DNCecrets?
Thursday, July 8, 2004
Last week, organizers of the Democratic National Convention (mess) took the FleetCenter into what they called "press lockdown." Sounds alarming, no?
Not really. It was another very transparent attempt by the DNC to bring some small level of surprise to the opening of the convention.
See, their problem is, conventions aren't news. They are hyper-staged non-news that somehow still sneaks into primetime television as "news." But the networks have finally caught on to the ruse and have made threats to curtail TV time yet again.
So as the stage began to take shape in the Fleet, organizers shut the doors and are keeping extra mum on the stage design. "We really want that to be a surprise so we're keeping it close to the vest," construction manager Alan Rose told me a few weeks ago.
Yet again, somebody forgot to get the memo to national DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe. You remember Terry - the one who told Herald reporter Noelle Straub there would be no traffic in Boston around the convention!
Well now he's gone and blabbed to Newsweek about the "secret" stage.
McAuliffe described it as a visual town hall writ large, according to the magazine. Reporter Howard Fineman writes, "For the first time, risers with seats will be incorporated into the stage so several hundred 'real' voters - not fat cats - can form a human backdrop and also interact with speakers and guests.
He continues, "Below and around the podium, windows will show party officials at work - a beehive of activity.
Said McAuliffe: "The idea is not to have some dictatorial podium alone on the stage but people everywhere."
So there it is, the big secret, revealed early - again.
My take: Sounds like "Saturday Night Live" melded with "The Muppets" and "Rent," all staged on the CNN news set.
posted by David R. Guarino at 09:19:37
(Sniffle) Gosh, the Dims are so "tolerant and compassionate" (sob).
I would add Agents Mulder and Scully ("I want to believe!") from "The X-Files" and Howard Beale, Mad Prophet of the Airwaves ("I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!) from "Network" and The Borg ("Resistance is futile!") from "Star Trek: The Next Generation". They all sound like registered DHIMMICRATS and DUMMYRATS, too! The CNN (Certified Nutcase Network) is fine with me!