THE US REPORT

The Democratic National Convention in Denver is still weeks away, but protest groups are splintering, green schemes are coming up short and the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the host city and the Secret Service.  There’s more—the mainstream press are miffed about their work station being set up adjacent to the protesters’ area which will be walled off by the type of chain link fence some rural types use to confine their hound dogs.  There’s so much concern about the impact of large numbers of guests one commenter at the Rocky Mountain News (Denver) gave poolroom bathroom advice to convention attendees: If it’s yellow, let it mellow. Another commenter suggested they refrain from using air conditioning. There is already a projected budget shortfall, so the a/c suggestion is a sound one. These observations are just the tip of the melting iceberg.

Delegates aren’t snapping up the carbon credits to “offset” their carbon footprints. The RMN reported, “The DNC's director of greening, Andrea Robinson, estimates that each delegate's trip to Denver will generate roughly 1 ton of carbon. About 5,000 delegates will attend.” Despite beliefs of many starry-eyed college kids and the greening director, the offsets do not remove any of those approximately 5,000 tons of carbon from the environment. They do, however, result in a eucalyptus tree or some type of tree being planted (allegedly and somewhere), so all is not lost. Carbon offsets also help fund windmills ( I think). The same reasoning Dem politicians use for not drilling on US turf—the oil will take years to bear fruit so to speak—can be applied to carbon credits. Trees do not grow overnight and it can take awhile to set windmills up.

The ACLU is not happy with Denver—matters like protesters being unable to hand out literature to delegates as well as the afore-mentioned chain link fence don’t sit well with ACLU types who also want a speaker system working so protesters’ comments (‘comments’ may be putting it mildly) will be heard by delegates. And the ACLU has, true to form, commenced with a lawsuit in pursuit of lofty goals.

Some anti-war groups are backing off from plans to join other groups like R-68 whose moniker is inspired by the chaos created by protests at that long ago convention when Mayor Richard Daley figuratively held the event hostage by refusing to permit organizers to move it from Chicago to Miami. Two delegations sang, “We Shall Overcome,” from the convention floor that year. More than 36 newsmen were injured in a single incident. Some delegates may recall the vital role Daley played in (allegedly) creatively delivering record numbers of votes in certain Chicago counties to John F. Kennedy when he ran for prez in 1960. Memories of Chicago politics drape the DNC like a hunting net or a beacon depending on your political persuasion.

By now you’ve read about the kaleidoscopic colors of the foods delegates will eat, all with a healthful eye on fiber, vitamins, minerals and daily requires.  Nothing can be fried—media has run stories about how this will affect Southerners. Sigh. Talk about elitist stereotyping. We don’t eat everything fried! We customarily, however, add a little pork to vegetables which we traditionally ate mushy. Now, having been enlightened by our northern brethren, we eat our broccoli in a politically correct crisp state. We have not however yielded an inch on our overcooked green beans. A crisp green bean is like eating one half of a box lid with no salt.

There will be Cajun music, a big green tent for bloggers (note separation from mainstream press), hopefully a decision on the presumed nominee’s running mate and, according to the Associated Press, a projected budget shortfall. Jumping 100 percent onto the green wagon can be costly as most US purchasers of gasoline have learned.

It must be said that a political party’s plans for a convention are an excellent reflection of how that party runs the presidency and the nation. This convention has a “director of greening”, a protest group with a name similar to that used for Freon, chain link fencing of the sort used near trailers in the extremely rural South and lawsuits in progress.  Enough said.

To be fair, I tried to locate some funny stuff to write about the GOP convention. Nothing turned up except an article about security plans—I figure the paper ran that one in an effort to be fair since the Dem candidate and party get so much ink. But I confess Repubs are not nearly as funny as Dems.

Enjoy the video below, taking note of what foreign newspapers said about our country’s 1968 Democratic convention. Bear witness to a point in time when our reputation began to fray globally despite what those under the age of 30 have learned in history classes.

Amazing what insights recorded history can yield. Whatever one might say, the Democratic National Convention in Denver will be full of political ardor, green intentions, crisp green beans, announcements and some excellent music. A Dem can’t ask for much more than that. Come to think of it, nor can a Repub.

Classic footage of the 1968 Chicago DNC convention; I was young, but I remember watching the news with my parents during those tumultuous years.