'Things Were a Lot Better in 1980'

Democrats in Denver long for days gone by. Seriously though, if you want memories, is 1980 the year you want to remember?

Jimmy Carter was unavailable for comment.

EVEN if the modern presidential convention has become a largely symbolic affair, the constant flow of nightly parties and celebrations has always been reason enough to keep the stodgy tradition going.

But this year at the Democratic National Convention, there is a new complaint being whispered by disgruntled guests: partying in Denver is a downer.

“Normally at conventions, you’d have people regaling you with what happened the night before,” said Emil Hill, a Washington communications executive who has been party-hopping steadily all week. “This time, not a single person has given me a story. I guess when you lose two elections in a row, people learn from that.”

Maybe their spirits picked up after Bill Clinton spoke last night.

But at least some Republicans are having fun.

Or even the distracting presence of some young people — staff members of the Republican war room set up here — who have mischievously crashed social events and helped themselves to free liquor all week long.

Says here things have been a disaster.

'No Way, No How, Nobama'

Despite the media gushing about unity and how much of a team player Hillary Clinton pretended to be last night, the backbiting continues. And that was just Day 1 of the Clinton-fest with the Big Ooze, Bill Clinton, scheduled for this evening.

Even as Hillary Rodham Clinton told supporters to go for "O" last night, strategists close to the Clintons yesterday trashed the convention as the "Seinfeld" of nominating fetes - a gathering about nothing.

"If this party has a message, it's done a hell of a job hiding it, I promise you that," James Carville, who was integral in Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, told CNN.

Democratic strategist Paul Begala, another former Clintonite from '92, took umbrage over former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner - the convention's keynote speaker - suggesting he would use his speech not to slam GOP candidate John McCain but call for bipartisanship.

"This isn't the Richmond Chamber of Commerce," Begala quipped.

Warner's speech did harshly criticize McCain as well as President Bush.

But Begala's comments again highlighted the simmering tensions between supporters of Hillary and those of Barack Obama, which has so far been the dominant story line of the convention.

Hillary herself has made public pleas for unity, and has said she'll release her delegates and cast her vote for Obama.

The two camps worked out a deal where both candidates' names would be placed in nomination, but there would be a truncated roll call followed by a call for unity.

More here on the simmering tensions.

A significant number of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top fund-raisers remain on the sidelines and unwilling to work for Senator Barack Obama, a nettlesome problem that appears to be contributing to the campaign’s failure to keep pace with ambitious fund-raising goals it set for the general election.

The lingering rancor between the sides appears to have intensified at the Democratic convention, with grousing from some Clinton fund-raisers about the way they are being treated by the Obama campaign in terms of hotel rooms, credentials and the like. Tensions were already high, particularly in the wake of revelations that Mr. Obama did not vet Mrs. Clinton or ask her advice on his vice-presidential pick.

Many major Clinton fund-raisers skipped the convention; others are leaving Wednesday, before Mr. Obama’s speech.

One of those skipping town will be Bill Clinton himself.

Maybe he's got a McCain fundraiser to attend.

Bizarro World Account of DNC

Something called the Asian Tribune has a very interesting account of the first couple of days of the Democrat Convention. Mind you, there's clearly some language barrier here, but this is a rather curious piece of propaganda.

Barrack Obama will be nominated by unanimous voice acclaim at the convention. The suggested roll call to include Hilary Clinton’s name would not be followed, according the latest press reports. Party officials were quoted that this would finally settle any divisions among the delegates. Yesterday, Invesco Field in Denver came alive as Michelle Obama got a rousing reception from over 25,000 delegates and guests at the Democratic Convention yesterday. Barrack Obama’s wife delivered a flawless account of how the Obamas and their family had achieved overwhelming public support through years of dedicated work. Hillary and Bill Clinton will lend their luster to the Democratic Convention on Tuesday and Wednesday as they take center stage with appearances making a solid pitch for unity. No Clinton posters were seen inside the Convention setting. Outside, there were some protesters.

So, the delegates and guests, watched by Joe Biden, the vastly experienced chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee running as the vice presidential pick, things were going well for the Democrats. The actual physical space has been turned into a coronation with it posh appearance. The mile mile-high sports arena is now a colossal open-air theatre where Obama will deliver his acceptance speech before 80,000 people
...
Micherlle Obama received general applause in all main TV channels for presenting a factual account of their lives and how Barrack Obama had ventured into the realm of politics. The story touched on the aspirations of Obama in striving for a lofty goal of serving everyone with respect and dignity. Mitchelle speech completely annulled any impressions reportedly injected by those trying to paint her as an angry and gruntled person. She and her two daughters were shown talking to Obama who came into the screen watching things from a friend's home in San Louis.

The Democrat Informercial

The McCain people are having fun.

What a stooge.

Via Hot Air, which notes another stooge.

'Remember That Drinks May Go To Your Head Faster Than You're Used To In New York'

Apparently, the New York delegation to the Democratic Convention is so braindead they don't realize when they're getting shitfaced this week they need to be careful since they're at a higher elevation.

They must be confused as to the meaning of mile high.

New York state Democratic party devoted a page in its information packet with three separate warnings to its delegation about how hard booze hits the system in mile-high Denver.

On a page titled "high-altitude tips" in a packet sent to traveling New York Democrats, there were repeated reminders that the air up here is different.

"Please monitor yourself, and remember that drinks may go to your head faster than you're used to in New York," was the first cautionary paragraph. "We don't want any of our members to miss Delegation events or proceedings, so please stay safe."

No word whether they gave the New Yorkers tips on whether to avoid high-priced prostitutes or if practicing auto-erotic asphyxiation may cause one to pass out faster than usual.

'Obama: A Mile High and an Inch Deep'

Nice to see the Republicans are prepared to answer back during the Democrat Convention. Of course, it will all be drowned out in a sea of sycophantic coverage of The Messiah, but hopefully they'll manage to distract the Democrats enough.

There are a couple of dozen people in Denver trying to crash the party.

Not just any people, but Republican people, set up in a two story building about a mile and half from the Pepsi Center.

So who invited them?

“We invited ourselves,” says Danny Diaz, the communications director for the Republican National Committee.

“We want to provide an opportunity to contrast,” says Diaz, “because ultimately that is what it comes down to.”

Inside their Denver headquarters is a room filled with TV monitors, and busy staffers working their e-mail and the Internet. There is a press conference room set up where the likes of Carly Fiorina, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Giuliani will all hold court. They even have their own satellite truck to help facilitate getting their message out.

Their first feat: The release of a new Democratic Convention slogan. The office is filled with posters that say, “Obama: a Mile High and an Inch Deep. Not Ready to Lead ’08.”

Obnoxious Media Whore Leads Denver Protest

The fun is just starting in Denver. We've got Cindy Sheehan, Ron Kovic, Fox Derangement Syndrome sufferers and, of course, giant puppet heads.

Anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan urged a crowd of 500 people in Denver today to support alternative candidates.

"Neither Republicans nor Democrats represent the people," she said.

Sheehan's speech on the west steps of the state Capitol this morning kicked off a week of Democratic National Convention protests.

Cindy Sheehan is a noted anti-war activist whose son was killed in Iraq. Sheehan became known as the "Peace Mom" after camping outside of President Bush's home in Crawford, TX, while demanding an audience with him.

Just before the protest began, organizers prepared puppet heads of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Live folk musicians warmed up the crowd, as the rally began at 9 a.m.

Recreate 68 co-founder protester Mark Cohen called presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama part of an imperialist system.

Ron Kovic, the anti-war activist whose paralyzing injuries in Vietnam were chronicled in the film "Born on the Fourth of July," told the crowd, "We refuse to be silent .... we are going to speak our minds. The whole world is watching."

At one point state troopers had to calm the crowd, who began chanting against a Fox News crew covering the protest.

The crowd began shouting "Fox, go home, Fox, go home." Fox News is seen as having a relatively conservative political philosphy.

As opposed to the 99% of the media that slants left.

How dare they be objective.

Denver Cabbies Fear Being Stiffed by Democrat Delegates

Now where would these guys get the notion that a promise from Democrats is worthless? I mean, the Democrats have such a longstanding tradition of paying for everything in advance and never running up a debt, right?

The 5,000 delegates coming to Denver for the Democratic National Convention will each be getting $40 transportation vouchers.

But the vouchers may be worthless in the eyes of some taxi drivers.

City Councilman Michael Hancock said some taxi company owners are concerned their drivers won't accept vouchers out of fear the Denver 2008 Host Committee won't reimburse them.

"We want to make sure that taxi drivers feel confident that they'll be taken care of . . . and that we don't have uncomfortable taxi drivers out there," Hancock said Tuesday. "They don't make very good ambassadors."

Hancock revealed the taxi drivers' reservations about the voucher program during the final City Council briefing on the DNC, which opens Monday.

Vouchers? How about these fatcats dig into their own pockets and pay their own way?

Better yet, if we're going to have vouchers, why not have carbon credit vouchers? This way they can get a free ride and pretend they're doing something for the environment.

Chris Lopez, spokesman for the local host committee, which is responsible for raising the money to put on the DNC, said cabbies will be made whole. "We will make good on every voucher," he said.

Of course, a Democrat's word is as good as gold, right?

Villaraigosa Passed Over As DNC Speaker, LA Times Baffled

Seriously, they can't be this stupid. It's one thing to pretend that a daily onslaught of attacks is the reason why Barack Obama is cratering in the polls, but does the author of this have any memory dating back further than last week?

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won't have a featured role at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver, the political pep rally that can be a springboard for the party's brightest stars.

Villaraigosa was a national co-chair for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid. When she bowed out, the mayor was quick to toss his support behind presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama -- and was even tapped to introduce the Illinois senator at a convention of Latino leaders in July.

Uh, maybe the reason why is Villairaigosa not too long ago was busy tapping something else? Let's have a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

A Spanish-language newscaster who was suspended for two months after having an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa while reporting on him left her job at the station on Monday.

A KVEA-TV spokesman declined to elaborate why Mirthala Salinas did not show up to start her new assignment following the unpaid suspension.

"Telemundo and Mirtha Salinas have mutually agreed to end our employment relationship effective October 1," station spokesman Victor M. Franco said.

Just in case these verbal clues aren't helping jog any memories, here's a visual aid that might ring some bells.


You see that woman on the left? Yes, her. That's Ms. Salinas. OK, now the Mayor of Los Angeles, the aforementioned Mr. Villaraigosa, he's the guy on the right. He was, how shall we politely put this, banging Ms. Salinas while he was still married. It caused quite the stir. Heck, it even made news in the Los Angeles Times, which noted it wasn't his first affair.

Now I understand extramarital affairs are a given in certain communities (I'm talking about Democrats) and are often resume enhancers. However, in the current climate (see Edwards, John), Barack Obama is desperately trying to portray his party as (snicker) family-oriented.

Why else you think he keeps trotting his kids out for every photo-op (while pretending he wants privacy for them)?

Still, the Times tries to avoid the obvious.

Larry Gerston, a political scientist at San Jose State University, said he thought Villaraigosa was passed by simply because California is expected to be an easy win for Obama.

It makes more sense, he said, to have speakers from states that are up for grabs.

Which of course fails to explain why the Clintons, putatively from New York, will be speaking during 97% of televised proceedings.

GOP pollster and political consultant Arnold Steinberg of Los Angeles thinks the Obama campaign is making a mistake.

"He's the mayor of Los Angeles. I would think they would give him some more attention," Steinberg said.

"Maybe they thought it was easier to pronounce 'Richardson' than 'Villaraigosa.' "

No, maybe it was a lot easier to avoid having the audience sitting at home saying "Oh yeah, that's the mayor of LA, the one who was screwing the hot TV babe" and becoming distracted from the yummy brainmush of hope and change.

Convict to Speak at Democrat Convention

You have to wonder what the Democrats are thinking having the convicted former Alabama Governor speaking at their convention. Actually, I do know what they're thinking. It's time to bash Karl Rove on national television.

Really, folks, it's time to get over this Rove obsession.

Just pathetic.

Don Siegelman will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Siegelman tells NewsChannel 19 he has accepted an invitation extended by the Colorado delegation.

Targeted by Republican prosecutors, Alabama's former governor says he will talk, in particular, about the critical need to reveal former Bush White House adviser Karl Rove's role in politicizing the United States Department of Justice. The DOJ, under Bush, has gone after Democrats seven times more than Republicans.

In the Siegelman case, the prosecutors -- then Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor followed by U.S. Attorneys Alice Martin and Leura Canary -- along with Federal District Judge Mark Fuller have personal, political, or in some cases, business ties to the Bush administration.

Siegelman tells us it's not just his case he'll be talking about in Denver. The Governor explains he'll be advancing the cause to seek the truth about who hijacked the Justice Department.

More from NewsBusters.

Siegelman is now out on appeal. Still, is it wise to draw attention to Democrat corruption by having this guy speak at your convention? You'd think the guy would be radioactive, like John Edwards.

Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the link.

Update: Michelle Malkin notes another criminal who'll be at the DNC. Ought to be a swell time. Hey, maybe they can get Democrat mascot Mumia Abu Jamal a furlough to attend the celebration.

Radical Islamist to Appear at Democrat Convention 'Interfaith Service'

Well, since Jeremiah Wright was tossed under the bus several months ago, it's safe to say he won't be making any public appearances at the Democrat Convention.

But when the Democrats have a public interfaith service August 24, there will be at least one radical extremist in attendance.

For the first time at a Democratic National Convention, a public interfaith service of Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists will help kick off the event at 2 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Wells Fargo Theater inside the Colorado Convention Center.

It’s not a huge surprise that a service of this nature would kick off the Denver event since DNCC chief executive Leah Daughtry is herself, a pastor and the Obama campaign has been preaching opening the convention to as broad a spectrum as possible.

“I am incredibly proud that these esteemed leaders from the faith community will be with us to celebrate this historic occasion and honor the diverse faith traditions inside the Democratic Party,” Daughtry said in a statement.

Keep that name Leah Daughtry in mind, as we'll get back to her.

Included in the service: Bishop Charles Blake, presiding prelate of the Church of God in Christ, Inc., and pastor of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ; Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America; social activity Sister Helen Prejean and Rabbi Tzvi Weinreb, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union.

That name Ingrid Mattson sure rang a bell.

The president of the Islamic Society of North America warned last night that American Jews who ally with right-wing Christians to oppose Muslim organizations are pursuing a high-risk strategy that could backfire.

Speaking at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, at an event sponsored by the school and four Muslim student organizations, Ingrid Mattson, a Canadian-born convert from Roman Catholicism who became the Islamic society's first woman president last year, said that many American Jews have an existential fear that Muslims are anti-Israel.

Such fear leads Jews to ally with Christian fundamentalists who are supportive of Israel and critical of Islam, she said.

"Right-wing Christians are very risky allies for American Jews," Mattson said, "because they [the Christians] are really anti-Semitic. They do not like Jews" and enter into the alliance on the basis of fundamentalist beliefs that it would be desirable for all Jews to return to Israel. She suggested that fundamentalist Christians might turn against Jews or that there could be backlash from ordinary Americans against Jewish and fundamentalist Christian supporters of Israel.

A perfect face to help lead an interfaith ceremony, no?

But wait, there's more.

As the first female convert head of one of the largest Muslim organisations in America Mattson's appointment as a woman and convert was deliberately calculated to put a modern and non threatening face to the Saudi backed da'wa goals of the organisation. By using her the poster girl of the Western educated female convert they are sending the message - you can be female, revert, and become influential in the Muslim movement. (Besides the obvious fact that an english speaking, North American born convert to Islam attacts more converts, Mattson is a poster girl for useful idioacy [sic] and was "groomed" by the former ISNA head Abdullah Idris, to take over the organisation in the hopes that her tokenism would garner more funding from wealthy Muslim women.)

Has anyone at the DNC even taken a minute to look into her background? If they did, they'd find this:

Though Dr. Ingrid Mattson appears moderate, she is insidious precisely because she maintains that facade while steadfastly refusing to criticize radical Islamists, claiming that there is no such thing as Wahhabism and that the term "Islamic terrorism" should not be used in the media. Most shocking of all, though, is how little concern she expressed about suicide bombings in an essay she wrote shortly after 9/11.

At a CNN-sponsored "town hall" forum in October 2001, Mattson — with a straight face — claimed that the radical, Saudi-sponsored form of Islam known as Wahhabism was akin to the Protestant movement in Christianity. Wahhabism "really was analogous to the European protestant reformation," she explained.

This wasn't an isolated use of the analogy. At a November 2003 roundtable sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies Conference, Mattson said the Wahhabist movement in Islam is "a very old struggle …between the more theologically austere Muslims who like Protestant Christianity believe that there should be no saints there should be no intervention between you and G-d."

Mattson takes a similar "see no evil" approach to the idea of Islamic terrorism. Mattson was one of several Muslim "scholars" quoted in a Washington Times article shortly after 9/11 who claimed that the media should not use the term "Islamic terrorism." Mattson took this stance despite the fact, as the Times paraphrased her, that "Islamic terrorists themselves use this term."

The reason Mattson is able to pass herself off as a moderate is probably because she clears the low bar set for most Muslims: the ability to explicitly condemn suicide bombings. But she hasn't done so for very long. In a remarkably revealing essay Mattson penned for Beliefnet.com in October 2001, she wrote that, until then, Palestinian suicide bombings "simply did not cross my mind as a priority among the many issues I felt needed to be addressed." She stated it as matter-of-factly and inconsequentially as someone who apologizes for forgetting to pick up the dry cleaning because it "simply did not cross my mind as a priority."

If the DNC indeed did a background check and still cleared her to speak, it says volumes about them, considering the ISNA was named as an unindicted terror co-conspirator in the Holy Land trial last year.

Now as for Ms. Daughtry, reader Errol alerted me to this recent item.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright in a skirt is Chief Executive Officer of this month’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

While the media hounded Wright for his anti-American rants and while presidential hopeful Senator Barack Hussein Obama divorced him as his personal pastor, Obama’s head will be crowned by Leah Daughtry, who ardently believes in the same Marxist “Black Liberation Theology” preached by Wright.

Readers can step, figuratively into Daughtry’s Washington, DC church with the New York Times:

…”Behind her as she preached, a simple wooden cross hung on a brick wall, in the vaulted and sizable sanctuary of the church, which is headed by her father, Herbert Daughtry. A prison convert who served time in his early 20s for armed robbery and passing bad checks, Herbert Daughtry—whose father founded the church and whose grandfather and great-grandfather were also ministers—became the church’s pastor 50 years ago, and today Leah was delivering the sermon as part of an anniversary celebration.

Below the sanctuary, in the fellowship hall, a banner for slavery reparations proclaimed, “They Owe Us.” Fliers, recounted Herbert Daughtry’s arrest, a few weeks earlier, as he led marchers protesting the not-guilty verdict in the police killing of Sean bell, an unarmed black man. His ministry has always combined consuming spirituality with black liberation theology—the theology Jeremiah Wright invoked this spring to defend his controversial sermons—and zealous political activism. Leah holds these forces within her.”

See more on Daughtry at Conservative Punk.

Anyone familiar with New York knows full well about Herbert Daughtry, one of the angriest thugs the political scene has even witnessed in these parts. He makes Al Sharpton look like a nice guy in comparison.

The fact his Marxist daughter has such a prominent role at the DNC ought to set alarm bells ringing.

So here you have leading the Democrats: A radical Islamist and Jeremiah Wright in a skirt, who just happens to be the CEO of the Democrat Convention.

Lovely.

Thanks to LGF for the link!

High Comedy: Democrats Taking 'Green' Convention to Absurd Extremes

The contortions these people have to go through to pretend they give a rat's ass about the environment. Outside the convention will be every stripe of human debris fouling the senses, but inside the huddled masses gathering for the coronation of King Obama will be secretly dying for some french fries.

Just get a load of this nonsense.

As the Mile High City gears up to host a Democratic bash for 50,000, organizers are discovering the perils of trying to stage a political spectacle that's also politically correct.

Consider the fanny packs.

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention wanted 15,000 fanny packs for volunteers. But they had to be made of organic cotton. By unionized labor. In the USA.

Official merchandiser Bob DeMasse scoured the country. His weary conclusion: "That just doesn't exist."

Ditto for the baseball caps. "We have a union cap or an organic cap," Mr. DeMasse says. "But we don't have a union-organic offering."

Even the food has to be color-coordinated and organic.

But Matt Burns, a spokesman for the Republican convention, looks on with undisguised glee at some of the Democrats' efforts -- such as the "lean 'n' green" catering guidelines.

Among them: No fried food. And, on the theory that nutritious food is more vibrant, each meal should include "at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white." (Garnishes don't count.) At least 70% of ingredients should be organic or grown locally, to minimize emissions from fuel burned during transportation. "One would think," says Mr. Burns, "that the Democrats in Denver have bigger fish to bake -- they have ruled out frying already -- than mandating color-coordinated pretzel platters."

Democrats say the point is to build habits that will endure long after the convention. To that end, the city has staged "greening workshops" attended by hundreds of caterers, restaurant owners and hotel managers. "It's the new patriotism," Mayor Hickenlooper says.

About the only thing tolerable I can find in the story is they hired a very nice-looking environmental wacko to be the--get this--Director of Greening, one Andrea Robinson (photo).

Poor thing has her work cut out for her.

The joke is on the Democrats. They're too brainwashed to even realize all their efforts are for naught. That's right, it's all meaningless. Just feel-good, PC pap. But they get to bask in self-congratulation, knowing they're better than us, and that's what it's all about.

Then they'll rush back to their hotel room and scarf down a plate of green french fries.