Show I The Democratic Party range Free-range chickens caged protesters Jeff Dixon Copy Editor With soy-lattes soy in their and the Rocky Mountain breeze blowing through their Prius' Prius roof- roof mounted wind turbines the Nations Nation's long-haired long socks sandals ls wearing liberal arts majors rolled u up p their yoga mats packed an organic cotton fleece and converged upon the Mile High City last week for forthe forthe forthe the Democratic National Convention Observations follow The Audacity of a place called Hope Bubba's back and he seems to have picked a atheme atheme atheme theme song Maybe its it's just justa a fitting soundtrack to his life of selfless service Clinton strutted on stage to the Fleetwood Mac song Dont Don't Stop whose chorus sings Yesterdays gone yesterdays Judging from their prominence at last weeks week's Democratic National Convention the are not and they have no intention of making themselves so Yet perhaps as a subliminal message to the song continues I know you dont don't believe that its it's true I 1 never meant any harm hann to you If that wasn't a sly extension of the olive branch banch Clinton's speech which h emphatically mp and conditionally endorsed certainly was Politics is just sport to these already very- very well-off well folks after all Clinton's j just been a sore loser of late And why not His marriage which as demonstrated to the world during the primary campaign is full of loveless side-hugs side and reported philandering on his part The only purpose for its existence as I see it is for the pursuit of power But hes he's over it now Wh Wha- Wha race baiting Me Oh that no Profanity-laced Profanity tirades behind back in private Shucks I-I I dont don't even swear Of course the carrot dangled in hi front of him which encouraged him to make himself over over it was the chance to fill his personal void of positive press reflect on the good ole days of his administration on a big stage redeem his standing in the Party of the next President Clinton like any politician naturally favored those things rather than remain miffed He even admitted his love for su such sueh h attention saying I love this whilst milking a minutes-long minutes standing ovation he half- half pretended to try to stop They wouldn't even let him speak those darned adulators That carrot I 1 mentioned was ostensibly rewarded o othe on n i the condition that Clinton endorse Barack as only he can As it turned out Bills Bill's J i I IJ IJ J v J I endorsement was far more convincing than Perhaps that's only because e Bills Bill's far more charismatic and is better public speaker speake r than Hillary will ever be Plus at least on a personal level Bills Bill's actually likeable Heck it even seems all of a sudden i that he even likes Barack What hat gives Perhaps Barack sweetened the pot for Bills Bill's public about face by promising Hillary a prestigious position in his cabinet relieving her campaign debt owed to herself or even as has been speculated by people paid to do so a nomination n to the Supreme Court Time will tell Intrigue aside Bill did bust out a couple nifty in his speech People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than with the example of our power YES Now that's not saying we wont won't remain armed to the teeth pointing nuclear missiles in every which way Or that we wont won't continue allocating over half of the federal budget to Defense and remain committed to numerous outdated wasteful and counterproductive deployments overseas Wed We'd like to change that But really we cant That That simply wouldn't P please our generous benefactors within the military-industrial military complex After all they have scratched our back even more so than they have for the Republicans When was the last time that happened that Tha-that wouldn't be very nice to snub them now would it Its It's implicit in their donations that we you know return the In case ease anyone's been misinformed Democrats are far from being the party of the Peace Movement Aside from their including Joe Biden's cowardly kowtowing to the Bush Administrations Administration's unnecessary undeclared war that has seen the murder of thousands of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians created an unprecedented money pit and justified curtailing our civil rights the Democratic Party has accepted record Defense Industry donations s this year for either party at nearly 9 million to date Wait Im I'm sorry but that was the FORMER Presidents President's speech been against the war since the beginning when he wasn't in the US U.S. Senate He had no choice but to vote to reauthorize the war and the profligate spending and killing its it's caused once he got there despite you know being against it previously in that t courageous defiant speech Maybe the powerful example industry will kick kic kickin k in with its own donations to counterbalance those from the war profiteers Nevertheless America will always be a place e called Hope Clinton said in his closing remarks Try as I might I just cant can't argue with that Nor could the audience who cheered wildly as Clinton sauntered off offstage stage to the bass line of the hit Addicted to Love Jimmy Carter Pro-Israeli Pro Cash Sadly another former Democratic President Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jimmy Carter was shown no such love No podium No mic Just a brief wave on stage as a video montage highlighting his work toward peace around the world except of course between Israel and Palestine played on a giant screen The guy singularly has achievements of what Clinton and Gore have done combined yet the Party broke with the tradition at National Party conventions of having former Presidents speak and denied him the chance to address the delegates and national audience Why In a word Israel Or that is the nonsupport nonsupport nonsupport non- non support of the minority views of the militant Israeli lobby which urge maintaining a hard line against Palestine and treating its people as subhuman Carters Carter's compared the conflict to to Apartheid with Israel of course as the the aggressor But Carter doesn't have havethe havethe havethe the pull money that these folks have even succumbed to it Just last year told a crowd in Iowa that Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people He made no mention of that observation in his saber-rattling saber speech to this year to which calls itself Americas Pro-Israeli Pro Lobby Read Zionist lobby Pandering to their agenda he made madeno no mention of stopping the massacre of Palestinian civilians and no consideration of the idea of designating Jerusalem as asa asa asa a co-Capitol co of the two- two states He didn't have the courage to bring himself to explain whether or why the Palestinian people were still suffering Israel isn't accountable for anything if you want to please If it is he hec c conspicuously omitted it in that speech While a lobby does not directly contribute to campaigns pro-Israeli pro political action committees and individuals have donated to Democrats over Republicans at rate of nearly 2 to 1 I. The total to date is 41 million to Democrats a number which dwarves any pro- pro Arab or pro-Palestinian pro PAC contributions by so much that they're not even evena a category at You see Carters Carter's off the hook from any moneyed interests and can thus be a dispassionate observer a a 4 dispassionate observer who might call it as so many Ii of us even the majority of Israelis and Palestinians see it And that scares Democrats Because it angers their donors I know Same story What's new Nothing sadly Under nothing it appears will CHANGE substantially on that part of the Middle-Eastern Middle front Just as nothings nothing's changed while he Howard Dean and Nancy presided over the Convention with regard to the First Amendment Caged vs Free Range Protesters Who Wh had it better Well they were nice enough to set up square foot First Amendment cages at the Pepsi Center parking lot lotin lotin lotin in which people could stage protests before 3 pm p.m. when delegates began filing in to the arena Hey its it's better to protect the protesters from themselves before another in Chicago happened Those who took their message to the streets or orthe orthe orthe the sidewalks were fair game for strong-arming strong by Denver police Two such loose and dangerous protesters were girls aged 15 and 17 They had to be forcefully subdued without warning by heroic policemen who had no choice but to put em em on the ground with a knee on each of their necks Their crime Writing with permission from both the City Attorney and Deputy Chief of Police on the sidewalk with gasp CHALK They'd been doing around the city throughout the Convention but were arrested when they did so near hotel They're from the pro-life pro group Survivors and were challenging pro- pro choice position In chalk But does it matter what group they're from Please say no Denver's keystone cops didn't limit their harassment to punk teens with chalk They arrested ABC News producer Asa Eslocker while according to he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel He reportedly was one of many journalists standing near the entrance to the hotel Its It's not a stretch to assume he was singled out for being part of ABC AC News's investigative unit which was working on piece exposing the cozy ties between wealthy donors and members of Congress really called Money Trail Well I guess he discovered where that trail leads The moral of these two incidents Whether you have a camera crew or just sidewalk chalk stay AWAY from hotel And if youre you're a Muslim I r woman wearing a just stay away from But we can forgive for being uppity and using police to silence dissent because hes he's just so effin MAGICAL when reading group focus-group driven intentionally vague and pathos heavy remarks off teleprompter a The Speech Its Venue As a term first-term Senator who's already ready to be President its it's obvious that Barack is a big deal probably the biggest of the young charismatic I League Ivy vy- vy U.S. Senator deals deals' since Kennedy Hes He's a big deal with a abig abig abig big plan for big change that will fulfill our big hopes To communicate this he needed a venue where he could be with his people The Pepsi Center with its limited capacity and high-fructose high corn com syrupy sounding name wouldn't do No He needed a big herd of humanity that would give big cheers on cue gazing at him with their big hopeful eyes mouths agape in big amazement for the big networks' networks big cameras His big venue conveniently sitting across the river from the Pepsi Center was Field at Mile High one of the biggest stadia in the NFL Wary of the fields field's sounding corporate-sounding campaign spokespeople and surrogates were referring to it with the name of the stadium it replaced Mile High The New York Times reported last week Of course should've been particularly wary of this corporate name does the majority of its business inthe in hi hithe inthe the US and maintains its headquarters in Atlanta But its it's incorporated in Bermuda a tax haven that allows it to pay only payroll taxes none else campaign states that he will End Tax Haven will give the Treasury Department the tools it needs to stop offshore tax havens and help close the billion tax gap between taxes owed and taxes paid the irony's so rich But perhaps could've used as asan asan asan an example of unpatriotic corporate behavior and talked about this plan while he was giving a mega speech in the stadium with its name on it But that wo would've been impolite As a guest No Not the best time Even more impolite would be if he actually followed through with enacting such a policy when the Investment Securities sector has given over 57 million to his party so far this year Its It's not presumptuous of me to include within that sector some companies that are taking advantage of the very shore off-shore tax havens wants to prohibit i them from using Is it I wont won't hold my breath on that loophole being closed in man an administration Instead of making an unlikely fulfilled y-to-be- y ful filled promise perhaps he should create a loophole in which we workers can in another country and avoid paying federal income tax despite living and working in the US Oh yeah about that speech Obviously it was very good well written well delivered It was a better speech than McCain hell most of us could ever dream of giving Just who does that surprise though No Noone one With fire in his eyes said If John McCain wants to have havea a debate about who has the temperament and judgment to serve as the next Commander in Commander Chief that's a debate Im I'm ready to have L. L SNAP J wait Nearly three months ago when secured the nomination McCain challenged to a series often town-hall town style debates between then and the Parties' Parties Conventions It took three months to be ready for foran foran foran an indeterminate number of debates with just one opponent Its It's taken three years in inthe inthe inthe the US Senate for be ber r ready ady J to be Pr President t jr less ls less lessi lessone i r than one accor according to his running mate needs to check himself His supporters need to check themselves too The Presidential election the electoral process in general is much too significant to reduce to a afew afew afew few exclusionary debates moderated by esteemed corporate journalists between the increasingly look-alike look candidates from increasingly look alike parties Heres Here's an idea if the savior he i paints himself to be hes he's going to need to show it by kicking the and to start thinking on his feet Every week With three opponents John McCain Ralph Nader and Bob Barr Fielding questions from a random audience He was put through the nerve- nerve wracking mind-bending mind ringer at Harvard Law School he should be able to handle some questions questions' from everyday citizens If he or any of these four guys for that matter is ready to be President they can do the other million of us the courtesy of proving they have hav the temperament and judgment to serve as the next in Commander-in- Chief After all we want the best possible guy in office to answer that phone in inthe inthe inthe the White House when its it's 3 am and something's happening in the world while your children are safe and asleep Dont Don't we Huh |