i will only say that the fact that someone i know found sarah palin more compelling because he saw a photo of her with an assault rifle and a moose makes me lose all faith in humanity. or at least midwesterners, as the self-hating midwesterner that i am.

ps - brad appears to suck at motorstorm, despite the fact that i assume his days that are devoted mostly to videogames.

At one part, he even railed against the Republican party for a minute. Why should people vote for a Republican to be responsible after the past 8 years? That was never made clear.

All in all, the fact they screwed up the background is the best summation of the entire event:

I'm surprised this hadn't occurred to me. But several readers have suggested that perhaps one of the tech geeks charged with setting up the audio/visual bells and whistles for the evening was tasked with getting pictures of Walter Reed Army Medical Center but goofed and got this instead. At first I thought, No, that's ridiculous. This is a major political party with big time professionals putting this together. Nothing is left to chance. I mean, is this the RNC or a scene out Spinal Tap or Waiting for Guffman? I still have a bit of a hard time believing they're quite that incompetent. But when you figure in what appears to be the utter lack of any logic for this school being behind McCain and the fact that it has 'Walter Reed' in its name, I'm really not sure you can discount this possibility.

Brilliant.

The oddest moment of the night came in Guiliani's speech, when he claimed that Obama's success story could happen "only in America" and the audience began to laugh. Maybe I just don't get it. Why would that be funny? Do they think America has too much opportunity?

Palin came across as a dyed-in-the-wool GOP knife fighter, eager to lie (Obama's tax plan actually cuts taxes for 85% of middle income Americans by over a grand....way more than the McCain plan, which costs $40 trillion but mostly deals with corporate taxes) and obfuscate (she actually fought for the bridge to nowhere....but now baldly claims she was against it!) to get elected. Ugh. Hopefully the media will call her out on her distortions (a few did last night.)

The contrast between the two conventions couldn't be starker: Obama's final speech, in which he said that we should never question the patriotism of those in the other party stands in clear opposition to every speech given last night, where GOP member after GOP member slammed the Democrats for being weak on economics or national security. It's like we're in bizarro-land, where President Gore has presided for the past eight years.

Sigh.

Firefox and IE need to adapt quickly. Since IE8 is already almost ready to be shipped, both teams are going to have to readjust quickly.

I never thought I'd be happy to see the return of the browser wars, but I am.

Obama had one chance to nail it and did. In front of more people at one moment than ever before. Most Americans didn't know Barack Obama before last night. Now, at least 1 out of 8 has seen him. That's an amazing statistic for our country.

So maybe Team Obama should go on the offensive, having some of its female surrogates express their disgust and dismay that McCain apparently considers women candidates to be interchangeable, regardless of their experience or policy views. (This was, after all, a common gripe among Hillary voters whenever it was suggested that Obama might tap Kathleen Sebelius as his number 2.)

This is actually why I think Palin is a good pick. For the Democrats. She is a GOP standard bearer in the same garb as Clarence Thomas, or Bobby Jindal: an unexceptional person who merely acts as a placeholder. Can you imagine if the Democrats nominated candidates based merely on color, or gender?

There were so many good lines, it's hard to focus on two, but these really stood out for me:

What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's about you.

and...

Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush was right more than 90 percent of the time?" Obama asked. "I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.

Regardless, Obama threw one hell of a political touchdown pass last night.

1. Warner's speech was great. He was a much better orator than anyone else on the dais, hands down. I still wish he were VP, but he's going to make a great senator. I'm not sure why the audience inside didn't like it more (not enough call-and-response?) but they were never the point. The point was middle America watching on tv. He nailed that group. And as David Gergen pointed out, when was the last time you heard a major political figure discuss science and technology in a speech? If Al Gore could've cribbed some lines, he might have picked up some points. (And I love Al Gore!)

2. Schweitzer was just the opposite. I found him a little too jokey and filled with energy. He kept bouncing around like a ball onstage. Of course, he was able to whip the crowd into a frenzy, and many of his lines were good soundbites (drilling in John's McCain's numerous backyards, for instance). Conversely, he also had some horrible puns that left me thinking Warner seemed far better.

3. HRC was good, but the expectations had been lowered so much that she didn't need to do anything at all. I'm still not sure why the media is lapping up the RNC-based idea that Clintonistas hate the Obamanauts, but it clearly isn't true. She said what needed to be said, and got the crowd going to boot. But at the end of the day, HRC is just not that gifted a public speaker. I expect more from Bill tonight, to be honest. He is truly a great orator.

The Media, on the other hand, thought HRC was "amazing" and that Schweitzer was "the best speech yet" and that Warner was "clearly a bomb". Apparently, treating the American people as anything less than idiots is beyond the VRWC.

All of which suggests that Republicans are rarely offered advice because there is not much to advise them on. Republicans do not need to be told whether to take the high road or the low because they always take the low road. They do not ponder whether brutal campaign tactics will affect their ability to govern, since they care so little about government. If liberal media pundits are not particularly interested in offering conservative politician advice, conservatives understand their role as cheering their side on. No wonder Democrats are viewed as more likely to make mistakes. You can only make a mistake when you have a choice.

Excellent points.

1. News media seem to think that Dems should be angry. Don't worry, guys, there will be plenty of red meat later. If Michelle had come out of the gate screaming bloody murder, she'd have been savaged in the press.

2. Speaking of Michelle, she was amazing. She managed to easily explain the guiding principles behind the Obama family: looking out for those who don't have the same opportunities.

3. Ted Kennedy's speech wasn't great. But the sheer willpower he displayed was unreal. The guy is fighting for his life, and to get up there in front of everyone took some serious guts.

4. The optics by the Obama crew were brilliant. Much like a live-version of a great looking website, the branding reached across all spaces to produce a slick-looking convention floor. From the signs, to the backdrops, to the tiny touches on-stage, everything was branded perfectly. I'm so sick of the bad branding the other campaigns have have. It makes me proud to be a DNC contributor to see such a good job performed.

5. It's real. There are some crazy people out there.

I can't wait for HRC and Governor Warner!

but i'm back. i think i hadn't even gotten to the good part yet, which is where mr. neighbor strode down the hall after me one day when I went to take my trash down to the trash chute. on my way back, he stopped me and said, "did i talk to you the other day?" i said, "no" and tried to keep walking. he said, "where do you live?" i pointed vaguely down the hall and said, "there." he said, "but where exactly?" i relented and pointed to my door. he got closer and said, "you know you're slamming that door over and over? you're creating a huge issue in this apartment building. just the other day, that lady [he points to a door two doors down from mine and ACROSS THE HALL] had some pictures fall off her wall because of you. no one else is going around slamming their door in here!" i just look at him and say, "i really don't think i'm slamming my door [BECAUSE I'M NOT], but i apologize if i am" and start walking away. he gets slightly more irate and says, "oh yes you are! the other day, that door probably slammed thirty times! you're really creating a hazard in this building!" i say, "right right - sorry" and go in my apartment to avoid further bizarre interaction. i actually have no idea what he is talking about, because i'm certainly not slamming my door when i leave.

later that day as i'm in my apartment, i realize that the door across the hall from me, which leads to the stairwell, slams somewhat frequently, though i never noticed it or cared about it before.

i thought the saga had ended (although i occasionally now would sneak out my door and go into the stairwell, slamming the door behind me to be difficult). but it had not.

the day i was moving out, my parents and edward were helping me carry things down to edward's car. we were being careful to shut the door as quietly as possible, but occasionally when you are carrying things, the door shuts behind you [though NOT REALLY THAT LOUDLY]. i missed the final coup de grace, but here it is.

apparently, edward came out the door on his way down to the car and when the door shut behind him, my neighbor popped out of his door. he said, "you have GOT to stop slamming that door!" edward protested that he hadn't done that and said we were moving out and would be gone the next week anyway. the man got slightly more belligerent and said that was good, since i had been nothing but "trouble" for the past year. at that, edward said that he got mad for the second time in recent memory [apparently the backseat bitchening doesn't count] and got in the guy's face and said, "you need to back down!!!!" and mr. neighbor, though surprised and taken aback, responded, "you need to stop slamming the door!" they sparred verbally back and forth in that manner until my dad came out of the apartment and witnessed this and tried to defuse the situation. at which point the guy looked at them and said, "fuck you!" and retreated into his apartment.

i made sure to slam the door a few times after that, but never saw him again! FUN FUN.

of course, i'm not sure that really counts as a political statement, but hey ...