I wrote this initially on fb the other night, and reposting here.
I watched the entire Democratic National Convention. Normally I don't (I could add "watch TV" and things wouldn't much change, other than that I watch the news when I work out), but it wound up being riveting.
Highlights, in no particular order except as noted:
- Joe Biden's speech. That was an 11 on a scale of 1-10. The content, the delivery were perfect. I like his remark that wearing a mask is a patriotic duty. We *are* at war, and we need to act that way. This was the highlight, and he had a lot of tough acts to follow. He's not the orator that Barack Obama is, but he stayed true to himself and his working class background and delivered the speech of a lifetime.
- The roll call. Even at an otherwise live convention this would be a winner. It let each delegation show some real creativity -- not just who can come up with the splashiest hat or something -- and really show highlights of their states and territories. Some worked better than others, but it let me learn some things about states that I didn't know and maybe when we can safely travel again there will be some places I'd like to see because of that. Oh, and the one bad thing here was CNN cutting away in the middle for a block of ads. Boo hiss. Watched the rest of the convention on MSNBC. I was a bit surprised that they didn't slot Delaware back in to put Biden over the top. I was watching the vote count and they could have done it.
- Kamala! Kamala! Mamala! I'm so looking forward to her cross examination of Pence (insert obligatory shout out to Julia Louis-Dreyfus here). Mamala sounds like a Yiddish term of endearment. I have to imagine that they're all well aware of that.
- Michelle Obama's speech. For someone who hates politics, she's one amazing speaker.
- Brayden Harrington. That kid has real guts doing what he did. Speaks a lot to the mensch that Biden is, but that takes nothing away from him. He'll inspire a lot of other youngsters who stutter or have other speech impediments.
- The Chicks. That performance of the Star Spangled Banner was bravura and dignified. It's a very difficult song to sing well, and they had some really complex harmonies that they sung a capella. Go back and listen to when they were in unison. They were in perfect unison. If you sing (or play instruments) in unison and you're even a fraction of a Hz off you'll have beat notes that sound like warbling (if you play a bowed string instrument, try playing a unison double stop against an open string; I have to think that singing in unison is much harder). And they shifted fluidly between that unison and any number of other chords that I couldn't identify. I was mesmerized. When they finished, my wife said to me that it was the best rendition she has ever heard. I agree.
- Prince Royce doing Stand By Me. I had never heard of him (my musical tastes are a bit stodgy). I really, really liked both the arrangement and the visuals and cinematography.
- Elizabeth Warren. That was clever. I didn't spot the "easter eggs" she set up in the classroom, but there was both humor and purpose to her staging.
- The overall big tent. I'm never likely to vote for John Kasich (if the choices were him and Trump I'd certainly vote for him, but that's about it), but letting him speak was classy. And Cindy McCain, after the hell that Donald Trump has put her and Meghan through. And it was hardly a one way street; Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren had major speaking roles. And the inclusiveness was along a lot of other dimensions also.
Yeah, had to leave a bunch off. When you leave a Barack Obama speech off the highlights — and it was a damn good speech — that really says something about how good the convention was. And the Clintons, too. And Gabby Giffords, playing the horn no less (the French horn is not an easy instrument to play, from what I’m told).
It had the feel of a variety show at times. Anyone who grew up watching Carol Burnett knows what I mean. But that made it more interesting to watch, compared to the usual big stage in a stadium.
I wonder what the Republicans will do next week. Will Q finally be revealed? Will it turn out that Q has just been trolling them all along? Will Trump pull a McGovern and replace Pence? Inquiring minds want to know. Kindasortamaybe.