A Full Guide to Night 1 of Democratic Convention
MSN, Aug 17, 2020, NY Times

The first-ever virtual convention begins tonight, as Democrats gather — sort of — to nominate Joseph R. Biden Jr. for the presidency and Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate. Even with coronavirus-imposed restrictions, the speeches over the next few days may be the opposition party’s best chance to break through a seemingly endless wall of chaotic breaking news and deliver a memorable message to the country about why voters should vote President Trump out of office and give Democrats a chance to govern.

That is the goal, anyway. Even people deeply involved in organizing the convention acknowledge that it is an ungainly experiment, with two hours of live programming each night, speakers beamed in from different cities one by one and no live audiences to laugh, cheer, clap or boo.

The climactic events of the week come on Wednesday and Thursday, when first Ms. Harris and then Mr. Biden, the former vice president, are set to deliver their acceptance speeches. But the party is hoping to hook voters’ attention on Monday, with speakers meant to highlight the diversity of Mr. Biden’s political coalition in terms of ideology, geography, race and more.

[...]

The lineup of speakers on Monday night is eclectic, and deliberately so: With headliners ranging from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the left to Senator Doug Jones of Alabama in the middle and former Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, a Republican, to the right of center, the idea is to showcase a broad spectrum of Biden backers who are united by their opposition to the current president. Mr. Biden has been seeking to run as a candidate of national unity, and the opening night of his convention will show it.

The most popular figure speaking on Monday night — or at any time this week — will be Michelle Obama. The former first lady is seen by Democrats not only as a symbol of a better time, but as an electric speaker and a champion of the causes they care about the most. She can speak to Mr. Biden’s character and his service as vice president like no one else, save Jill Biden and Barack Obama. And because of her own pathbreaking identity, she could play a special role in introducing Ms. Harris to those Americans who still do not know much about her.


More: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a...3E1P?ocid=ientp

How to Watch the Democratic National Convention
Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders will headline the first night of the convention on Monday.
NY Times, Aug 17, 2020

How to watch
The convention will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time every day, Monday through Thursday. There are several ways to watch:

•The Times will stream the full convention every day, accompanied by chat-based live analysis from our reporters and real-time highlights from the speeches.

•The official livestream will be here. It will also be available on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Twitch.

•ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News will carry the convention from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. each night. C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC and PBS will cover the full two hours each night.

•Streams will be available on Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV by searching “Democratic National Convention” or “2020 DNC,” and on Amazon Prime Video by searching “DNC.”

•The convention will air on AT&T U-verse (channels 212 and 1212) and AT&T DirectTV (channel 201). It will also air on Comcast Xfinity Flex and Comcast X1 (say “DNC” into your voice remote).

•You can watch on a PlayStation 4 or PSVR through the Littlstar app.

•If you have an Alexa device, you can say “Alexa, play the Democratic National Convention.”


Michelle Obama, the former first lady, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the runner-up in the Democratic primary, will headline the first night on Monday. Scroll down for a full list of speakers.

Who’s speaking

•Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina. He is the highest-ranking Black member of Congress and a hugely influential figure in South Carolina politics, and his endorsement helped lift Mr. Biden to a dominant victory there after losses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

•Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. She is the first Latina to serve in the Senate and was an early contender to be Mr. Biden’s running mate, but she chose to withdraw from consideration in May.

•Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York. The leader of one of the country’s biggest blue states, he gained national attention this past spring for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, although his response has also drawn criticism.

•Senator Doug Jones of Alabama. His victory in a 2017 special election in one of the nation’s most conservative states was a huge upset, and he is now the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for re-election.

•Former Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. He was a Republican presidential candidate in 2016 and opposes President Trump, and his presence is meant to demonstrate bipartisan support for Mr. Biden. Some voters are upset, though, that he is getting more speaking time than progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

•Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. She surged to finish third in the New Hampshire primary, then dropped out and endorsed Mr. Biden before Super Tuesday. She was briefly under vice-presidential consideration but urged Mr. Biden to choose a woman of color after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

•Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin. She is a co-chairwoman of the convention host committee and has represented Milwaukee in Congress for 15 years, including as a former whip of the Congressional Black Caucus.

•Michelle Obama, the former first lady. She delivered one of the most memorable speeches of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, famously declaring, “When they go low, we go high.”

•Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The runner-up in the Democratic primary and the leader of the party's progressive wing, he has a loyal base that Mr. Biden needs to win — and while Mr. Sanders has endorsed Mr. Biden, some of his supporters are reluctant.

•Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi. He is the convention chairman and leads the House Committee on Homeland Security, and has represented Mississippi’s Second Congressional District for more than 25 years.

•Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. A rising figure in the Democratic Party, she has grown further in prominence for her response to the coronavirus pandemic and was a finalist to be Mr. Biden’s running mate.


More: new.php?thread=926254&forum=1458&reply=1&replyid=32758

A Guide to Requisite Medication

What the hell is wrong with these "Republicans"? Molanari is the surprise.

This makes me wonder if Romney will be a surprise speaker on Wednesday or Thursday.

'Just kind of sucks': Disappointed Milwaukee a ghost town for the Democratic convention
MSN, Aug 17, 2020, NBC News

MILWAUKEE — Is it really a convention if nobody convenes?

The streets were lifeless by the Wisconsin Center on Monday for the kickoff of the Democrats' quadrennial meeting to crown their presidential nominee. A handful of police officers, including Secret Service agents, were guarding a fenced-off arena in which almost nobody was allowed.

Nearby storefronts and bars that expected to be bustling when this city was announced as the convention site were desolate or closed. The historic Riverside concert hall next door was shuttered. Mask-wearing pedestrians were jaywalking across major streets with few cars around. Hotels that initially sold out were operating under capacity and furloughing staffers.

"We were set up to have the best year we've ever had," said Kerri Huelsbeck, the general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott downtown, just one block from the arena. "Back in February, I would never have imagined this is where we'd be."

The hotel was just 40 percent full, the sales manager said. In the mostly empty lobby was a wall of heart-shaped stickers with names on them. On the left were 20 stickers of working employees. On the right were 24 stickers of employees still on furlough. Huelsbeck was working double duty as the barista.


More: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/j...4lCh?ocid=ientp

I won't watch. I'll have to be content with clips played on Tucker, Laura, and Newsmax. By the way, I am loving Greg Kelly at 6pm Central time on Newsmax.

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Top DNC Speaker Susan Molinari Made Millions Lobbying For Russia, Federal Records Show

Featured DNC speaker Susan Molinari raked in millions lobbying for Russia, according to documents filed pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

AUGUST 17, 2020 By Sean Davis and Mollie Hemingway

FTA
The heavily promoted formerly Republican lawmaker endorsing Joe Biden for president tonight at the Democratic National Convention was a highly paid Russian lobbyist whose firm was paid millions of dollars for work on behalf of the Kremlin, federal records show.

According to federal documents filed pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the lobbying firm run by former Rep. Susan Molinari and its business partner received nearly $2.5 million in just one six-month period in 2008 to “cover fees and expenses for providing services for the benefit of the Russian Federation.” During the final of the year, the Russian lobbying deal made the consortium another $2.8 million for its work on behalf of the Kremlin, records show.

https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/17/top...l-records-show/

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Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany)

So far at the DNC, we’ve heard:

❌ America “may well go to Hell” if we don’t have open borders

❌ Applauding Portland rioters for “rising up”

❌ Calls for using the Green New Deal to destroy capitalism

This is Joe Biden’s America ‼️—


7:42 PM · Aug 17, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/kayleighmcenany/stat...src=twsrc%5Etfw

Democratic National Convention Day 1 was joyless
Washington Examiner, Aug 17, 2020, Eddie Scarry

It was frustrated and otherwise sapped of any sense of joy that viewers might reasonably expect from what is supposed to be the biggest celebration in Democratic politics.

There was no celebration. There was no happiness. It wasn't fun to watch.

Well before Obama's speech, the DNC started with a prayer for George Floyd, the man who died in Minneapolis while being apprehended by police. There was a sad song in his memory. There was a woman who talked about her supposedly perfectly healthy dad who died of COVID-19, despite him being a senior citizen and clearly overweight (a key indicator of COVID health complications). "His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life,” she said. There was another sad song and then more montages of people who are out of work right now (thanks to the never-ending campaign by Democrats to keep the economy shut down).

Michelle Obama's speech ended with her nearly in tears, presumably in earnest. Her voice choked up as she talked about President Trump's lack of empathy and the urgency of Democratic voters to be sure to vote.

I expected pundits on CNN to rave about how fun this night was, but it wasn't.

Speaking of CNN, the network's Van Jones said, "By the time I got to the end, I was crying."

I'm sure Jones meant that in a good way, too.


https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opini...onvention-day-1

Low-energy virtual Democratic Convention fails to inspire
NY Post, Aug 17, 2020, John Podhoretz

[...]

The thing is, normal folks have never actually seen all this nonsense because the TV networks wisely refuse to show it, as it’s just pablum partisan propaganda. Instead, they cut to their own reporters and anchors to try and manufacture drama and excitement to carry the audience through the four days of the proceedings.

Last night, we got it all. We watched bathetic videos of ordinary people representing ordinary people, and second-rank celebrities reading teleprompter messages. There were awkward musical breaks. And very short speeches by unmemorable elected politicians.

This junk is what was on the big screens at the convention centers and arenas, and at the podium. But you know what? The many thousands of people crammed into the arenas where the conventions were held pre-COVID barely paid attention. No, they’d be chatting, socializing, handing out hats and posters, trying to get selfies with the party’s stars as those stars wander across the floor.

[...]

So what is going on? What does it mean to have a convention without conventioneers, a political rally without the rally, a populist speech that is not interrupted by applause?

Think of this as the political version of caffeine-free diet soda–the most complete simulacrum there is. Just as that drink has nothing in it that actually makes a cola a cola, what happened last night had nothing that makes a convention a convention. These conventions had already become almost totally fake before.

What we learned last night is that when you sever the last connection to the conventions of old—the people—you divorce them completely of any meaning, even vestigial meaning.

Conventions had long since become simulations—the crowd response being the simulation of the emotions the candidate wanted the American people to feel as they considered casting a vote for him. This year, neither the Democratic nor the Republican conventions can provide that stimulation.

What we learned last night is that what they can provide, instead, is…weirdness.

https://nypost.com/2020/08/17/a-low-ener...tic-convention/

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the crowd response being the simulation of the emotions the candidate wanted the American people to feel as they considered casting a vote for him. This year, neither the Democratic nor the Republican conventions can provide that stimulation.

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It's looking like the President's acceptance speech at the White House will be the only speech with an audience.