Odds and ends
First, a Sikh student at BC was detained and roughed up by the Secret Service, apparently because he was taking pictures of his campus and wore a turban on his head. Disgusting.
UPDATE — 11.19 PM EDT: One of the local netword affiliates just
ran a story on the fellow, and it showed exactly the kind of shit he
puts up with every day. The reporter’s mike picked up some person
in the background saying, “It’d be good if that camera was a machine
gun.” They also noted that the female Secret Service agent asked
if she could search the fellow, saying, “I don’t want you to pull a gun
out of your turban.”
Second, the NY Times covered the money machine at the convention. I’m still surprised that this somehow surprises people.
Third, Slate provides an analysis of the impact of the Kerry speech.
This aspect of the convention,
I saw. The delegates are repsonsible to find their own money to
get here. They aren’t on expense accounts (unlike many of the
journalists who covered the proceedings), and they’re here because they
are either committed Democrats or because they think they need to get
rid of the guy in office.
Not much mention of the gays at the convention. I’m not
surprised, because parading the gays out in this sort of election,
especially after Bush’s freedom assault with the FMA, only makes a
loser of the party. (And by the way, John Kerry’s position of
“marriage no, civil unions yes” offends my ethics. Again, I know
he has to get elected, but unless he’s not saying that he’s separating
religious institution from civil institution here, he’s advocating a
form of segregation.) Yes, most Democrats support gay rights and
gay marriage. Yes, gays are an integral part of the base of the
party (with a few exceptions). Yes, they barely mentioned
us. Yes, the LGBT side of things seemed fairly low-key.
It’s as if all the gay people decided to be quiet about who they are so
that the Dems can win. Would I have liked to see more? Of
course. So, was I expecting anything else? Of course not,
I’m a pragmatist. And I want to see the Dems win too.
And now I’m gonna try NOT to blog for at least a few hours, so that my
BF can have a real birthday, even if it was really yesterday.
Happy Birthday, Brian!
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