Westporters Mark McCall, Marianna McCall and Al Puchala are in Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention. They sent this report:
Last night we watched Bill Clinton give an electrifying speech to a fired up audience. The crowd was enthusiastic, emotional and full of energy. This morning we realize that the speech played even better on TV than it did in the arena. Clinton is a master, and an incredible asset to the Obama campaign. And the night before, the First Lady was a star.
The speakers are strong, the messages are cohesive, and each speech seems to be better than the last. Our own Dan Malloy spoke yesterday, and also delivered Connecticut’s votes for the president. We are proud of him.
Mark McCall, Marianna McCall and Al Puchala in Charlotte.
Hope you are all watching. In Charlotte the mood is upbeat and people are thrilled with how well everything is going. The only hitch so far has been the change of venue for the President’s speech tonight. We were expecting to be at the stadium with 70,000 spectators. Instead we will remain in the arena that seats only 19,000.
There will be viewing parties in other locations, including many smaller house parties in Charlotte and around the entire state. This is a battleground state, and the energy radiating out of Charlotte will give campaign volunteers here a big boost in the 8 weeks leading up to the election.
IMPORTANT NOTE TO “06880” READERS WHO WILL ACCUSE ME OF HAVING AN “AGENDA”: I asked several people to send reports from the Republican convention last week in Tampa. I wanted to convey what was going on there, too. Unfortunately I did not get any exclusive-to-“06880” info.
Dan,
You need to branch out and get some republican friends.
I have many Republican friends. Unfortunately, they were all too busy self-deporting immigrants, forcing women to have unwanted babies, and prying into bedrooms to make sure that only men and women are married, to be able to send a report from their convention.
Wait! I’m kidding! That was a joke!
I think.
The agenda for all to see.
SMARMY………about what one can excpect from you people.
The truth hurts. Stop hassling immigrants, stop forcing women to have unwanted babies and stop hating on LBGT folks, and we “the people” will stop making jokes and laughing at your expense. We weep for you too (because we’re like that)…, but we laugh more.
Illegal immigrants.
The only hitch is the venue? Really? How about the removal of God and Jerusalem. The vote last night was sad and truly did not endorse adding it back. This is huge and I don’t know how anyone can accept it.
The highlight was a speech by an impeached president who lost his license to practice law beacuse he lied under oath. Speaks volumes about the character of the party. A previous night they honored a man who killed a woman, last night they cheered a man who molested women. Got it.
Another little own fact – moochie lost her law license and obama gave his up to avoid an investigation.
Only 60 days from today and we can say, “adios MF’r!”.
Sounds like you’ve been drinking the Limbaugh Kool-Aid. The Obamas voluntarily put their law licenses on “Inactive” status. In order to keep them active, they would have had to take many hours of continuing education. Since they are presently not practicing law, there was no reason to keep them active. For full details, see — http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/lawlicenses.asp
Jim Jones was a Democrat, and it was Flavor Aid. BTW What happened to Slicks’ law license?
Sounds like just another closet racist that hates it that our president is black. (And is afraid to post his real name )
Politics: how to explain IT to my 12-year-old who doesn’t/can’t understand.
How can the world be so “BLACK & WHITE?” (when it’s really 50 Shades of Grey…kidding ! 😉
AND, how I despise ALL those Politicians (red OR blue), with their Grand Statements, Un-deliverable Promises and HYPERBOLE… and their Black-and-White (AKA PARTISAN) views.
AND, how can I possibly choose ?
I love my GAY friends & family members… I can’t judge their lifestyle:
while it is not one I choose, who am I to disparage their choices in this life ?
AND, I love my friends of other color & creed – no matter where they come from in the world – BUT, can I decide whose religion or skin color or path is “superior” or “right ?”
AND, do I think everyone who is underprivileged or maligned deserves to be “bailed out ?”… HELL NO, I work WAY too hard for my money…
And you Right-to-Lifers — WHO THE HELL ARE YOU ?? How do you know the circumstances of a woman’s situation ??? To be so JUDGMENTAL in your opinions… it is NOT OUR RIGHT or OUR CHOICE to dictate what any woman does with her body and her life.
So, once again I face an(other) election with yet another impossible choice:
“WHICH CANDIDATE IS THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS???”
And I try to explain to my son… “this is just the way it is.”
AND I ask myself: Is this REALLY the best America can do ???
(Meanwhile, Rome burns…)
If you, or anyone, is undecided at this point, you’re an idiot! (that’s the politically correct term)
What about the unborn baby’s rights?
One candidate believes the unborn baby should not be killed, the other believes it’s okay to stick a probe into its skull and suck until the baby dies.
Yet the one who believes in life is called “extreme”.
OH MY,
THOU sounds so VIRTUOUS from THY LOFTY MORAL HIGH GROUND…
Perhaps you might do well to retreat to the Crusades, Dark Ages, or The Inquisition ?
How do you know possibly how I feel about “Life?” How I define “Life?” What I do to protect “Life,” as I see it ?
But: I believe “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” You ? Hmmm… you have clearly spoken.
The bottom line: I am not an “idiot” as you would deem…
I merely don’t espouse to the immutable beliefs that you do.
And therein lies the problem.
Only a liberal, regardless of what you call yourself, could accuse me of being from the dark ages, but defends killing a defenseless innocent baby.
And at the same times, be against capital punishment.
“and therein lies the problem”
Not a liberal, but a leftist. Liberals do not advocate big government.
You do espouse immutable beliefs.
They should go back to using coat hangers.
There are other ways than to celebrate it as they did in Charlotte.
Democratic platform – Abortion, government is your friend, abortion, republicans are racist and evil, abortion, even though we haven’t done much (except f it up) give us another 4 years, abortion, it was Bush’s faut, abortion, we will take care of you, abortion, republicans want you to die, abortion, Ted Kennedy is for women (and booze or both), abortion, no God, abortion, screw Isreal…
Too bad the hanger didn’t work on you.
That was to Wrecker, BY THE WAY.
Have you ever had to perform an abortion with a hanger? You should try it. Then come talk to me.
Maybe, “Life is precious,” you’d like to take care of all the unborn babies AFTER they’re born. It’s tragic how the Right-to-Lifers fight so vehemently for the unborn child, then completely cast them adrift once they’re born.
Abortion is a tragedy that the left now treats as a sacrament. What other reason is there for deletion of the word “rare” when describing abortion in the 2008 and 2012 Democratic Platform? In 2004 it was “Abortion should be safe, legal and rare.” I think most Americans could accept that position, but instead each Party is, once again, being defined by their respective radical elements.
“If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” Florynce Rae “Flo” Kennedy (February 11, 1916 – December 22, 2000), an American lawyer, activist, civil rights advocate, and feminist.
You’re a little late, and have it slightly backwards.
The Democrats must be congratualed for a major real estate deal. they moved Jerusalem to Israel from oblivion.
I like how they ignored the delegates who objected to God and Isreal, yet took three votes and did what they wanted anyway when it was at least even if not more.
Or their BEYOND Creepy video claiming “we all belong to the government”, maybe you dems do, but I sure as hell don’t!!!
You people should really start to think for yourselves and stop rushing to be 21st century slaves.
Let me tell you the truth about the Jerusalem story. Clearly, there are left-wing Democrats who hate Israel…but they love the Jews in fact, some are Jewish themselves. Now, on the other hand, there are right-wing Republicans who hate Jews and love Israel.
Odd isn’t. I think I know why. If the Democrats had been supporting Israel to the hilt…anything Israel wants to do is OK, I can assure you that the Republicans would be supporting the Palestinians. Why? Simply to be contrary. Another example of how they have put their party before country over the last 4 years — just to make Obama a one-term president.
And I will tell you another truth that is not in the Republican platform: Many of them — especially in the Southern federally-supported red-states that feed of off blue-state federal money — simply want to get rid of the nigger!
The truth is that you do not tell the truth. 8.3% unemployment is a fact. The only fact revealed in your post is your hatred.
Not my hatred…their hatred. Some of my best friends are local Republicans. They don’t care for Obama but they are bewildered and hurt by the hateful direction of their own party.
WTF – are their goddam tax breaks worth all the racism and misogyny? What miserable excuses for human beings are they if that’s all that drives them? If your a blood, or crip, you own all their atrocities. Same with the GOP…. and yes it’s the same with the Democrats (but fellating Wall Street is much less egregious behavior than institutionalized racism, misogyny and poverty for all).
The only racism here is yours.
No, it was your hatred. Plain to see.
Observer –
You are a complete moron and I hope the hatred that you spew, masked as “their” hatred, comes back to bite you. I do not know who you are but you seem like a sad, pathetic excuse of a social activist and clearly do not know what you speak of.
Your friends messed up and trying to cover their behinds. If this was an issue at the RNC, I can guarantee you everyone would be up in arms. But since there is a double standard, of course there is a reasonable excuse… OF COURSE!!!
You are a sad, little person and you obviously hold nothing but hate and disgust in your own heart — attempting to project that onto another political party. Go rot in a hole.
Right on, Flight from Freedom!
🙂
A moron? How do you know? Observer could be a Jew or a Catholic or a Hindu. Oh, moron, not mormon….never mind…
What an ugly collection of comments.
AGREED, John, and
Precisely my point:
How quickly everyone jumps to one side of the aisle.
No longer any middle ground in which to meet.
Unaffiliated (moving towards apathetic), I’m the voter they all should be courting… and I can’t stand any of them.
Partisanship is important when the issues matter. You can’t compromise principles if you have them. I respect the right wingers for their vigilance and consistency even though I abhor the majority of their views. It’s the squishy “why can’t we all get along” folks like yourself that are truly sad. Issues matter, and people often disagree. Pretending that is not the case is intellectually dishonest, and equivalent to a unilateral surrender of one’s own principles. Decide what matters to you and take a side, and stop whining about whey we can’t all get along. We don’t all get along, because we disagree about important shit.
Me
So if you believe strongly in a position, the best way to get your opinion across is to attack the other side? Honorable people can disagree, but the amount of venom that is being spewed by both sides is appalling.
So, the answer to incivility is to pretend that support for racism, misogyny, homophobia, immoral greed and forever wars* are somehow rational, reasonable positions to have in a civilized society in 2012. They are not. If the truth hurts and is occasionally profane, I’ll take that over polite resignation to idiocy any day.
* forever wars, there’s some killer bipartisanship for you.
Your hatred precludes any rational discussion.
The Dr. has a cure for what ails you:
http://www.cvs.com/shop/product-detail/CVS-Smelling-Salts?skuId=851833
You made my point.
If people just agreed with me all the time about everything, the world would be a far better place.
What are you, crazy! If everyone agreed with ME, the world would be a better place. ;<)
Dan, how about a controversial blog next time. No more of this soft-ball stuff. I want to see blood.
Dan is pushing his agenda as hard as he can.
Dan: Martha Aasen, featured a few weeks ago on 06880, was also a Westport delegate at the DNC – FYI.
Apologies – forgot to fill in my name. 🙂
DNC, RNC, Dan’s political agendas – who cares?!
Dan cares. Anything to inflate his ego and boost his online profile. It is rather sad. But he’s a big boy, and fully realizes what he’s doing. It is very manipulative.
By the way, how’s that Jobs Report doing for you Dan? Nice numbers. But it wouldn’t ever impact you.. You’re protected by the Westport Public School System and it’s TAXPAYERS!!!!
“It is very manipulative.”
He is an evil genius. He made you look silly.
Dan is only employed as a soccer coach, although he’s always around Staples. Must have a good inheritance.
“Dan is only employed as a soccer coach, although he’s always around Staples. Must have a good inheritance.” Pray tell, Anonymous, what YOUR contribution to society has been, other than your anonymity and from what do you derive your organic growth? Human fertilizer, perhaps?
From what I am told, Dan receives employment protection (and some kind of stipend or salary, I imagine) as an advisor to the Guidance Department.
Perhaps the man, himself, can confirm or repute these claims.
I don’t think it’s anyone’s business. I’m sure Dan receives something from his books and newspaper columns. But it’s still not our business.
It is no one’s business. BUT: I receive stipends as varsity soccer coach, and yearbook advisor. I also work for the athletic department during the winter, timing and scoring basketball games and wrestling matches. I receive no benefits. Each of those positions is renewed yearly. I can be non-renewed at any time. (And, because I’m a Westport taxpayer, in a sense I’m paying my own salary.)
I am also a freelance writer. I am paid on a per-column basis for my Westport News “Woog’s World” pieces. I do corporate writing (and corporate writing consulting) which pays anywhere from poorly to decently.
I have written 17 books. None is a best-seller. I self-published my most recent (“We Kick Balls: True Stories from the Youth Soccer Wars”), which has not yet earned back what I have spent on it.
I have not received a penny of inheritance from anyone. I found that comment pretty offensive, I must say.
I love what I do, and consider myself fortunate to be able to do so. I have a low-key lifestyle, and consider myself fortunate to live in Westport, too. I spend 2 hours a day on “06880” — writing, editing, interviewing, taking photos, answering email — and responding to comments. I do it because I love Westport — warts and all — and, yes, because I enjoy being able to write what I want about it. I get no compensation at all for this. However, there is a “Donate” button, which readers are free to click on or ignore.
Anonymous, if you’d like more information about my financial situation, please send me an email privately. And maybe sign your name.
He’s not manipulative…he’s a very smart capable dude who knows that those who are silly enough to spew venom behind anonymity will do so and make fools out of themselves on almost any subject but especially politics.
If each of two sides take intractible positions nothing happens and the result is a milieu of an ugly, untenable morass. Then hopefully these two sides will get off their high horses and begin to compromise and move forward. Generally those who understand compromise best are more mature folks who have experienced the morass in one way or another and decide that compromise and civil discourse is what makes governments work.
Let’s see what happens. Wonder if I have enough time left to experience he pleasure of compromise before the hotheaded, intractible folk screw it up so bad there’s nothing left.
Reagan, Clinton, and Bush all were able to deal with divided government. Obama cannot. He does not have the inclination or the ability to do so. If you want compromise, don’t look to Obama.
Compromise for the sake of compromise is crazy when it comes to fundamental issues such as pointless wars, basic economic fairness and an individual’s right to privacy. The timid DLC Democrats have been compromising principles for two decades. Perhaps if they compromised a little less, President Obama wouldn’t be fighting so hard to win reelection against the extremist, thoroughly off the rails GOP of 2012.
Gee, that was well reasoned. Democrats demanding a right to privacy is a bad joke. I think among the biggest problems Obama confronts is 8%+ unemployment and $5 trillion in new debt. The war in Afgahnistan is now Obama’s war. Economic fairness would be letting each of us keep what we earn.
See, that’s why we can’t compromise, and that’s how democracy works in our anachronistic two party system. I agree that the Obama led Democrats suck, but they suck many (many) orders of magnitude less than your team. Also, they are not racist, misogynist homophobes – and that’s pretty important to me and my ethnic, woman LBGT friends. Clearly, your priorities are different. You and I can sleep well at night knowing our votes will cancel each others out.
You have no idea who is on my team. You are very foolish, and a bigot.
Well said, O&G…
Agree about Dan-the-Man and very much to my point.
But, it would appear that civility is dead, if one is to interpret our little world of 06880 as a microcosm of a bigger reality.
“But, it would appear that civility is dead, if one is to interpret our little world of 06880 as a microcosm of a bigger reality.”
Well said, Mr/Mrs PUKING.
In the Westport that I grew up in (’52-’78), Republicans were the “solid citizens” with money, connections and free time to put into making the town a great place for those who were like them. Democrats were the loons, with their “issues” that the rest of the town didn’t care much about but always took in their stride because, after all, they were loons. It’s a struggle to see how a hometown boy like Dan, who has always been open, honest and most importantly goodhearted about what he believes (and what he believes can scarcely be called “selfish” or “manipulative” yet unbelievably they call him those things) gets hung out to dry because he has the temerity to express himself on an unpaid forum, that would not exist without his original initiative and ongoing effort, by people who have nothing better to do than to vegetate on his forum and then criticize him because they disagree with him on a venue that he has created for everyone’s pleasure. Only in Westport.
And that is the view from Bugtussle Kentucky.
Not quite, Anonymous but close!!!
I guess, if you can’t run with the big dogs, Bugtussle will have to do.
It was never a question of being able to run with them, more an unwillingness to catch fleas or drink from the toilet. From where do YOU hail?
Not Bugtussle, I prefer indoor plumbing.
Eric lives in the Cincinnati area. He’s probably doing well there, living in the slums. Perfect fit.
It’s definitely not Westport, but then, what is?