Obama Sighted! Correction: not Obama
August 25th, 2008 – 5:58 PM by James LileksBack inside the Pepsi Center. En route from the press area, I ran into a fellow who bears a remarkable, if unfortunate, resemblance to Barack Obama. He was talking to a cop; a camera crew swooped up and started filming, which made everyone else think he was Barack Obama, but eventually everyone realized that Obama probably doesn’t have a press pass. The poor fellow is going to be the subject of double-takes every 30 seconds for the rest of the week. Or the decade.
Inside, delegates and observers are experiencing up-close the thrill of approving the recommendations of the rules committee. You’ve never seen so many people enthused about rules. But it’s more than that, of course; every speaker takes the dais the approval of his own claque, reads an encomium for someone else, and that prompts another delegation to erupt it whoops and applause. Theatrical as these conventions may be, the enthusiasm is always genuine, and it’s a pleasure to see people whoop and cheer for the most mundane aspects of the democratic process.
Howard Dean is back on the podium, and has asked for a second:
“SECOND” shouts some leather-lunger twenty rows up. He’s Tivoing this at home, and will play it for this kids.
That’s me! I was the seconder!
“Is there any discussion?” (Half-nanosecond pause) “Hearing none, I ask for an aye.”
The ayes are duly bestowed. Gov. Dean introduces Nancy Pelosi to great tumult; she introduces someone else in turn. Everyone introduces everyone else in an endless round of praise and thanks; periodically, the speech segues into a video, and the room falls silent for a while before the music kicks in and the Voice of Goddess introduces the next speaker. It’s all seamless, and it rolls over you in endless waves; if someone introduced Cruella DeVille from the Great State of Wyoming she’d get a hand. It’s the polite thing to do.
The hall is mostly empty, though – the Minnesota delegation appears totally absent. What if they ran away? What if their bus was hijacked? What if you had a delegation from a really irresponsible state, and they just decided to bag it and hang out somewhere for the rest of the week? Wouldn’t effect the outcome, but it would be embarrassing on nomination night. The camera would swoop over to the delegation to hear their votes, and there would be 35 empty seats and an usher on a cellphone. What? You cast all your votes for the one who’s ahead so far? Okay, man, I’ll tell them.
29 Responses to "Obama Sighted! Correction: not Obama"
Keep up the great work. I’m checking every 10 minutes while in a hyper-liberal health law class (law school will remain nameless). Wish I could be there.
Hi Taylor!
Is it over? Did you survive your dose of Pelosium 109?
What’s the funniest, most interesting thing you’ve ever written? All I ever read of yours is unfunny, uninteresting crap. Are you banging the managing editor?
OdinofAzgard, hang in there. You’ll get a job some day.
Wonderful!
Very often the links from Buzz or the Bleat take me to current StarTrib pages and James’ videos or stories are hard to find.
But this time I was directly directed here.
I have been perusing my usual sources - LGF; Pajamas; and others, to get a human feel for the DNC - no luck.
You are, indeed, providing what they lack.
I will no longer feel this obligation to listen to the talking heads on the magic box discussing their time fillers over the stultifying background speeches of Michelle Obama’s baby pictures…
I have found all the real coverage I need right here.
Thanks!
I must agree with OdinofAzgard,
This seems like an incredible waste of space, but your paper is desperate, so keep up the bad work.
Wow, did you actually get to see Cruella up close?
Jim,
Are you trying to say that all black men could be mistaken for Obama?
Now that IS funny.
FYI, Michelle Obama is the devil.
Big Jim,
Is the car wash you work at hiring?
I’ve always thought contridictions, or lies, or whatever you’d like to call them are funny. Here’s a couple of funny ones;
In Denver, Mrs. Obama said, “My piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me.” Those forebears, she explained, were “driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work — the same conviction that drives the men and women I’ve met all across this country…That’s why I love this country.”
In Charlotte, Mrs. Obama said, “We’re still living in a time and in a nation where the bar is set, right?…You start working hard and sacrificing and you think you’re getting close to that bar, you’re working and you’re struggling, and then what happens? They raise the bar…keep it just out of reach.”
Good times……
Hey, Robert Grant:
For somebody who dislikes Lileks’ work so intensely, you seem to be spending an awful lot of time reading it (and commenting, as well).
FYI, there are other websites out there reporting on the convention (and many other topics, as well!) that might be of more interest to you.
Just a thought.
Thanks for your observation and suggestion.
James, you must have upset someone at home base because this blog doesn’t appear to be linked to from the strib front page or convention coverage. I had to google ‘lileks convention blog’ generally to find it.
I love Lileks for his style, his view, and his virtual mundaneness. But I don’t get his coverage yet–meander around several topics, but go dark before saying anything about the one newsworthy event of the convention on Monday? Robert’s insights were interesting, why none from the blogger?
Stuart, I think there are “white guys” that look like BHO.
Also, I am ignoring the negative commentators. Oh damn, that acknowledges them doesn’t it. Well since le chat is out of du sac, you guys are mean :p
What negative commenters? I filtered them out. Hard to see my screen with all that white-out on it, though.
It’s racist to say that everytime one black guy looks like another black guy it’s racist. Surely there are black guys out there who resemble each other — or are you saying they’re all entirely unique-looking. Most of us should be post-racist by now, and therefore above such accusations. Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode.
Robert Grant -
The only time I’ve ever seen you post a reply is to condemn the blogger, reporter or newspaper. If you dislike the Strib and it’s coverage so much why in the blue h**l do you read it? It boggles the mind ….
There’s going to be a fundamental division within the comments for Lileks’ posts this week.
One one hand you are going to be have the people who regularly read him, and know that — while he does express some moderately center-right views in other venues — he scrupulously avoids taking partisan stands when blogging for the Strib. Those people know that Lilek’s Strib blog at buzz.mn is lighthearted, even-handed, civil, above the fray and genuinely funny (and that includes the comments).
On the other hand, you are going to have dead-serious Democrat partisans who, if they have heard of Lileks at all, believe him to be part of a monolithic and indistinguishable gang of Wingnut conspirators, and who in any case have no patience for anything from the media except uncritical praise of the party line. For these people, there is no time for humor or lightness when the there is the People’s Work to be done, and if commenting on the general silliness that abounds at any political convention causes even ONE READER to take this even a SMIDGEON less seriously, then the commenter MUST BE SHOUTED DOWN.
The twain shall never meet, and I’m afraid we’re just going to have to ignore each other.
Actually, I think Mr Grant hails from the Wingnut side, not the Nutroots side, but either way, that overheated political approach just doesn’t go anywhere in Buzzland. As if there weren’t a million places you could go for political ranting in the flavor of your choice.
Well said, Bill, thanks! I’ll be hangin’ with you & the rest of the Buzzerati. I appreciate a bit of silliness & heaven knows I need a light heart at my age!
Big Jen,
Sorry sweetie, nothing for you today. Keep trying.
Hey Mr. Bill,
Would you mind pointing out a Lileks’ comment that you consider genuinely funny? I’m genuinely curious as to what some people see in his writing that makes it worth reading.
Thanks.
OK, Odin:
This is the first exposure I ever had to Mr. Lileks: http://www.lileks.com/institute/frahm/indexmain.html
If you don’t find it funny, then you simply need to get your sense of humor re-tuned.
Thanks for the link. I found it interesting because of the pictures, but the comments seemed stupidly puerile, not funny.
Ever read a Patrick McManus book or story? Pat’s funny. Mark Twain too. Lileks is not only not funny, he’s not even mildly amusing.
Let’s test your sense of humor. Do you think bathroom stall humor is sidesplitting funny? Do knock-knock jokes leave you rolling on the floor? Do you think Dennis Miller is witty?
This the guy you saw?
He’s a Cuban emigree, hired to be there because of his looks.
Odin–humor is subjective. You have a right to your personal opinion. But frankly if you visit lileks.com, select any random page, and do not laugh within three minutes, you are a sour person who needs to lighten up … in my personal opinion.
I’m a writer by trade and read “The Bleat” every single day (and it’s the only blog I read without fail). Why? Not because I really care about Gnat or Jasper dog did today. I read it because he’s one of the best writers, serious or funny, working today.
You do need to let his style grow on you, though.
Your little humor test says a lot. Rather than assess content, all you ask about are forms. Did somebody write a witty essay on that bathroom stall? The venue does not necessarily dictate the quality of the content. Have you ever had the remarkable fun of telling knock-knock jokes with a four-year old who’s just discovered them? You may come to appreciate them anew through a child’s eyes.
As for Dennis Miller, he’s hit and miss. I think he’s at his worst when he tries too hard. But he can also be brilliant and, like Lileks, he’s a hard-working professional who’s putting it out there every day. He’s still drawing a hefty paycheck after two decades in a business where most of his bretheren tend to last a year or two then vanish into oblivion. Give him his due, even if you do think he’s the devil.
Hi Bill,
Humor is subjective, but generally even when the attempt doesn’t seem funny to someone, it’s recognizable as humor. Lileks’ crap isn’t. It’s not only not funny, it’s not interesting. It’s - See Dick. See Dick run. - with adult words.
Seems more likely that it’s some kind of Randian Ellsworth Toohey deal, a conservative experiment to see if the public can be conned into giving acclaim to the dregs of a profession.