The war in Iraq matters to America and it will matter to voters.

Any dissent, even that by peaceful assembly (remember that part of the Bill of Rights?) by our nation's soldiers and foot-soldiers for justice is now met with a near police state of caution. It's hard to notice simple things like inalienable rights when the only thing you focus on is the teleprompter.