8/28/08 thoughts from the DNCC

The number of delegates and members of the media that have descended on Denver is astounding. Most impacting for me today, in addition to the outstanding speeches, was the broad range of view points manifested outside of the priviledged permiter. The sheer quantity of people on the streets of Denver was something to witness. I had the opportunity to see the rage against the machine march, hundreds of people strong. Walking the streets it was hard to miss all of the Obama paraphenilia which was in abundance. Since my boyfriend had bought us Obama souvenirs. I chose to buy a Frida t-shirt. It seemed like there were vendors everywhere. I had/have mixed feelings about this. A part of me is inspired by all of the pretty things that are there for sale and then another part can not help but remember Jesus in the temple... A few lone McCain supporters were intersperced in the tapestry of Obama supporters and the things for sale. I saw one t-shirt which read: Obama for rock star. McCain for president. In addition, there were anti-abortion activists driving around in vans postered with pictures of aborted fetuses, an unavoidable assault on the senses. There were people holding signs of fire and brimstone. I found myself wishing that Progressive Christians might be there holding signs speaking to Jesus' love and compassion. It was embarassing for me, as a Christian, to learn from a police officer that of the many people that were arrested on Monday were for the most part conservative Christians demonstrating violently against the gay community (these the officer's words). In one of the many restaurants filled with DNCC visitors, my friends/colleagues and I hatched a plan to visit the make-shift Denver detention center. Since it was starting to turn to night, we decided to hold off on that until tomorrow. I will report back on that as soon as I have more info. It was then that I headed to the Pepsi Center to watch the speakers. My thoughts on those will follow in a separate post. But at the very minimum I do want to acknowledge the DNCC for granting press passes to so many bloggers (myself included). This is something that the Republicans are behind the eight ball on. We have been working to get into the RNCC to report from there. We will see if in seeing the sucess of the DNCC's outreach they too choose to invite us to the table. So much to do in Denver & so little time... My biggest complaint to date: the distances!! I will also write more on that later. :-)