FWIW, I discovered the perfect way to watch the convention. Deutsches Welt (DW) streams it live with a playback option on YouTube. No commentary, no ads. I have YouTube Premium, so I don’t know if YouTube inserts ads on the free version.
I tuned in about two hours after the broadcast started giving me a lot of room to skip over any of the less interesting speakers and any other dull points. This is the first roll call I’ve sat through in decades and found it quite engaging. Doug Emhoff’s speech was a perfect window into Harris the person. And the Obamas are, hands down, the two greatest American orators of the 21st Century so far.
I probably should have been following the thread last night instead of trying to catch up this morning. Oh well. A couple of comments about the Kansas delegation during the roll call. One, why were a bunch of them wearing Chiefs jerseys? The Chiefs are in MO, not KS. (Although I suppose many Americans wouldn’t know, or care.) Second, while “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas was the obvious musical choice, I was thinking they should have gone back a couple of albums and chose “Song For America” instead.
Another great night of speeches. Pritzker got in some good jabs at Trump, and the Obamas were just amazing.
I tuned in late, so missed the roll call and the earlier speeches (including JB’s). I’ll be watching some YouTube this afternoon.
The Obamas were of course wonderful. I couldn’t help but think that as much as I love Biden, Joe and Jill don’t have the oratorical magic of Barrack and Michelle. But having seen Emhoff speak, I think we might be lucky to have some of that magic with Kamala and Doug.
I have an anecdote to share for anyone who might be counting Pritzker out because of his inherited wealth. I saw Pritzker speak before a group I belong to when he was first running for governor.
He said his first job when he was in high school was working at a Hyatt hotel. You’d think that as part of the owning family, he’d have been given some cushy office job. No, he worked as a manual laborer in the laundry. (These laundry jobs are the worst jobs in any hotel. Not only are you moving very heavy wet sheets and towels from washers to driers, but those sheets and towels may include some pretty disgusting stuff.)
Before leaving for work his first morning, his mother put her arms around him and reminded him that he had been given his job, and his coworkers had had to earn their jobs.
when obama did the gesture i scared the cats, and may have startled my neighbour.
that was the best, dryest, subtle moment. beyond brilliant, absolute perfection.
last night was a great night.
i am starting to think that minnesota nice is really minnesota vice…president.
looking very forward to coach tonight.
last night we all saw how doug emhoff became a very successful lawyer and was able to win kamala’s heart. his students are very lucky to have him as a professor.
We couldn’t stay up late enough, so watched the speeches this morning. Emhoff and Michelle Obama killed it. Barack went too long, as is his wont, but it was a good speech.
I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two types of people: those that helping other people makes everyone better, and those who think helping other people means taking something from them and giving it to someone who didn’t earn it.
Fear and greed go hand in hand. Both are binary, zero-sum ways of looking at life.
I suspected it was because the Kansas legislature is making an attempt to woo the Chiefs to the Kansas side of the border with a sweet deal to build a new stadium. That was my take, anyway.
I used to travel to Topeka a lot for business. They were all Chiefs and Royals fans. I don’t think it’s unusual for a state or region without a team to claim the closest one as their own. For example, South Jersey is mostly Eagles fans; North Jersey is mostly Giants fans. Nobody seems to claim the Jets.
