Listening to
Senator Elizabeth Dole speak at the RNC
…When did my Senator turn blonde?
…She made a joke referring her role when her husband was the candidate in 1996. No-one got it.
…I can’t believe she is so rabidly and vocally anti-choice and anti-gay! I can’t believe she ran as a moderate in NC. And of course my fellow citizens (easily snowed by 30 years of Jesse Helms) bought it.
…She says “The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.” So we are required to practice a faith to maintain citizenship status? What?
Author: Ruby Sinreich
What the hell is wrong with SEANC?
First the State Employees Association of North Carolina (a historically strong labor advocate) did more harm than good by secretly push polling for it’s endorsed N.C. Senate candidate Barry Jacobs. Barry lost, thanks largely to SEANC’s encouragement of negative stereotypes about him.
Now they are endorsing the Republican candidate for Governor just because they’re pissed (probably rightly) at Governor Easley. Now, I’ll grant that Easley is lame. I could even understand SEANC declining to endorse in the governor’s race. But a labor group endorsing a conservative Republican is disingenuous at best.
These are the kind of strategies that show a group is more interested in showing off it’s own muscle than actually gaining improvements for it’s constituents. I will be sure to disregard SEANC’s political recommendations now and in the years to come (at least until they fire Executive Director Dana Cope).
It’s hard to cover an elephant
Since I recommended some reading during the Democratic National Convention, I would be remiss if I didn’t also offer some pointers this week.
- Wonkette is the place to go for gossip. She’s a fabulously snarky, equal opportunity ridiculer of celebrities. Especially good coverage of parties, the Bush sisters, and scandals (bonus if all three coincide).
- Like Wonkette, my friend John Aravosis (of AmericaBlog) has left his normal environs inside the beltway to cover the events in the Big Apple. He has a sharp political mind and has been leading the campaign to “out” gay republicans – especially Dick Cheney’s daughter
Mary. - I don’t know this Travis La France guy, but he’s been recommended by other bloggers, and has not disappointed me yet. He brings the crucial horny-Brooklyn-poet perspective that is so often forgotten.
- For more, it appears that ConventionBloggers has been repurposed to aggregate blog posts about the RNC this week (of which there are considerably fewer than there were during the DNC).
- And of course you’ve got to check in with the NYC Independent Media Center to find out what’s really hapenning in the street.
Unlike the previous convention I won’t be watching much of this one myself, so you’ll have to rely on these and other clever people for insights and analysis. Also, watch it on C-SPAN if you want to actually hear the speeches instead of George Stephanopolous, Bill Krystol, or Michael Beschloss droning on self-importantly.
Hero
Stop what you’re doing, log on to MovieMinder (if you live near me), and find out where Hero is playing nearest you. After much anticipation, the DRM and I saw this last Friday and were both really impresssed. It’s easily one of the best movies of the year, and possibly one of the most beutiful movies I’ve ever seen. It has great flying kung-fu action scenes if you like that, but what really gets me is the hugeness of the Chinese epic and the incredible integration of luscious color into the storylines. It has also has a great, twisted plot full of intrigue and heartbreak.
Miramax, the distributor, apparently cut out 20 minutes from the movie because they found that part to be “too Asian and confusing” for western audiences. Then-Miramax honcho Harvey Weinstein made a deal with Quentin Tarantino that he’d release the film uncut if Tarantino would allow a “Quentin Tarantino Presents” tag at the beginning of the film. Tarantino agreed.
– IMdB
This film was released in China 2 years ago, but Tarantino repackaged it for American audiences. Most movies this beautiful just settle for being eye candy, but Hero is also a dense Chinese epic, an action-packed kung-fu fest, and a touching moral tale about revenge and community. Did I mention I love this film?
I’m back from vacation
Expect more posts in the next few days…
…After
The main event
The process begins…
She’s blogging this
Sarah is “blogging this.” “This” is Christa’s hair makeover by Curl Friends ™.
It must be Sleazefest
I just walked by a crowded Local 506 and heard “no fucking clapping, you assholes” from the stage.
Direct Action = Democracy
With regrets to NYC residents caught in the cross fire, the week of the RNC is going to go down in history as a huge culmination of diverse, grassroots voices reinvigorating the tradition of protest that our nation was founded on.
I can’t tell you where all of this info comes from but it’s an exteremely reliable source. Plus it’s all public information anyway:
In New York, although one corner near Madison Square Garden will be cordoned off specifically for protesters, only a handful of permits have been granted to protest groups. Most street actions will be unauthorized.
The main umbrella organization for protesters, United for Peace and Justice, says they will gather in Central Park despite not having a permit. Approximately 150 organizations are vying for a piece of what is being called the second biggest protest action of the year (the March for Women’s Lives, of course, was the biggest).
Besides labor, gay and lesbian groups, veterans against the war, there remains a long list of students, environmentalist, and health and political activists anxious to express their views.
On Sunday, August 29, The World says No to the Bush Agenda: United for Peace and Justice will host a march past Madison Square Garden, followed by a rally.
On Monday, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and the Still We Rise Coalition are co-sponsoring a march and rally to support HIV/AIDS health care, welfare reform, immigrant issues, housing/homelessness, and criminal justice issues. At the same time, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union presents another march, beginning at the United Nations and ending at Madison Square Garden.
Tuesday the One Million Yeses and One NO! people are planning a direct demonstration against the Free Speech Zones (police pens). At the same time, the noRNC Youth are calling for “a youth day of action.”
On Wednesday, the New York City Labor Council will host a massive union rally and march.
A bicyclists’ environmental group called Time’s Up is organizing in a “bike bloc,” attempting to snarl traffic as commuters try to get to work, as a protest against the use of private gasoline-powered vehicles.
Activists plan to hold sit-ins at delegate hotels, take over city intersections, block doors to major corporate offices, confront GOP bigwigs and infiltrate events.
They explain their aim is to use creative mischief to call attention the Bush administration’s destructive policies, not to cause harm or even stop the convention from proceeding.
Organizers advise protesters not to wear masks, which are illegal at New York City demonstrations, and to find alternatives to all-black clothing. Khaki is less intimidating, one Web site suggests. It will also let demonstrators blend in. They won’t know who to arrest or pepper-spray just by looking,” the Web site says. “Plus, the crowd will look much more like the average American instead of a marginalized gang of malcontents – not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg promises that the heightened security will not interfere with planned protests, which may include the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, a squadron of George Bush look-alikes in flight suits. “We take people’s rights to come here and say something very valuable very seriously,” Bloomberg said.
The New York Civil Liberties Union will open an information and complaint center two blocks from the convention center to monitor protests and police activity.