Live Blog: Opening Prime Time at the Convention

You may all know about this already, but this is a great site for the convention:

http://gallery1.demconvention.com/

Can't wait to see Ted - should be amazing.

Wish I could be there. I'm already enjoying your coverage. Just wondering - about how many texts do you expect to send out via Twitter? I am definitely interested in getting the text updates, but I only get 200 a month (don't really use any) so I just don't want to go over. Thanks!

I'm watching from Bluffton, SC, a little town right across the bridge from Hilton Head, about 15 minutes from Savannah. Unfortunately, I'm homeless right now so I'm watching and reading from a Motel 6. =)

As a future physician who hopes to serve the underserved in this country and around the world, I am loving that aspect of the convention that seems to be a strong emphasis. That part of Ted Kennedy's tribute really resonates with me as well. Though I was too young to know of much that he did, I can certainly tell that he has been a fighter and has made an impact in many lives.

Listening to the bloviating of the Mainstream Media, particularly of CNN and their best political team on TV is pretty damn painful.  Al, you're a pretty knowledgeable guy. How much of this media "concern trolling" is really going to affect regular voters who are just starting to pay attention and don't understand the whole backstory and may get suckered into buying into the whole disunity in democratic circle meme that is being bandied about

Kennedy just said "Yes we can, and finally, Yes We Will"

Will that be a new catchphrase to come out of the convention?

Even NPR on the commute had some divisive commentator.

Caroline and Teddy got some of what they truly deserved tonight instead of that bs back in the spring.

Watching the C-SPAN.com livestream with a fat cat on my lap.

Saves me from the dubious wisdom of the media hacks.

Ted Kennedy's speech was powerful, as was the imagery in his video of the passing of the torch to Obama. I love seeing the two of them together.

Al, you're getting all urban on us.

Hey, I got choked up too, after my wife pointed out it might well be his last big speech -- and then the patch of hair missing on the side of his head where the tumor likely was extracted.

Brave man, and he gives great speeches. Of course, he's Irish ... more than that, he's an icon from a family that is us -- wherever we grew up and whatever we did in this generation.

Verklempt is the German word. Gorm is the Gaelic term that comes to heart.

..on C-span and calling a friend when it really gets special. Thanks for this blog. The blathering spin on MSM must not be watching what I am. Fired up and ready to go!

That's a great sign.

Holy crap - watching the live feed from

http://gallery1.demconvention.com/

as Leach listing the hororible legacy of the Repubs and Bush, while at exactly teh same time Carville is ranting abaout how no one at the Convention has mentioned how bad Bush is, and "What are the Convention planners thinking?" You can't make this stuff up...

Kimo

My God. She's at least as good as Barack.

I truly believe she is hitting a home run here! It's a beautiful, touching speech and I believe it definitely humanizes her to those who may have doubted her patriotism, if they had the courage to actually tune in and listen and challenge their beliefs.

This speech shows we have the equivalent of Ruth and Gehrig back to bat in the batting order.  I'm in awe at the message and the delivery. I hope Barack does as well on Thursday<G>.

How was it live in the house, Al?

Michelle Obama 2016

Watching PBS - western MA - Judy W., Gwen I., Jim L., Michael B. - I like them all.

Even my 20-month old daughter seemed to think that same thing as she applauded along with the people on the tv.

Just wow! She is a great speaker and this was her best speech ever.

Watching C-Span (the no-bloviator zone).

This is the message tonight. The McCain campaign and the right wing have tried to discredit Obama and create distrust  by painting him as "exotic" or a "celebrity'" and he's "not one of us." People understand meaning and interpret reality through story. Tonight we got the story, first from Ted Kennedy, that the torch of the Dem. progressive tradition is being passed to a new leader and a new generation, and second that the personal story of Barack Obama, his wife, and his family is an American story. And it was beautifully and poetically told by his lovely wife.

Although the tv pundits are rambling about normalizing Michelle and the Obama family as well as an insufficient number of attacks, it seems to me that what this night did was to take a huge step toward unifying Democrats.

Both delegates and Democrats at home heard Caroline talk about Teddy, saw the film, heard Teddy talk about the dream that must go on.

Both delegates and Democrats at home heard Michelle talk about the American dream in her life and Obama's, about Hillary Clinton and the cracks in the glass ceiling, and about Democrats' commitments to communityg and opportunity.

I know I teared up and I can only imagine there was plenty in the hall and on couches all over the country.

It's hard for me to imagine that (non-insane) Clinton supporters could hear that and not come away feeling a sense of unity.

Her speech was a grand slam. An emotional glimpse into what drives her--family, and a genuine desire to help others.  I think she definately connected with the average American, or at least those open minded enough to watch the DemCon.

I am watching from Tokyo, on MSNBC's internet stream--which also has no commentary on it.  It is just the live feed from the floor.  Great opening night all together!

Mikell Hagood

A woman on the Republican line in the CSPAN coverage after Michelle's knockout speech, said something to the effect that Barack and Michelle can't be any good because they chose to do "altruistic" work in poor communities rather than getting and keeping high paying jobs so they could pay off their student loans.   She said they were therefore irresponsible and couldn't be trusted.  I think she forgot to say they were black too.

Al and Posse, any word on the reported assassination plot uncovered with the arrest of four men in Denver today? Oh, and why is it covered by local TV, a kos diarist, and the Times of London and NOT our illustrious traditional national media? If this plot is real and has been foiled, Obama's cease and desist letter to the Justice Dept. to stop the defamatory ads run by shadow McCain groups alleging that Obama is a terrorist just got a whole lot more serious. What's the skinny on the ground? 

Michelle. Michelle. Michelle.

...and Teddy.

Wow.

Like Joshua, watching MSNBC's stream from here in Melbourne. Upside: it's 2.30p.m. and I have the whole rest of the day to savor the goosebumps from Ted and Michelle. Downside: I'm not in the US right now.

I think both Ted and Michelle did a fantastic job speaking to our past as well as our future - the weaving of the alpha and the omega was excellently done.

or normalize or give a shape to demented visions. That's the gist of what al said after Hillary justified staying in, in June, by mentioning bobby Kennedy. If there are real plots that have been foiled, the less coverage the better. Don't dare the crazies. Mikell, I don't understand why people like that womsn get so defensive. It amazes me that anyone could find any sign of irresponsibilty in michelle's story. Wasn't McCain saying just last week at Saddleback that Amricas biggest challenge is people not putting country first or something like that. But when people like Michelle & Barack (& dwayne from Savannah) live it, the status quo is threatened. I was listening on NPR and after michelle's excellent, heartfelt, inspiring speech, one of the commentator "had to stand up for his friends who went to wall street". Now michelle never put anybody down - just talked about her choices- but people get so defensive.

I appreciate your caution and I certainly don't think such news should dampen any of the celebration that we all should be engaging in after Michelle's truly momentous speech. She was extraordinary and the entire layout of the various speeches and presentations was terrific in terms of substance and image. I also agree with Al's caution from several months ago about RFK. However, RFK came up in political quips by a fellow Democrat. That crap should be shut up.  Actual arrests of men with guns and FBI involvement is categorically different and should be public information.  Pretending that crazy people won't think crazy things if we don't mention them is not the point. My point in raising the issue is not that people should get freaked out--they shouldn't--but to maintain a level of sobriety about the very real seriousness of this election and the very real risks that the principals are obviously and consciously running. At issue is ultimately Barack Obama's greatest strength as a leader: he is uniquely capable at this time of moving America into not a post-racial future but a post-racist future, at least for the mainstream and even most of the retrograde eddies in the backwaters. And, let's be honest, the Republican Party today is dependent on preventing that move; their bargain with the devil is that they need a racist America to justify their very existence as an institution.

Overall, a great day. Immense success. 

Can somebody post how to get on Twitter? Or what to do once I get there?

Thanks!

did anyone catch the kids grilling their dad, especially the lil' one ?

And I wonder, how the repugs,  with all their scandals and adulteries and corruption, came to be defined as a party of family values.

The Fucking media, I guess, pardon my french.

amk

I actually disagree -- no good comes out spreading this information far and wide.  It enables those that may be thinking crazy thoughts, and -- speaking in a strict strategic sense, as grotesque as it may be -- it can serve to deter people from supporting Senator Obama because they don't want to experience the heartbreak that such an event would cause or the social turmoil it would create.

The latest wave of reports from the police inferred that these guys may have just been "knuckleheads" -- I wonder if this is a concerted move to disarm the volatility of the revelations.

I can't tell if that's humour or for real. Either way it's very funny.

The early reviews are in, and the consensus of the blogosphere seems to be that the news networks are failing miserably.

Whether MSNBC or CNN (I can't bear to look at Faux Noise so someone braver than I will have to comment), the talking heads have spent so much airtime on the Greek Drama that no actual convention has been allowed to escape to the viewers.

Today, Brian Williams declared that while Michelle's life story is normal, Barack's is "bizarre."  And Tom Brokaw complained that Obama's supporters are so in the tank for him that they can't bring themselves to criticize him - which would come as a surprise to anyone reading the hectoring diaries at Daily Kos constantly telling him he's blowing it and what he needs to do.

On CNN, they were too busy telling us how badly the convention was going to allow us to watch any of it.  The unintentional lowlight came when Carville was complaining that the Dems weren't attacking Bush/McCain enough - while in the background and hidden from the audience former GOP congressman Leach was doing precisely that.  And they didn't let the viewers hear Nancy Pelosi or Maya Soetero-Ng's addresses either.

I kept switching back and forth between CNN and CSPAN, and every time I left a speaker on CSPAN I found either a commercial or commentator bloviating on CNN.

And would someone get David Gergen some antidepressants before he kills himself and takes CNN viewers with him?  He couldn't stop whining that the Democrats were blowing it by wasting their precious airtime without articulating their 738-point plans to bore America to death.  Not that anyone watching CNN would actually know what was being said on the convention floor...

The Nieman Watchdog publishes “Questions the press should ask.” The Nieman Watchdog is part of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Their August 25, 2008 item is How unscrupulous campaign strategists are taking advantage of a quirk in our brains – and what reporters can do to stop helping them, written by Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt, a JedReport favorite. And I should add, what readers can do to stop falling for them. Again, educate your family and friends.

In brief, here are the four points but read the entire thing. 

1. State the facts without reinforcing the falsehood.

Particularly damaging is the common practice of replaying parts of an ad before debunking its content.

[This drives me nutz and I now change channels when I see pundits doing it.]

2. Tell the truth with images.

3. Provide a compelling storyline or mental framework for the truth.

4. Discredit the source.

===================

Can't wait to hear the Rolling Stone story.

===================

Bill Conroy:

Madrid scientists in human trials (2006, 2007) have proven that marijuana destroys the kind of tumor Kennedy has. Two to three weeks. Which is about how long it took Kennedy's doctors to say he was okay. This link discusses the earlier Madrid findings.

Thank goodness I watched the C-Span live video feed. It's the only way to stay sane!

Tomorrow's focus is the economy and that's when the attacks on McCain will really come. Today was to introduce the Obamas (and what do you want to bet that if there had been lots of attacks on McCain, that would have been criticized too).

I'm too tired to pull salient quotes. Read this puppy! Malkin has one great line: Malkin mocks McCain citing an attack ad his campaign issued against Obama: "Celeb-u-pocrisy, anyone?"

I began to cry when they put the camera on her mother. The look on the face of her mother. I know that look. It broke me, because it was the face of the ancestors, IMO. As far as Michelle goes, There's been some criticism that possibly Black women idolize Michelle Obama. I was like, no, no idolization, just thankfulness - that someone who looks like us, has our experiences, is finally in front of the world for all to see. The images of us are limited, and I'm being generous when I say that. To see yourself, in all its glory, for all the world to see, that's a heady thing.

Damn, what a time to be in quarantine!

Yes, am regularly in 'quarantine' now - have accepted a new position at the Q Station (formerly the North Head Quarantine Station, now a site of State historical, cultural and environmental significance) and have been as busy as getting an immersive theatre experience under my belt as Product Manager and tech co-ordinator. Check it out: www.qstation.com.au

Guess I'll have to change my handle to ManlyBondiBeachViews (how many iconic beaches can a boy handle?).

Great see the Field and Fieldhands all over the Convention.

Al, expect a late donation for the Convention in about 10 days when the first big cheque arrives and I can put my head up. (I still read but don't have time to comment.)

(Manly)BondiBeachViews

99% of the posters agree with him. Surprising, CNN posted it at all.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/25/jon-stewart-lectures-reporters-on-coverage/

amk

I wish someone who do this for every campaign issue, esp. economics:

Energy for Dummies: The GOP's Secret Weapon Is A Clueless Media

The six-word banner above the CNBC logo said it all.

"AMERICA"S OIL CRISIS: THE NUCLEAR OPTION,"  framed a bogus media narrative and a phony Republican talking point. A couple of clueless reporters pushed it further.

Enrin Burnett: "We do get nearly 20% of our power from nuclear, so in a sense we are more of a nuclear nation than many people realize."

CNBC Political Correspondent John Harwood: "We are, but I do think that policy is drifting in that direction now that people are paying $4 a gallon for gas and increasingly are concerned and aware that we have spent a whole lot of time spinning our wheels and not breaking that addiction to foreign oil. Obviously, the question especially for Democrats is what do you do about the waste. You've got the whole Yucca Mountain issue, which has been tied up for a long time."

-------------------

Here are a few basics that reporters should remember whenever a politician invokes nuclear energy:

Nuclear Power Is For Electricity

[...]

Oil is for cars, trucks and planes, not electricity.

[...]

We have no shortage of domestic energy for delivering electricity.

I couldn't stand to watch any of the MSM coverage, because watching those networks meant....you didn't really get to watch any of the actual convention.  Even time I tried to flip over to CNN or MSNBC from CSPAN, it was just more blathering of the commentators.  Perhaps if all the self-important windbag pundits and commentators (even on MSNBC) would have shut the hell up and actually paid attention to what all the speakers were saying on the floor, they would have seen that a large amount of time WAS spent attacking Bush/McSame.  Lord, I yearn for the days when there was NO cable news, and the networks simply aired the convention with minimal commentary.  And...here's a novel thought....the commentary was saved for when there were breaks in the speakers!  OMG...the horror!  Viewers being allowed to actually listen to the speeches for themselves, and draw their own conclusions, instead of being TOLD what to take away.  I will be spending the better part of today, writing emails to all the various wingbags asking the question, "How is it possible to perform 'analysis', when you haven't even been listening to that which you claim to be 'analyzing'!?!?  Arrgghh!

Al's been escorted outta the Rolling Stone after party?  (twitter feed)  Oh man, can't wait to hear this story.  So glad we helped get you there!

One of the other blogs I read, FireDogLake, along with Glenn Greenwald (I know, not a favorite around here...) had a similar experience trying to get into an AT&T party the other night with their press passes, but were escorted away as well.  They videotaped some of it and it was funny to see how most of the guests going in had no idea what the party was even about.

Seems like we might be seeing a "butting of heads" between the old ways of doing things that the BigMoney Dem establishment is used to, and the New Media, grassroots organizers that Obama has helped activate and bring to the tables of power.  If this is true, it's very exciting and necessary to establish new paradigms.

Of course, being a Rolling Stone party, maybe some poser was dissing Alinsky or telling Al he shouldn't smoke and Al was having nothing of it, but getting kicked out of a Rolling Stone party - that's so rock n' roll!  You're doing us proud!

Good Morning Field Hands....

OMG, OMG, OMG...that's all I can say about Teddy and Michelle...

when I got to my Mom's I insisted that the TV stay on C-span...I didn't want to hear NOT ONE talking head...I don't CARE what they had to say...I wanted to hear every single word...even the more boring speeches...

I liked the fact that Jimmy Carter's time was mostly a video showing why he's the best former President ever...even though he wasn't a very effective President...

Tears, tears, tears when Teddy showed up...

I hope and pray that the non-crazy Hillary supporters allow Teddy's appearance to remind them why they are liberal Democrats...Maria Shriver could barely hold back the tears...

I also hope that with the Kennedys, a lot of people remember that "being rich" isn't the problem, it's what you DO and STAND FOR in life is what matters...I loved how Caroline outlined all the benefits Teddy rolled out that help us regular hard-working folks...

Teddy doesn't have to say repeatedly that his oldest brother was killed in WWII and his other brothers were assassinated and he's had to be the father for so many nieces and nephews...so what's that about being a POW McShame?

And Michelle...OMG...so beautiful, so classy, so natural...

And believe me, a whole lot of women besides me notice that Michelle's diamond engagement ring is obviously the same "sorta small one" that Barack could afford at the time...and now that they can afford a larger one, that is not their priority...just like staying in high-paying jobs wasn't their priority...OK, maybe no one but me noticed that...

And on the political front..NO ONE in McCain's family can give that kind of personal story about how they met, and their family upbringing, etc., and how they gave up so much to help others, etc.

It has even come out that Cindy lied about how she adopted their daughter...Mother Theresa didn't ask Cindy...the story has changed...Cindy doesn't even speak to her half-sister who got a whole $10,000 from their father's estate...(saw this info on other blogs, Al...not direct quotes...)

There wasn't a dry eye in the house at my "Senior's Watch Party" last night...

Still have goosebumps...

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

Go to www.twitter.com...it's fast and easy and free...

Once there, you can decide to just get updates on your computer, or you can sign up your "device" like your phone for text updates...

Up in the search bar, put in Al's Twitter name: Al Giordano...and when his name comes up, you can click to "Follow" and whether you want to be texted with updates...

BTW: Shameless plug...you can follow me, too: waterprise2...

waterprise2 AKA Pam

Liberal with a Capital L!

Has been off the chain this week especially and continued right through the first night of the convention.  C-Span has been invaluable.  Whenever I turned to either cable news network, they where busy revising history and instigating fights.  They are garbage (with the exception of K.O.).

I'm am super tired of the Hillary bashing going on in the media and the blogosphere picking up on it.  I have never been a fan and was a supporter of Barack's from day one, but I know good and damned well that Hillary isn't stupid.  There is no way she is stirring up the dead enders.  She is doing what she has to do but of course the Mind Screw Media isn't reporting any of that ad nauseum like they are reporting on the barely existent PUMA's and other dumb crap that is marginal and insignificant.  They are blowing the PUMA crap way out of preportion and under reporting on Clinton's efforts on behalf of Obama.  They are doing this out of either laziness or to stir up trouble where there is  barely any.

Go Hillary!  Tear the head off of McCain tonight.  I know you will!  Let's see how the revisionist media tries re-write the foot you're going to put in McCain's A$$.

I second Suzy Shore's suggestion of turning to PBS.  Much less bloviating, and the commentators are actually experts in their respective fields, rather than being made-for-TV pundits.

They're pretty much running coverage all evening long, not just the 1 hour primetime.

I watched on CSPAN and PBS, so other than Brooks's usual inanities and down-with-the-common-man, sad-sack tripe, I heard most everything. Indeed, after the Carter video (and, YES, keep hammering home NOLA, please!), he went before the three boobs (Leher, Brooks, and Shields) and gave a rousing endorsement of Obama, speaking with utter and complete confidence that not only is McCain a Bush clone (only absent a few key alleles) but that Obama WILL bring genuine transformation to this country.  The 3 gawkers were left.... gawking... as Carter said that Obama represents a post-racist America and that we WILL get to that mountaintop.  He was adamant and the 3 kids in front of him were left gulping their ignorance-flavored hubris. 

The Kennedy film focused on his impressive sailboat was a great image. Having Kerry lionize the senior senator from MA against the backdrop of that sailboat was a direct thumb-in-the-eye at the era of swiftboat attacks for sailboarding. Pam made the astute point that it's not about having money but what you do with it and what policies define you. The torch of the Kennedy family is firmly in the hands of Obama. Pure class.

And then Michelle. A brilliant speech, a terrific shout-out to Clinton and her supporters, and all in a human and humane, real-world voice.  She shared, in essence, a love-letters to a spouse. It was neither gratuitous (Gore's Big Kiss) nor faked (any contact between Bill and Hillary). It was a sincere expression of a true FRIENDSHIP that has become a deep love and a lasting partnership.  She exuded the best of "family values."  And then Malia and Sasha.  The PBS "historians" lost their minds trying to find ways to neutralize Brooks's feigned skepticism. The conclusion: Malia and Sasha just garnered 2... no 4 million additional votes.  

As bad as the traditional media is, has been, and will be, the enormity of last night's success will seep into the body politic. The cynicism and sarcasm and distractedness of the pundits against the backdrop of the classy, adamantine truths of Carter, Kennedy, and Obama starts to look like a pathological strain of cognitive dissonance.

I too was wowed by the Kennedys, Craig Robinson and MICHELLE.  No talking heads for me, watched the whole thing online at:

http://gallery1.demconvention.org

What would top it off for me would be if Hillary could get very personal tonight, and give a shout-out to Michelle, and to say how awesome she is, and how she was wowed by Michelle's speech and story.

KD

Once you get on twitter and set up following Al et al. How do you get the messages?

I'm all set up but can't get anything. I assume there is a program that needs to be open or what?

I signed up last night got myaccount approved by e-mail but am getting no messages.