![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/powell4prez.jpg\")
If knowing how to waste millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money
\n is a prerequisite for governing this great country in this day and
\n age, the Democratic Party is demonstrating that they are highly qualified
\n to take the reins of power.<\/p>\n
Obviously, this bash is not, technically, being paid for by the taxpayers. This weeks Democratic National Convention is an excellent example of Of course the REAL big boys, the team these guys are auditioning to The reality is that all the real business of the convention could be And, solely for the sake of following the parallelism, let us say that Today are the state caucuses, and these serve a purpose in that they After all, the main item on the agendas of most delegates and all members Myth and image to the contrary, we doubt much actual deal making takes As for your intrepid correspondent, which Power Party did we attend We got off the subway in Kenmore Square and hailed a cab. $20 This afternoon we get to ask the Secret Service if they’ve seen an Ecuadorian Reuters <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If knowing how to waste millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money is a prerequisite for governing this great country in this day and age, the Democratic Party is demonstrating that they are highly qualified to take the reins of power. … Continue reading
\n True, the contributors to the National Party are<\/em> taxpayers,
\n or at least their shareholders are, but they have contributed "voluntarily",
\n in
\n the interest of, shall we say, greasing the gears of
\n the Democratic mechanism. Not content with funding the politicians
\n in power, these masochists give money to out-of-power politicians practicing<\/em> how
\n to wallow in the public trough. <\/p>\n
\n over-the-top over-planning, over-spending and conspicuous over-consumption.
\n The price tag for this 4-day love fest? Around $100 million dollars.<\/p>\n
\n replace, have just wasted $100 BILLION bucks, throwing it onto a sinkhole
\n in the desert in hope that in time it will bubble back up to the surface
\n in the form of a 40-year revenue stream for Haliburton and the oil companies.
\n As slick a scam, in terms of a large scale redistribution of income from
\n the poor to the rich, as we have seen in a long time.<\/p>\n
\n done in a day and a night, a single session with a nationally televised
\n climax, all of the interesting stuff concentrated in one thrill-packed
\n day. Cynics will say that all of the interesting stuff could be concentrated
\n in a 60-second campaign ad, but even in the activity-intense time-pressured
\n modern world such an important rite of democracy deserves a whole day.<\/p>\n
\n the entire adventure in Iraq should have been over in 3 weeks and everybody
\n should have been home again inside of a month. And if they somehow managed
\n to mount a serious threat against the United STates within our lifetimes,
\n well, we’d go in and do it again. But this occupation business
\n is way too sordid and twisted for Americans to absorb without becoming
\n anti-Americans.<\/p>\n
\n allow the party organization in each state to take care of business and
\n schmooze in an exotic, out-of-town locale. Why can’t they take care of
\n business and schmooze in the privacy of their home states? Well, we suppose
\n there is a benefit to the party from having all the troops in one place
\n before the big battle. But even with a second day for the party caucuses,
\n this should be a two-day event, tops.<\/p>\n
\n of the media is to PAH-TEY. When the Fleet Center session broke up last
\n night, after the climatic speeches by the Clintons, all the talk of the
\n exiting masses was which party are you going to, how late do the subways
\n run, how late do the bars stay open, how stupid is that, how far away
\n is Cambridge, what the fastest way out of here. We have know who the
\n candidate will be since Super Tuesday, over four months ago, and the
\n party platform was hammered out way before this shindig began.<\/p>\n
\n place at the convention. It is a chance to network, to meet the
\n people you will be working with over the coming years, to put faces to
\n names, to observe personal habits and try to position oneself for the
\n coming rush to power.<\/p>\n
\n last night? Unfortunately, as we were exiting the Fleet Center,
\n sometime after 11, being regurgitated by the building in an irresistible
\n gush of anxious humanity, we realized that we didn’t have our keys. Car,
\n work, home they had all been attached to an Ecuadorian key ring\/bottle
\n openers reading "Mitad del Mundo". We had left them at the super-efficient
\n but intimidating x-ray, secret service security checkpoint on the way
\n into the Convention.<\/p>\n
\n later, around 12:30, we arrived home. This morning when we arrived
\n at the office at 7:30 there was a ticket on our car at the meter where
\n we had left it before heading to the Fleet yesterday. $30 for No Overnight
\n Parking. At least the car was still there.<\/p>\n
\n bottle-opener key ring. We are certainly looking forward to that.
\n We bet those Secret Service guys really know how to party.<\/p>\n
\n photo<\/a> by Marc Serota<\/p>\n