Convention coverage

[Guest StuCotts]

The blatherers missed no occasion but one to put themselves and their bullshit between the convention and the public, as though it were all about them. I found it disheartening.

The one thing they did shut up for was Obama's speech. I should be thankful for that blessing.

[BiBottomBoy]

And now we get another week of it with the GOP.

[AdamSmith]

The one thing they did shut up for was Obama's speech. I should be thankful for that blessing.

Two or three also put a sock in it while Gore was on.

Many find Gore too much of a muchness. But I enjoyed his speech enormously. It was like watching someone knock the administration to the sidewalk, then kick them down the street by the balls for ten minutes solid.

No one can do it with better-earned conviction than he.

[TampaYankee]

The blatherers missed no occasion but one to put themselves and their bullshit between the convention and the public, as though it were all about them. I found it disheartening.

The one thing they did shut up for was Obama's speech. I should be thankful for that blessing.

Don't get me started on these self-important cable clowns... self-absorbed talking heads and pundits who never miss a chance at public masturbation of their egos, who deign to don the role of messenger to the masses lest the common folk be left confused and confounded by the candidates own words, who act like this is nothing more than a grand party where political tricks and mendacity constitute just good ole fun politics that should forge the leadership and policies of the nation for the next four years. They see no fault in the process as farce. To the contrary they are ready to pitch in with the farce. They are an embarassment to themselves and their networks without the perceptivness to sense it.

I miss the professional reporters who try to keep their personal views out to the process and who are professional enough not to lower themselves to be used as props or foils in the farce. Those who report facts, not promulgate talking points and distortions under the guise of news. There are only a few left... too few.

Please don't get me started.

[BiBottomBoy]

Of now there might not be a convention given the hurricane thing. And if neither Bush nor McCain show up there won't be a lot of coverage.

[TampaYankee]

Of now there might not be a convention given the hurricane thing. And if neither Bush nor McCain show up there won't be a lot of coverage.

There will be a convention. The rules are quite specific about nominating a candidate and putting that candidate on state ballots.

It will not be postponed. Probably 15000 hotel rooms have been reserved not to mention a good fraction of that in flights. You do not reschedule an event of that magnitude by telling folks to come a week later.

It steps on their production but given their own disillusionment about how poorly their show was likely to compare with the Dems they now have a distraction in the hurricane -- a silver lining of sorts.

Speaking of a silver lining, Gustav is a blessing for them in that gives good cover for not having Bush and Cheney show up. That has been a dread that could not be avoided... until now. Now for Bush, the business of looking not to screw this hurricane up will take precedence over politics. How lucky they are in this respect.

[BiBottomBoy]

A shorter convention does give Palin some free time to get pregnant again.

[Lucky]

Palin hasn't been pregnant for years. After all, she's 44 now. The Downs Baby she pretended to carry was her daughter's. W thought they were postponing the convention to keep Bush and Cheney away, but now it looks like they are just buying time to figure out what to with her.

Can they hide the facts for two more months?

[BiBottomBoy]

I'm capable of believing a lot of bullshit about Palin/McCain/Bush/Rome/The GOP but I don't buy the rumor that the kid is her daughters.

[Guest StuCotts]

Palin hasn't been pregnant for years. After all, she's 44 now. The Downs Baby she pretended to carry was her daughter's. W thought they were postponing the convention to keep Bush and Cheney away, but now it looks like they are just buying time to figure out what to with her.

Can they hide the facts for two more months?

How sweet it would be! But it sounds just too good to be true.

I'll take your word that you know this for a fact. Unless you have exclusive access to a family secret of that magnitude, others, in the media for instance, must be in on it too. What incentive would the media, other than the dung beetles at Fox, have to hush it up?

I won't stop hoping you're right.

[BiBottomBoy]

The rumors that she isn't the mom of the Downs Syndrome kid swept the blogosphere all weekend - but the New York Times, CNN and even Drudge have looked into it and called "bullshit."

What really happened is that she was a new governor and thought that if she announced she was pregnant right after taking office that it would hurt her politically, so she wore loose fitting clothing and hid the pregnancy until the third trimester.

One of the reasons she did this was because Downs Syndrome fetuses have a high rate of miscarriages and if she miscarried she didn't want it to become a public spectacle.

At around the same time her daughter developed mono and was out of school for a couple of months.

That's what happened unless you really think the GOP machine knew months and months ago to falsify medical records, bribe hospital staff, send bogus bills to health insurance companies and swear her daughter and her friends to secrecy on the off chance McCain might pick her as his running mate.

Don't get me wrong - I'm no fan of Palin, but let's not swift boat her.

There is plenty of real stuff to give her shit about - and implying that her daughter is a liar is below the belt.

[Lucky]

BIBboy, you like to state a lot of thing as fact. Please tell me where these media companies have called this "bullshit" or any other word similarly conveying the idea that there is no truth to them.

Today's update from the daily kos leaves little doubt for me:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/31/14.../319/386/581332

[BiBottomBoy]

I work in the media and my ex and a lot of my friends work in PR firms.

So, duh, yeah when I spend most of Saturday and Sunday listening to my friends at CNN and the NYTimes bitching in emails and IMs to me that their bosses made them work all labor day weekend tracking down a story that isn't true, I feel like I can speak with some authority on it.

These dudes would have fucking sold their souls to the devil for it to have been true, because it would have justified their time and probably got them some bonus money. But, it ain't so.

As to the FBI thing, years ago when I was working for USA today I had to cover the major crime beat for a while, which meant dealing with the FBI on a regular basis - so I know how they operate when they are dealing with wanted criminals.

Managing to bust a gay porn star who also works as a rent boy as a cover to burglarizing homes across state lines is the type of this their Public Affairs office wets their pants over. Particularly pre-election when they'd love to make gays look like shit.

If this guy was wanted by the feds, it would be all over the fucking Internet and not stuck in some rinky dink website that doesn't even understand the legal definition of "Public Figure."

[Lucky]

Well, speak with some authority on this:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/us/internat...tics-palin.html

[BiBottomBoy]

On a side note was is true is that her daughter is currently a few months pregnant - which I think is going to break on CNN in a couple of hours.

[BiBottomBoy]

I was just posting on that when I got the message about your comment.

We crossed paths on that one.

Well, speak with some authority on this:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/us/internat...tics-palin.html

[AdamSmith]

Love it when the British press gets arch and snotty about their American cousins.

...Clothes maketh the 'second family'

If a social commentator of the Lady Bracknell school were to describe the Palin family's rendition of formal wear, they might describe it as perfect... for one's first court appearance. In Alaska, check shirts and camouflage jackets are the order of the day, and family photographs tend to be set in the great outdoors, around the carcass of a moose. As a result, the would-be Second Family didn't so much wear their formal outfits on Wednesday, as get worn by them.

Sarah Palin carried off her two-piece with elegance: those three-quarter length sleeves looked rolled-up and ready for business. But Ms Palin has had 16 years in politics to refine her wardrobe, and is fortunate after five children to retain the slender profile and shapely calves that helped her to the title of Miss Wasilla, 1984.

Her husband, Todd, self-styled "first dude" and judge of this year's Miss Alaska, did well with a dark, two-buttoned suit. But would you buy a used car from him? Eldest son Track resembles a bodyguard, while daughters Bristol and Willow look like old-fashioned girls in pearls.

It's difficult not to feel sympathy for one young man in the line-up. Levi Johnston, Bristol's 18-year-old fiancé, carries his arms dead straight and has trouser creases so sharp they could draw blood. If he really has never worn a tie before, Levi had better get used to it: the coming months will bring the christening of his first-born, not to mention his wedding.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/am...lin-919522.html

[Guest eastburbguy]

Don't get me started on these self-important cable clowns... self-absorbed talking heads and pundits who never miss a chance at public masturbation of their egos, who deign to don the role of messenger to the masses lest the common folk be left confused and confounded by the candidates own words, who act like this is nothing more than a grand party where political tricks and mendacity constitute just good ole fun politics that should forge the leadership and policies of the nation for the next four years. They see no fault in the process as farce. To the contrary they are ready to pitch in with the farce. They are an embarassment to themselves and their networks without the perceptivness to sense it.

I miss the professional reporters who try to keep their personal views out to the process and who are professional enough not to lower themselves to be used as props or foils in the farce. Those who report facts, not promulgate talking points and distortions under the guise of news. There are only a few left... too few.

Please don't get me started.

< I miss the professional reporters who try to keep their personal views out to the process and who are professional enough not to lower themselves to be used as props or foils in the farce.

They are reincarnated as bloggers and they're better at their craft.

[Guest voke]

This is the second time I've attempted to voice my opinion. With chicken on the grill and the convention on the tube, did I really walk in and see Keith Obberman shedding a tear over a 4 minute, apolitical tribute to those who died on 9/11? And did I not hear him apologize "on behalf of" (and I didn't catch the rest) that the video was totally inappropriate because he lost "2 or 3 friends" on 9/11? So did I. Five of them. And I like the fact that every once in a while, something reminds me of the horror of that day. As far as I'm concerned, he should return to ESPN, but do commentary on division II, III or juco college football games. He's a joke, totally non-impartial....in fact, stuck-up.

[BiBottomBoy]

Anyone else think Levi is hot?