Democratic National Convention **live commentary thread**

[Sbane]

Warren and Clinton are quite the odd couple.  First Warren, like several speakers before her, comes in to rally the troops, be divisive in party and class, and question the character of American capitalism. Then Clinton comes in with an appeal of moderation and fiscal conservatism - and does an excellent job of inviting into the fold those people who might well be turned off by what just came before him.

Her speech was focused on the way powerful interests control what happens in Washington. The Democratic party is less supportive of this system than the Republicans but of course both parties are complicit. All this political power concentrated to the wealthy and well connected is a perversion of American capitalism and has no place in a true free market society.

[Sbane]

The Clinton and Warren speeches were both very good.

However, I'm really pretty disgusted and disheartened by the whole voice vote thing. Why is it that everyone's alright with treating atheists like sh.it? There are a lot more atheists than Jews in this country.

They should have just left the platform alone. It wasn't that big of a deal. Now everyone involved with this has basically made a fool out of themselves.

Including God in the platform is equivalent to treating atheists like sh**t?

"Political correctness FTW!"

Why should god be in the platform?

[J. J.]

The Republicans have not been running the county for the last 3 1/2 years.  You can legitimately say that Obama inherited problems (so did Carter), but this was like 8 weeks ago.

In case you were living under a rock until December 2010 I inform you that Republicans won the House (and have a de facto veto at the senate).
Not that it will make any difference in the mind altering bubble you seem to live in.

And in case you really don't understand, the House does not run the country.

What, Did you pass 7th grade civics?

They are part of the legislative branch.......you know the people who are responsible for passing the laws that affect our lives.

They are part of it, but not the only part, unless you want to blame the Democrats for the meltdown in 2008.  They held the House and Senate since 1/07. 

Is it all the fault Pelosi and Reid, according to you?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

The House of Representatives is why God gave dragonflies the ability to sew people's mouths shut.

[Landslide Lyndon]

The Republicans have not been running the county for the last 3 1/2 years.  You can legitimately say that Obama inherited problems (so did Carter), but this was like 8 weeks ago.

In case you were living under a rock until December 2010 I inform you that Republicans won the House (and have a de facto veto at the senate).
Not that it will make any difference in the mind altering bubble you seem to live in.

And in case you really don't understand, the House does not run the country.

What, Did you pass 7th grade civics?

They are part of the legislative branch.......you know the people who are responsible for passing the laws that affect our lives.

They are part of it, but not the only part, unless you want to blame the Democrats for the meltdown in 2008.  They held the House and Senate since 1/07. 

Is it all the fault Pelosi and Reid, according to you?

Pelosi and Reid didn't put obstacles when W. tried to save the economy from tanking.
Unlike of course McConnel and Bhoener who obstructed and filibustered even the renaming of postal offices and national parks.

But I guess that's a too mundane argument for a MENSA guy like you.

[J. J.]

The Republicans have not been running the county for the last 3 1/2 years.  You can legitimately say that Obama inherited problems (so did Carter), but this was like 8 weeks ago.

In case you were living under a rock until December 2010 I inform you that Republicans won the House (and have a de facto veto at the senate).
Not that it will make any difference in the mind altering bubble you seem to live in.

And in case you really don't understand, the House does not run the country.

What, Did you pass 7th grade civics?

They are part of the legislative branch.......you know the people who are responsible for passing the laws that affect our lives.

They are part of it, but not the only part, unless you want to blame the Democrats for the meltdown in 2008.  They held the House and Senate since 1/07. 

Is it all the fault Pelosi and Reid, according to you?

Pelosi and Reid didn't put obstacles when W. tried to save the economy from tanking.
Unlike of course McConnel and Bhoener who obstructed and filibustered even the renaming of postal offices and national parks.

But I guess that's a too mundane argument for a MENSA guy like you.

Actually, the House rejected the first TARP in 2008.  You needed some Democrats to help with that.

Reid also ruled that the filibuster could be overruled by a majority.  There cannot be filibusters the House, since, I think, the 1820's .

More attempts to shift the blame.

And even if they graded civics on a curve, Lyndon is still well below the mean.

[Cobbler]

Does anyone know when Schweitzer and Crist speak today?

[Likely Voter]

The schedule should be here
http://www.demconvention.com/schedule-thurs/

but there are no details yet

[Landslide Lyndon]

Actually, the House rejected the first TARP in 2008. 

Yeah, because a majority of Republicans voted no. Who do you think you're talking to, some rube with goldfish memory?

[Eraserhead]

The Clinton and Warren speeches were both very good.

However, I'm really pretty disgusted and disheartened by the whole voice vote thing. Why is it that everyone's alright with treating atheists like sh.it? There are a lot more atheists than Jews in this country.

They should have just left the platform alone. It wasn't that big of a deal. Now everyone involved with this has basically made a fool out of themselves.

Including God in the platform is equivalent to treating atheists like sh**t?

"Political correctness FTW!"

Actually, having the sense not to bother including "god" in a friggin' political platform and then ramming it into it by way of a phony vote only to appease god-fearing people seems more like "political correctness FTW!" wouldn't you say?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I was being sarcastic, implying that political correctness is a trash concept if Atheists are legitimately going to try and claim that including the word "God" is "hateful" to them. The fact is, the history and tradition of the United States is built on the concept that the country is one Nation under God.

You might not believe in God, but he plays a big part in the story of America. What is so terrible about respecting that tradition? It's not meant to be exclusive... it just represents the country's cultural history. Of course, political correctness would fly in the face of this tradition, asserting that "God"—one word—is somehow discriminatory. What a joke.

[Likely Voter]

Apparently due to the move indoors Obama will have NO BALLOONS

There goes the bump

[5280]

Apparently due to the move indoors Obama will have NO BALLOONS

There goes the bump

They didn't have time to order any?

[Phony Moderate]

You might not believe in God, but he plays a big part in the story of America. What is so terrible about respecting that tradition?

Just because most Americans believe in God doesn't mean that the belief is entitled to respect. What if Americans suddenly started believing in unicorns? Should the word "unicorn" be included in the party platforms? One of the main reasons (and this is where irony starts to creep in) why many American politicians invoke "God" in their speeches is to avoid offending the most devout Christians. It's kind of a reverse political correctness.

[Eraserhead]

I was being sarcastic, implying that political correctness is a trash concept if Atheists are legitimately going to try and claim that including the word "God" is "hateful" to them. The fact is, the history and tradition of the United States is built on the concept that the country is one Nation under God.

You might not believe in God, but he plays a big part in the story of America. What is so terrible about respecting that tradition? It's not meant to be exclusive... it just represents the country's cultural history. Of course, political correctness would fly in the face of this tradition, asserting that "God"—one word—is somehow discriminatory. What a joke.

Genocide plays a big part in the story of America too. Maybe we should include a salute to that in the major party platforms.

Seriously though, we have something called separation of church and state in this country, or at least we're suppose to. There's absolutely no reason to include god in a party platform, and when people in the party vote down the notion of including god, that should be respected and it wasn't.

The reason it wasn't respected was that the Democratic Party wants to be politically correct and appeal to people like you (Christians/Jews/whatever). So don't give me a bunch of crap about how you or your side is above "political correctness". The inclusion of god in the platform is all about being politically correct.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Maybe catering to the majority of Americans may seem like political correctness on a forum with such fringe views as this one, but that's not how political correctness works in the real world. Political correctness is about being over-sensitive to a minority. Reflecting the character of the vast majority is called "accuracy."

I guess I shouldn't expect anything less though, considering you're trying to equate genocide with God. Of course, "we're the hateful ones."

You'll hear no dissent from me though about what should have happened with the amendments. Your people voted to exclude them from the platform—your leaders should've respected that.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Apparently due to the move indoors Obama will have NO BALLOONS

There goes the bump

They didn't have time to order any?

No, it's just that all the hot air had been shipped to Tampa for the RNC.

[Likely Voter]

Apparently due to the move indoors Obama will have NO BALLOONS

There goes the bump

They didn't have time to order any?

Apparently just not enough time to order, get them delivered and more importantly get them installed into the roof, something hard to do once the whole place was already set up and within the high security zone.

I am surprised that they didnt have the place set up just in case. They still havent released today's full schedule. It appears they really didn't have a backup plan or at least not a very thorough one.  This indicates they probably werent too happy about making the change. But seeing at how it has been raining hard today it was probably the right call. Even if it clears up at night, I bet a lot of ticket holders would not have bothered to go

[Eraserhead]

Maybe catering to the majority of Americans may seem like political correctness on a forum with such fringe views as this one, but that's not how political correctness works in the real world. Political correctness is about being over-sensitive to a minority. Reflecting the character of the vast majority is called "accuracy."

I guess I shouldn't expect anything less though, considering you're trying to equate genocide with God. Of course, "we're the hateful ones."

So if you're any kind of minority, screw you! Got it. I wonder if you'd feel the same way about this if a poll found a majority of the country identifying as atheists/agnostics/whatever.

And the genocide line was just a throw away. If I really wanted to connect belief in god to genocide, I could have added several historical examples to beef up the argument.

[Likely Voter]

The schedule is up. The Bidens will be on during the 9-10 hour, with Crist and Kerry on during 8-9pm. For the network primetime hour there is just Durbin (who will probably be talked over by network analysts) an Obama video (which they will probably show) and then Obama himself.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Maybe catering to the majority of Americans may seem like political correctness on a forum with such fringe views as this one, but that's not how political correctness works in the real world. Political correctness is about being over-sensitive to a minority. Reflecting the character of the vast majority is called "accuracy."

I guess I shouldn't expect anything less though, considering you're trying to equate genocide with God. Of course, "we're the hateful ones."

So if you're any kind of minority, screw you! Got it. I wonder if you'd feel the same way about this if a poll found a majority of the country identifying as atheists/agnostics/whatever.

And the genocide line was just a throw away. If I really wanted to connect belief in god to genocide, I could have added several historical examples to beef up the argument.

If you were actually reading my posts, you would see that "screw you" is the last thing on my mind. In what way does including a nod to God—who, believe in him or not, plays a big role in America—say "screw you" to minorities? In what way is one word hateful? In what way would the DNC somehow be in the wrong for reflecting the views of alomst 77% of Americans?

If the majority of Americans identified themselves as Athiests, I would accept that that was the make-up of my country (assuming I was an American); I would accept that I was in the minority; I would not expect every entity to tip-toe around my beliefs. Is that so far-fetched?

And I'm not going to get into an argument with you about religious history. Actions performed by individuals and empires in the name of God are not the same as God himself.

[Nhoj]

Barney frank is on right now.

[J. J.]

Actually, the House rejected the first TARP in 2008. 

Yeah, because a majority of Republicans voted no. Who do you think you're talking to, some rube with goldfish memory?

But, as noted, so did a quarter of the Democrats, and they were in the majority.  The had a majority, 235, and 65 Republicans voted for it.

As to you being a rube, no comment.

All that said, it amazes me how the leftists here keep saying how great Obama is, but how he can't really do anything.

[mondale84]

Actually, the House rejected the first TARP in 2008. 

Yeah, because a majority of Republicans voted no. Who do you think you're talking to, some rube with goldfish memory?

But, as noted, so did a quarter of the Democrats, and they were in the majority.  The had a majority, 235, and 65 Republicans voted for it.

As to you being a rube, no comment.

All that said, it amazes me how the leftists here keep saying how great Obama is, but how he can't really do anything.

Obama wasn't President when TARP was voted on...

[Landslide Lyndon]

Actually, the House rejected the first TARP in 2008. 

Yeah, because a majority of Republicans voted no. Who do you think you're talking to, some rube with goldfish memory?

But, as noted, so did a quarter of the Democrats, and they were in the majority.  The had a majority, 235, and 65 Republicans voted for it.

Because the Democrats weren't idiots to pass an unpopular piece of legislation proposed by a Republican president all by themselves. If you can't understand that then perhaps you should go and read Politics 101.