My Notes of Sept. 5th Democratic National Convention Day, Part I

N.B.: I have not run a fact check on some of the Democratic speakers' claims. If I'll do, I'll amend these 'minutes.'

5:01 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Antonio Villaraigosa, announced by a bilingual speaker who does his name justice, takes the stage. He is the mayor of Los Angeles.

Gov. Ted Strickland: Amendment to platform. Ordained united Methodist minister. President Obama: Jerusalem capital of Israel. Camera focuses on "Arab American"-wielding people. Loud shouts for and against. Mayor repeats vote. Mayor says 2/3 have voted in favour of the amendment. Bollocks.
(Guardian: "Democratic convention erupts over reinstatement of Jerusalem to policy," by Ewen MacAskill, September 6, 2012)

5:07 p.m. African Methodist Episcopal bishop Vashti McKenzie preaches against "sexism," etc. Much less god-y and more secular messages in the Democratic convention, I'd say. An impressively fiery lady, too.

ROTC Color Guard brings in the flags. Loud applause for Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas, who recites the Pledge of Allegiance. Branford Marsalis performs the National Anthem on what looks like a straight saxophone. No sign of Bill Clinton as a duet partner. Kind of cheerful and valiant, piping singly into the large chamber, and very elegant.

Color Guard leaves the stage after chants of "U-S-A!" and to applause.

5:15 p.m. Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois's 4th District. "We are never more patriotic than when we see a group of people being treated unfairly and we say, 'Stop.'" June 17th: Obama offers amnesty for young children of illegal immigrant parents. "They are American in every way but on paper." But Romney wants illegal immigrants to self-deport, he says. Mitt Romney wants to 'turn their dreams into nightmares.' Harsh but perhaps accurate, and I wouldn't make Romney solely responsible for that attitude. Talks about American citizen, a soldier who has a 'beautiful immigrant son' with his wife, who had document issues. Unwisely talks about "mejor amiga" in proximity to "Janice Brewer," since it might be misheard as "whore." We should vote for Barack Obama to help him show that "freedom, equality are for all of us, all of the time."

5:21 p.m. Diana DeGette of Colorado's 1st District, Congresswoman. Talks about her daughters and how she wants to ensure that they are not "second class citizens." Nice western twang. Mentions pay gap between men and women: 1$ vs. 77 cents, addressed by Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Opposes Personhood Amendment including ban on embryonic stem cell research and abortion in cases of rape or incest and on in vitro fertilization, along with ordinary birth control and abortion — which has been proposed by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, etc. Links women's Medicare to the economic needs of American citizens. She seems sincere and conscientiously concerned.

5:28 p.m. Enthusiastic reception for John Pérez, Speaker of the California State Assembly. He answers the question, "Who are we fighting for?" . . . People who are seeking opportunity and equality. In 2009, 'some people said, "let Detroit fail"' (N.B.: Nudge at Mitt Romney and his New York Times op-ed which a subeditor rather bluntly entitled: "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." What he did write was, "In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check."); Obama didn't. Like Gutierrez, he talks about having "dignity and respect" for fellow people. "But we have a lot of work to do between now and then. So let's get to work! Thank you." He is, I've found out, also a union organizer and a cousin of Villaraigosa.

5:33 p.m. Boston, Massachusetts, mayor Tom Menino. He sounds very Massachusetts-y at moments, to a Mayor Quimby degree, with a soupçon of congressman Barney Frank. Bawston, jawb. Jabs at Mitt Romney. "In Boston, do you know what we call immigrants? Mom and dad. Do you know what we call same-sex couples? Our friends, our brothers, and our sisters." Pahtna = partner. Health care companies are supported by National Research (Council?), i.e. government, funds, he mentions in passing. Massachusetts apparently 47th out of the 50 states in terms of job creation under Romney; for instance, he "cut workforce training." Romney talks about "broken promises." "Well, he would know."
'It's time to keep moving forward. It's time to reelect Obama as president of the United States.'

5:40 p.m. California congresswoman — 32nd district — Judy Chu, granddaughter of Chinese immigrant. Voting, landowning, hiring discrimination against immigrants; but grandfather persisted and "worked 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, for decades." Obama wants to extend the opportunities for all people, ensure "college affordability" and "small business tax cuts" and "health care for all Americans." Obamacare = "President Obama cares," so she no longer resents that word. Romney hammered for Op-Ed again, Obama praised for 'saving auto industry.' Vouchers mean that there is no guarantee of medical insurance coverage. "President Obama cares about all Americans," "whether we're middle class or working hard to get there." That is a pretty grounded phrase and compares favourably to the Republican conventioneers, whose mantra, I thought, was rather that we may not all be rich, but many of us are working towards getting there.

5:47 p.m. Steve Westly, former California State Controller. Very shiny Silicon Valley person, helped organize eBay. The economy. "It's also about supporting the jobs for tomorrow," making US skilled workers competitive with China, etc. Making "especially math and science, a top priority." When it comes to education, 'We should be beating the rest of the world, not beating up on teachers.' Obama 'pledged to double American exports by 2015. By now, we're more than 50% of the way there.' Smarmy grins. Support for "partnerships between community colleges and businesses." Republican economists are out of touch with contemporary economy. 'Outsource' for Them, 'opensource' for Us. Mr. Westly has two children in public school, so there's that going for him in terms of ordinary-Americanness.

5:51 p.m. "Small Business" short film. Solar panel manufacturers! 'Small businesses create most of the new jobs in this country,' says Obama. Small business tax cuts under Obama administration mentioned again.

Representative John Larson, of Connecticut's 1st District. Seniors can pay up to $6,400 'out of their own pockets' to cover their own medical care, under Romney-Ryan plans. Sister Act-like reference to the nuns - Sisters of Notre Dame. He's 'on fire'! "God bless you! God bless America!"

6:00 p.m. Ken Myers: Deputy Sheriff, father, teamster, of Carroll County of Iowa. Talks about negotiation with armed man; 'thankfully, no one was hurt.' Republicans denouncing "teachers, firefighters, and cops" are denouncing this kind of work; prohibitions on collective bargaining like the ones imposed in Iowa and supported by Mitt Romney are impeding this kind of work; funding for the services, incl. bulletproof vests, ambulances, availability of backup for police first responders, etc. cut by nearly 20% in his state. First 9/11 reference.