Crossposted at Docudharma.

SO many things going on. I didn’t get a chance to submit these last night because I was too damn exhausted. As I was heading home last night, I came across a biker stand off with police at 15th and Blake Streets in Denver. One guy got hauled off and arrested but the picture I took came out all fuzzy. It was one of those spur of the moment photographs that just didn’t come out right when you needed it to.

I’m including these photos because the Democratic National Conference is more than just a dog & pony show. Political conventions have always been about protests, overreactive police force, etc. These photos capture some of the things that took place. When I left the bikers were chanting “The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching!” Activists never get credit for the actions they do. That’s why they belong here.

As always….. more to come.

More pictures from inside and outside the Big Tent. Lots more to come. Believe me!

Well…..here it is folks. Hope you all get a good laugh out of it.

The delegate count got to New York where Senator Hillary Clinton asked Speaker Nancy Pelosi to suspend the rules and nominate Barack Obama outright. It’s official. Howard Dean said expect the unexpected with Hillary Clinton. That’s an understatement.

Pelosi just announces Obama accepted the nomination.

The Pepsi Arena is going wild. The Big Tent is going wild.

It’s done. It’s all over.

… now back to some Fat Tire Ales.

Crossposted at Docudharma.

I just talked to Jane Hamsher of FDL who told me an ABC News producer was arrested for taking pictures of fat cat donors coming out of a fund raiser. Here’s the diary she wrote at Firedoglake. But Brian Ross of ABC News has the story. Check it out.

As Julie Waters likes to say….

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

Here’s the link to the story. They’re not just going after activists…. now they’re going after…

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA?

Sweet Jesus! What have we come to? Spread the word…. and more to come.

Too much to say, too little time. I got into the Pepsi Arena but my pass was only good for the hallways, not the arena itself. Still… I got some good pictures. JD Ryan said it best about the convention. It’s too damn surreal. I would add that when you get in the arena, you’ll notice it DEFINITELY doesn’t have the feel of a “people’s party.” It’s a good thing the blogosphere is filling in that hole.  

Stay tuned y’all. Here’s my slide show from yesterday, If you have any questions, Comment here and I’ll respond. All of you at Docudharma GREEN MOUNTAIN DAILY are the best!

– Christian

h/t to Raw Story for covering this. Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and A-list bloggers Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher were all shut out of a Blue Dog Democratic party sponsored by AT & T. All three of them had press credentials. Here’s how Amy Goodman covered the event. Welcome to the Dems version of Dick Cheney’s energy council.

Not sure if anyone saw today’s broadcast of Democracy Now! but their convention correspondent Jeremy Scahill caught up with our congressman, Peter Welch. Scahill asks him about his support for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her inability to support impeachment. Here’s the exchange they had.

JEREMY SCAHILL: While the hype inside the Pepsi Center is mostly about Barack Obama, many in the social justice movement have criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Perhaps the most frequently invoked of these criticisms is that of her statement upon taking over as speaker in 2006, when she said that impeachment of President Bush was off the table. We put that question to Representative Peter Welch of Vermont.

REP. PETER WELCH: The issue here is accountability. And you’ve got to be candid with the American people. Congress voted with the President to go to war. So they don’t have great standing in second-guessing at this point. We’ve got to bring the troops home, is my view. Secondly, on the whole wiretapping, which is the other area that is of enormous concern to me and many Americans, Congress voted to give the President that authority. So, frankly, I think people can be looking not just to impeachment, but to putting pressure on their members of Congress to use the power of the purse on the war to cut off funding and to use the power of the vote to demand we protect constitutional rights and not re-pass FISA, as Congress recently did.

JEREMY SCAHILL: I think some can reasonably say there’s been a serious failure of leadership from Nancy Pelosi on some of the key issues for the antiwar movement, civil liberties community. It seems like the House caves on almost all of the major issues of the Bush administration’s agenda.

REP. PETER WELCH: Well, Pelosi has voted against the war. Pelosi voted against the FISA-the original FISA legislation. I happen to think Pelosi’s doing a terrific job. And the original Congress, when they voted to support the war, it was a catastrophic mistake for this country. They got a lot of bogus information from the President. But the members of Congress who took the time and had the courage got it right. Pelosi was one of them.

Naturally, this pisses me off. But did any of us really expect Welch to respond differently? I didn’t think so.  

Crossposted at Docudharma.

The Big Tent was a hip and happening place. Lotsa people in the bloggers lounge today. I met up with some of the shakers and movers of the blogosphere: Markos, MissLaura, BarbinMD, Plutonium Planet, Kagro X, and others. Daily Kos has their own couch reserved for them. Everybody there is cool. I also ran into Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis and Matt Stoller of MyDD.

Lots of people made their appearances. Arianna Huffington, my wonderful Senator Pat Leahy of Vermont, Paul Krugman, and more.

Paul Krugman of The New York Times

Arianna Huffington

There was lots of media covering The Big Tent. Eat your heart out MSM. You loathe us yet we’re the ones getting tons of press. It’s great.

Not much more to report. The rest is just a blur. I think that was when the Fat Tire Ales kicked in. However….

More below the fold.  

…. there was a rumor going around that the RNC was sponsoring an event for the PUMA folks. It seems to me the RNC wanted to exploit and take advantage of the bitter Clinton supporters who are out here. I heard some of the DKos front-pagers were going to crash it tonight. If I hear of anything I’ll be sure to post it ASAP.

Before I headed back to the Highlands, I did catch an MSNBC round table show with the usual suspects: Rachel Maddow, Norah O’Donnell, Pat Buchanan, and a special guest I wasn’t familiar with. The part I caught, Maddow and O’Donnell were arguing over something. Rachel said something that made the crowd cheer then they went to commercial. Then they cheered her on some more.

O’Donnell gets pwned by Rachel Maddow

 “The Bastard” known as Pat Buchanan

That’s it for tonight so….

…. “STICK AROUND. WE’LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH MORE STUFF!”

Crossposted at Docudharma.

Michelle Obama spoke tonight but I was too damn exhausted to cover it. I was one of many bloggers getting bombed with all the free beer they’re giving us under The Big Tent. So I guess I’ll just give you some random observations throughout the day along with some pictures to boot. The good news is Green Mountain Daily got some press in Conde Nast Portfolio magazine. Look for it tomorrow….. I hope. So here’s the recap:

*Spent most of the day trying to get to the place to pick up my creds. Luckily I caught a Falun Gong parade. They marched all the way around the Pepsi Center. Check it out.

Lots more below the fold.

* It took me forever just to get my press credentials. I had to have a runner come out and meet me at the first perimeter with a pass. Then they let me in. After that, it was another perimeter just to get to the media tents and The Pepsi Arena. It was like going through airport security. They made me take my laptop out, my wallet, cellphone, etc. I went through the metal detector, got “wand raped,” and then I was free.

*In line were Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of “Morning Joe.” They stood out like sore thumbs.

 Joe and Mika wait to get in.

A young girl went up to interview them and asked Scarborough if he was going to The Big Tent. He responded by saying, “not unless they pay me well,” and then went on to criticize them because they criticize him. Brzezinski just stood there and validated everything he said. What an ass.

* I got my creds through Talk Radio News Service. Great group of folks. The crappy aspect of the media tents were there was no wifi. The DNC wouldn’t permit it from what I heard. When I asked Dan Patterson of Talk Radio News why the DNC wouldn’t permit it, he said “because the DNC are assholes?” Pretty funny. All the usuals suspects were there. I saw the WaPost, Newsweek, Time, Christian Science Monitor, AP had a HUGE presence, WSJ, even GQ was there as well as Politico, NPR affiliates and more.  

* CNN and FOX have their own buildings. They literally took out entire Pepsi Arena restaurants. CNN on the other hand, is in the restaurant business. I’m serious. Check it out.

 CNN: The restaurant franchise? WTF?

 FOX News headquarters: In a burger joint.

* The scene inside the second perimeter is surreal. There are all these empty streets with nothing but cops (lots of them) and tons of golf carts carrying around what looked like important people. Weird. The cops have these friggin long billy clubs while other are carrying machine guns. It’s like a couple notches below a Palestinian check point. It’s that f-ed up.

* After I got my bearings of the area I just had to leave. I did walk by Ted Koppel on my way out and then at the first perimeter I saw a black stretch limo pull up with Colorado license plates saying “TOPGUN-1.” Out came Andrea Mitchell of NBC Nightly News and she was brisked away through security. Whatever.

 Andrea Mitchell: TOPGUN-1? Whatever.

I biked my way over to The Big Tent and things got even better. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to cover Michelle Obama. I’ll be in there tomorrow night to cover whoever’s speaking. Now for Part II: The fun under The Big Tent.

Favorite photo of the day: Rednecks for Obama!