8:45 pm- Figured a new thread for Gore would work.
8:55 pm- The lease on the Republican party line was quality. I like that he is talking to the younger voters. I hope he drills into them the importance of showing up in November.
8:59 pm- I see a sea of flags. I wonder if the folks at Red State can spot them?
9:10 pm- A lull, so here is this, just because it was so good the first time:
9:12 pm- Susan Eisenhower, a fellow turncoat. Props, Susan.
9:30 pm- Ahh, MSNBC, where serious people tell us that skycams make Obama look presumptuous. How would you like to be the poor bastard cameraman who has to climb up Brokaw’s ass every night just to get a head shot of him?
9:42 pm- Not sure if the cable shows are showing the testimonials from average people, but I am watching them on C-Span, and while they are a little hokey, they are really damned effective. A number of them were former Republicans, and one fellow named Barney Smith said “We need a President who will put Barney Smith before Smith Barney” and brought down the damned house.
9:50 pm- Those of you watching on cable missed this:
I am moving this to a new thread.
zzyzx
Let the Sunshine In? Really.
Incertus
I like it! And I suspect Gore is going to rock the house here.
PC
Who would Al Gore torture?
GonzoReiter
‘preciate you hanging in there, John
I’m loving this DNC ~ 8 is Enough
Scott H
Okay, where was this guy in Al Gore’s suit back in 2000?
bruins01
Cool video they played before Gore. The young girl was very good.
Incertus
He might give Anthony Kennedy a kick in the junk if he were given the chance.
TR
Gore on four more years of Bush’s policies under McCain:
“I believe in recycling, but this is ridiculous.” Heh.
nightjar
Go Al. He hit the stage running with Iraq and Osama been forgotten. I’m glad this is a campaign type speech and not a soapbox for GW. Maybe spoke to soon. Please get back to reaming Bush and the wingnut trail of destruction. Tying to NS. pretty slick.
Litlebritdifrnt
“The oil and coal industry have a 50 year lease on the Republican party and they are drilling it for all it is worth” Pwnd
Halteclere
Damn, Gore isn’t pausing for a breath.
TCG
The webcast feed is quite good.
Chuck Darwin
Wow! It is so refreshing to hear “scientists” referenced with respect rather than derision. If I have to hear John McCain’s “Bear DNA..heh..heh…” line one more time I’m going to go crazy. The ignorance and snideness dripping from that comment is appalling and yet no one every calls him out on it. AAK!
dr. bloor
All this red meat is starting to clog my arteries.
I’ll die happy, though.
Joe Max
A call out to younger voters. Good, someone needed to put that out there. Obama can’t win just by expanding the electorate, but it can help.
gbear
Holy Cow! Gore is nailing them to the wall. Go Gore!
Bey
oooooo! Not JFK, but Lincoln!
Go Al!
Incertus
And it helps long term–hook them when they’re young, and they’re yours for as long as you don’t chase them off.
Incertus
Dork-dom has broken out on C-SPAN. Dems are doing the wave.
Jon H
“I see a sea of flags. I wonder if the folks at Red State can spot them?”
The DNC hired Chi-Coms to work their CGI magic like they did in Beijing. There are no flags in the stadium!
bud
For those who like “Generation Kill”, at the beginning of the day when various vets were coming out on stage, one of them none other than Lt. Nathan Fick.
billyjones
Man, 75,000 is a lot of people.
EddieInCA
Only in America…
A Doobie Brother singing the “America The Beautiful”.
Jon H
Damn, that SMS map looks like Missile Command.
Scott H
75,000 people doing the Mexican wave.
gbear
That was it for McDonald? That was pretty lame.
KRK
Oh – what theme song is that for Eisenhower? I’m blanking.
nightjar
Now THAT makes me proud to be a democrat!
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
Is Chuck Todd turning stupid? He’s saying the overhead shots are going to make Obama look larger than life and “imperial.” What? How does an aerial shot, which makes one look smaller, do that, exactly?
Scott H
Over at GOS:
matt
Damn, I just read on another site that he was speaking tonight. Does anyone know if it’s online yet? How did it go?
Kevin
Is there a channel with the convention in HD where I wouldn’t have to listen to the blabbering idiots? What is PBS like?
Andrew
Come on guys, get serious. As if Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, and the Doobie Bros. hold a candle to Daddy Yankee.
Foxhunter
Good Lord, Chuck Todd and Tom Brokaw have spent five minutes talking about how the aerial cam from Invesco is ‘Good for Mccain!’® and makes BO look presumptuous.
mannemalon
Why the fuck are Chuck Todd and Tom Brokaw giving the wingnut’s absolutely absurd criticisms of the greek columns credence?! Why discuss this stupid shit?! Just because the Republican noise machine is pushing it? This shit is so absurd. If you want to cover it, LAUGH at it. Unbelievable. And people wonder why Gore and Kerry lost. Look at the shit these do to comply with the Republican noise machine.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
PBS has sporadic idiocy, in the form of Bobo Brooks. Tolerable, though. Only problem is PBS is compressing the hell out of their feed (saving on satellite bandwidth?), so it pixelizes like crazy and breaks up frequently. I ended up turning to ABC for Biden last night, and the picture was much better.
Foxhunter
mannemalon, I am beginning to think Brokaw (after several odd comments during the week) is now the cranky old man in the recliner. This shit is bizzarro-world-esque.
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
@Kevin: If you have a fsst ‘Net connection, try the DNC’s HD Feed. It’s a heavy delay, and you have to download some software, but it’s pretty solid and high quality.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
Brokaw isn’t even trying to hide it anymore. He’s been a complete Repub stooge the last two nights. Gunning for Timmeh’s old chair, I guess.
Rommie
Just because I see this all the time in sports blogs – who’s going to concern troll about Empty Seats = Fail? (sorry if it’s been mentioned earlier)
gbear
Kevin, I’m watching it in hi def at the DNC’s web site.
The Other Steve
Shoot, I can’t find a good picture now.
Earlier today Pawlenty did a press conference where he stood in front of a sign that said “Not Ready”. If you watched it with the sound off, I think it was a mistake.
handy
What about David Brooks with his concern trolling on Gore’s speech…”He should just talk about Global Warming because that’s the only thing he’s passionate about”–this about a speech that beautifully tied in climate crisis to immigration, national security, and the economy. David Brooks is not a good thinker.
Jon H
” a channel with the convention in HD where I wouldn’t have to listen to the blabbering idiots? What is PBS like?”
CSPAN has an online stream that’s pretty good. Not HD, but good enough. It’s available in RealMedia and Windows Media formats.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
What, the 100 empty seats behind the podium, with no view whatsoever?
Oh yeah, “POW!!!”
Snark Based Reality
Why the fuck is Olbermann reading the entire fucking speech out ahead of time?
Jon H
“David Brooks is not a good thinker.”
That’s not his job. His job is to poop out the party line.
Bey
Keith is reading Obama’s speech.
/facepalm
TR
I saw that and it was utterly mind numbing. I’m all for hiring people with mental handicaps, but we really don’t need to give them the microphone.
At least Olbermann kept pointing out how stupid they sounded.
AkaDad
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Obama delivers a really good speech.
Foxhunter
He does try to play one in the fishwrap, and for some reason this gets traction.
Bondo
Anyone else think it is ironic that the networks aren’t covering the “America’s Voices” section? The only voices the mainstream media cares about are their own.
KRK
I watched CSPAN online the other nights, but tonight I switched to the DNCC feed. The quality is excellent, and no buffering interruptions.
dr. bloor
He makes a very good living by suppressing higher cognitive functions.
Laura W
I did not recognize him last Sun on MTP.
I truly had to look up to match the voice with the face, I was so dumbfounded.
Snark Based Reality
“Without spoiling any more of the speech…”
Too fucking late. Asshole.
Scott H
The music playing when Eisenhower came out was “Gonna Fly Now” (theme from Rocky). Not that my memory for music is exceptionally reliable.
Foxhunter
What is so strange about this to me is the I *actually* thought Chuck Todd was going to be different. It’s almost as if he agrees because it’s coming from Tom Brokaw’s clap trap.
dr. bloor
Getting it out of the way so he and Tweety can give an in-depth interview to the last surviving PUMA while Obama is speaking.
Conservatively Liberal
But… but Hitler attracted large crowds too!
/RedState wingnut
Looks like the weather is making the right nervous. I hope they move their convention dates because that would mean LOTS of fRighties losing out (advance arrangements like flights, hotels and such) and that would excellent.
Andrew
Wait a second, why is this blog working well all of a sudden?
HumboldtBlue
I just commented about this at Rumproast. when did Brokaw become such an insufferable concern troll?
Also, will someone please just muzzle Matthews and Olbermann. They are giving us the highlights of Obama’s speech which has been released and it’s like hearing your crazy Aunt sue sing a Roberta Flack song. She’s got all of the words and none of the soul. Brokaw and Koppel were correct, they don’t need to waste their precious media dollars to cover this, so please, in the future, don’t fucking go. We don’t need you.
Louise
I LOVE that they brought out Joe to introduce the “regular” folks and that he said “You WILL listen to them.” That meant that the crowd really paid attention from the beginning.
Even better, these folks are doing a great job!
null pointer exception
This American Voices section is great! It is getting me pumped!
ScreaminginAtlanta
Can I just say this – FUCK Tom Brokaw
KRK
Thank you, Scott H. I’m an idiot.
Kevin
I checked out the DNC HD Feed and it does look pretty good; it is indeed rather delayed from the TV broadcasts, though.
Incertus
Does anyone else imagine Lou Dobbs shitting his pants every time the crowd starts chanting “si se puede” along with the many Latino/a speakers?
cleek
i’m just loving these little short speeches by the regular folks.
great stuff
Adam
Even better, these folks are doing a great job!
Maybe they were before I started watching. Yawn.
Conservatively Liberal
A linky to the repub convention problems would be nice I guess!
Foxhunter
Seconded…from the Southside of Atlanta.
null pointer exception
Folks, you gotta turn to C-Span. Fuck MSNBC. The people speaking from the stage matter. Blathering idiots pundits don’t.
Dreggas
this woman from NC just pWned the pukes.
Grumpy Code Monkey
I wouldn’t call it ironic. Typical, unsurprising, shameful, yes, but not ironic.
The Narrative is all.
Louise
You guys who are watching anything but CSPAN are crazy. These ‘average’ people are kicking ass. The schoolteacher just fired up the crowd like she was Schweitzer. Now this NCarolinian came up and said, “Wait till you hear what’s been happening to ME!”
Now she says she’s a lifelong Republican who voted for “Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush & Bush.” “But I can’t take four more years like this!” She absolutely rocks.
Jon H
“What is so strange about this to me is the I actually thought Chuck Todd was going to be different. It’s almost as if he agrees because it’s coming from Tom Brokaw’s clap trap.”
He’s sucking up, obviously. Russert’s dead, so there’s an opening.
catatonia
The content of Gore’s speech — not only what he said, but how he framed it — was gratifying; it’s unfortunate he had to hurry the delivery. Combine the content of this speech with B. Clinton’s mastery of the art of oratory, and the sum is greater than the parts … and the parts were pretty damn good.
This bit from Gore’s speech is about as good a summation of the paradox that is gutting our country, as I’ve ever heard (or read) —
“So why is this election so close? …. I believe this election is close today mainly because the forces of the status quo are desperately afraid of the change Barack Obama represents. There is no better example than the climate crisis …we’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the future of human civilization.”
Bey
I love that several of these American Voices are former Republicans who’ve seen the light.
Krista
Thanks for the clip of the Kerry speech John — you were right, it was seriously kickass.
Jon H
Nice line: “Put Barney Smith before Smith Barney”
Bondo
I thought he was shitting his pants because he’s old. There has been a lot of Spanish spoken at this convention.
Bey
Barney Smith just brought down the house!
dr. bloor
Lou can relax. Tom Tancredo is on the phone to the INS as we speak, arranging to have everyone detained as they leave the stadium tonight.
KRK
Go, Pam from North Carolina!
The Moar You Know
I think it’s long past time that America gets an explanation of what’s in McSame’s barbeque – black tar heroin?
handy
That Barney Smith, not Smith Barney line was classic!
Scott H
Brokaw and Koppel On DNC: “Kabuki Dance… Colossal Waste Of Time And Money” [HuffPo]
I just wish somebody would bums-rush that gasbag to the first flight to Pakistan. Koppel is the prototype (from the Iran hostage crisis) for every pan-sticked bloviate that has ever followed.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
Arrrrgh…”Born in the USA.” I know it fits more with Dem themes than the tone-deaf times the Repubs use it, but for Christ’s sake, have these people listened to the lyrics? It’s not a patriotic song, suited for flag-waving.
Louise
Omg, this complete yokel-looking and sounding guy from Indiana named “Barney Smith” just got up. He was pretty dull at first, but then he said (as a Republican), “I want a President who will put Barney Smith before Smith-Barney,” — and the crowd went wild. “BAR-NEY! BAR-NEY!”
AkaDad
“Barack Obama will put Barney Smith ahead of Smith Barney.”
Nice.
Incertus
That’s a big fucking flag going on C-SPAN right now, RedState.
Max Power
BOOOORN in the USA!
zzyzx
I turned off MSNBC because they were reading the speech. I’m switching over to regular NBC (now showing some football game) solely so I can get the real experience that non-junkies will get.
Bootlegger
Anybody else think its about time they used Lincoln to diffuse the “experience counts” narrative?
J. Michael Neal
I disagree about Matthews delivering parts of Obama’s speech. Sure, it was something of a spoiler, and he isn’t anything like the speaker Obama is, but he got really passionate. I’m getting a feeling that he’s going to drool over Obama in the post-speech commentary, and even this is a positive; Tweety seems to really like the speech, and it fired him up just reading it.
Jon H
“when penny-pinching media could use the money to cover more important news”
So why don’t they just run a plain uncommented feed from C-SPAN? That’d save a bundle. And if they ran ads too, they could still make some money.
Of course, any money saved would just go in the executives’ pockets.
cleek
even David Brooks was impressed by the reg’lur folks.
yeah, really: turn off the networks. watch C-SPAN or even PBS. shun the spinners.
gil mann
Brokaw is forgiven in advance for any and all sins, for he gave the world this
Incertus
Gore did.
Ed Marshall
Good Lord, Chuck Todd and Tom Brokaw have spent five minutes talking about how the aerial cam from Invesco is ‘Good for Mccain!’® and makes BO look presumptuous.
I just turned this shit on, but why?! What I see is a revolutionary mob!
zzyzx
They’re not going to have this problem since it’s 28-3, but let’s play a game. You’re NBC. The score is 10-10 late in the 4th. 7 PM (PDT) comes and one of the teams is driving. Do you switch your coverage? Obviously, you should, but in doing so you start to question why the “game” was airing on NBC to begin with.
Ryan S.
Barney Smith FTW!!!!11! OOh you didnt see that comin did ja.
ShouldKnowBetter
No kidding, they choose good folks for this section. I was gonna mute it but they’re all surprisingly watchable.
AkaDad
One good thing about blogging, is that you all can’t hear me singing “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.”
ShouldKnowBetter
Heartland!
sorry, couldn’t help myself.
Incertus
An we will be forever grateful. :-)
Louise
Nor see me dancing.
zzyzx
NBC took a commercial break just as Dick Durbin was announced. Idiots.
In other news, WA Republican Dino Rossi is running ads trying to piggyback on Obama. Talk about giving up.
J.W. Hamner
Anybody else think its about time they used Lincoln to diffuse the “experience counts” narrative?
Comparing yourself to Lincoln is one step short of comparing yourself to George Washington, which is only a baby step from declaring yourself Jesus in American politics.
I cringed a bit when Gore said it, and while I’d love for the MSM to pick up on it and run with the Lincoln thing, I’d rather not see more surrogates promote it.
zzyzx
NBC took a commercial break just as Dick Durbin was announced. Idiots.
In other news, WA Republican Dino Rossi is running ads trying to piggyback on Obama. Talk about giving up on the state.
NBC is treating this event like the Olympics. They’re going for the stories and ignoring the event.
Wini
Late to the game here, but just have to say thank jeebus BJ is working tonight! Last night was rough.
PeterJ
More Barney Smith.
PeterJ
And today’s Barney Smith.