News Cut: August 29, 2008 Archive

Take two

Posted at 12:11 PM on August 29, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I hope you enjoyed the News Cut material from Denver. I'm on my way to see if there's any News Cut material from Wichita, and then back to the Twin Cities to start over again (tomorrow?) with the Republican National Convention.

At the end of a national political convention, the big question is always the same: I wonder what happened this week in the real world?

That giant sucking sound you hear is the deflating of the local media's balloon. Sen. McCain didn't pick the Minnesota Guy, and we all lost a good news angle for the week. We're back to chronicling the minute-by-minute thoughts of delegate from Big Lake or Sleepy Eye.

In Denver today, the mayor is -- and justifiably so -- ebullient in his praise for the people of his city. Side note: Those free bikes that were provided during the week were ridden 4,500 miles. He says that's indicative that delegates and visitors were "getting out and visiting the city."

That'll be an interesting thing to track in the Twin Cities: How far outside Minneapolis and St. Paul proper the convention's promised benefits will extend.

Total number of people arrested this week: 152. Can the Twin Cities beat that?

Another question: How do you intend to participate in a national convention in the Twin Cities? As a protester? A volunteer? A visitor? What are you most interested in seeing? Bring your camera, and send me your pictures and your commentary as the week unfolds.

(Above: A News Cut Wordle based on 39 posts from Denver)

(1 Comments)

Yankee Stadium renamed Irony Field

Posted at 9:29 AM on August 29, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

The New York Yankees' security forces, who earlier this summer banned sunscreen from the park (terrorist tool, you know), are at it again.

Fans in the stadium are not allowed the freedom to go to the bathroom while "God Bless America" is played in the 7th inning, according to Gothamist.

Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU, tells CBS 2 that "because they are enforcing a rule of that imposes political correctness through refusing to let somebody go to bathroom while a patriotic song is playing, that violates Constitutional rights." But Michael C. Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Columbia Law School, disagrees; he told the Times last year that "it doesn't violate the Constitution, because the Yankees are not the government. If they were a municipally owned team, you could have an issue because the team would be a state actor.

Since when do New Yorkers need a bathroom?

(H/T: Michael Wells)

(2 Comments)

Denver Diaries: The exodus

Posted at 12:51 PM on August 29, 2008 by Bob Collins

Frontier Airlines put everyone they could at the counter as delegates raced to get out of Denver today. It worked. There were no lines at the check-in counter.

But, it's too much like Disney World. Just as you think, "gee, this isn't so bad," the security line hits.

This was the last test Denver had to pass. Long as it was, the line was less than 15 minutes.

Denver's grade for the convention: A.

Over to you, Minneapolis-St. Paul