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Let the dialogue continue!

Christine Marie Davis has already posted a response to Michael Paglia's "Ridiculous Dialog: City" blog. But she expanded on that response in a letter that we're posting here -- in the spirit of a true and open Dialog dialogue:

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Is the winner from Tuesday’s pair of primaries Barack Obama, with his narrow defeat in Indiana and powerful showing in North Carolina? Or are the real winners the Denver waiters, valets, taxi drivers, doormen and hotel maids who look forward to seeing two entrenched delegations come to town, fighting for every vote with more tips to spread around?

If you looked at the headlines written that morning, penned desperately by exhausted reporters and pundits and suggesting that Indiana and North Carolina could provide actual closure to the Democratic race to the White House, you might have been fooled into thinking that politics is a) rational and b) predictable.

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So Tent State University is on the outs with their protest brethren at Re-create '68. What gives? Last Friday, when the ACLU held a press conference to declare it had filed a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Denver and the Secret Service, it seemed that all was well in the land of DNC protest. On hand at the confab were representatives of Re-create '68 – Glenn Spagnuolo and Mark and Barbara Cohen – as well as those of Tent State University, Code Pink and Escuela Tlatelolco and the American Indian Movement of Colorado. But more significant were the additional groups listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit: United for Peace and Justice, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, and the American Friends Service Committee.

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Tent State University has folded up its tent and moved on -- at least from Recreate '68's efforts to organize protests at the Democratic National Convention.

"Recreate '68 has demonstrated an inability to fulfill the needs of a growing list of individuals and organizations," said Adam Jung, the local representative of Tent State, a national student protest group planning to camp in Denver during the convention.

But according to Glenn Spagnuolo of Recreate '68, the local group profiled here last fall, the Tent State name was causing problems, since it conjures up images of Kent State, where four students were shot by National Guardsmen during a 1970 protest of the Vietnam War.

That from the main mouthpiece of a group whose name recalls the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, which erupted in violence as the whole world watched.-- Patricia Calhoun

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Pennsylvania

Total Number of Delegates: 187
Pledged: 158
Unpledged: 29

How to Recognize a Pennsylvania Delegate:
No state in the union suffers from poor self-esteem issues more than Pennsylvania. Quaker Staters have played pivotal roles in the history of religious freedom, civil rights and labor laws, and they have every right to be proud of their declarations of independence and their cracked liberty bells. Yet it is Pennsylvania residents who have given the state's two largest cities the nicknames of Filthadelphia and Shittsburgh, and they call the space in between them Pigsylvania. And it's not just the pot-holed roads and the slate-gray skies that make them so moody; it's the food. Pennsylvania is the snack-food capital of America. Besides being the home of Hershey's Chocolate, the state ranks as the nation's leading producer of potato chips. Pennsylvanians make enough potato chips in a year to ruin 80 million diets. It is also home to cheesesteaks, that damn cream cheese everyone loves, Tastykakes, marshmallow peeps and all the Heinz ketchup and relish needed for the mass consumption of hot dogs. This doesn't mean that Pennsylvania delegates will be obese. They get exercise by scraping the ice off their car windows in winter and running from muggers all year long. They're just a "cuppla tree" pounds overweight, so females will wear Studio 1940 Flyaway Layered dresses from Bensalem-based Fashion Bug, and male delegates will wear the Savane Total Comfort No-iron pleated twill pants over Consensus Button-down Chambray Shirts from York-based Bon-Ton Department Stores.

Famous Pennsylvanians:
American pioneer Daniel Boone; civil rights pioneer Bayard Rustin; journalists Ed Bradley and Michelle Malkin; actors Nancy Kulp, Will Smith, Tina Fey, Sharon Stone, Richard Gere, Seth Green, Bill Cosby, Grace Kelly and Cheri Oteri; artists Thomas Eakins, Maxfield Parrish, Andrew Wyeth, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Robert Crumb; writers Louisa May Alcott, Rita Mae Brown, Rachel Carson, Gertrude Stein and John Updike; musicians Ethyl Waters, Dean Martin, George Benson, Joan Jett, Teddy Prendergrass, Todd Rundgren, Robert Mothersbaugh and Trent Reznor; musical acts Boys II Men, CKY, the Dead Milkmen, Hall & Oates, the Julianna Theory and Ween; golfer Arnold Palmer; Republicans Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.

Famous Pennsylvania Democrats:
15th president of the United States James Buchanan; 45th governor Ed Rendell; junior United States senator Bob Casey Jr.; U.S. representatives John Murtha, Chaka Fattah, Allyson Schwartz and Patrick Murphy.

Famous Pennsylvanians With Denver Connections:
LoDo street namesake William Larimer Jr.; State Capitol architect Elijah E. Myers; legendary Denver mayors Richard Sopris and Robert W. Speer; wannabe legendary mayor John W. Hickenlooper; wannabe state governor Marc Holtzman; Broadmoor founder Spencer Penrose; Centennial author James A. Michener; Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey; Nuggets head coach George Karl; CBS4 News special projects correspondent Molly Hughes; Castle Rock municipal judge Lou Gersh.

State Nickname: The Keystone State, The Quaker State, The Steel State (official); The Steal State, Shoofly Pieland, Snacker's Paradise (unofficial)
Population: 12,440,621
Racial Distribution: 83% white, 11% black, 2% Asian, 4% Hispanic
Per Capita Personal Income: $32,044
Unemployment: 6.3%

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Gosh, wouldn’t it have been smart to come up with a visual art event that would promote Denver’s burgeoning culture and higher national profile in the arts during the Democratic National Convention? Doesn’t that make it dumb to instead bring in a bunch of second-tier art stars from around the world who mostly don’t have anything to do with Denver?

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The ACLU announced today it had filed a lawsuit in hopes of compelling the Secret Service to release security perimeter plans for Democratic National Convention in August. At a press conference this morning, ACLU of Colorado Director Mark Silverstein, pictured, said that the Secret Service’s delay in announcing how close citizens will be able to get to the Pepsi Center has prevented the city from issuing parade permits to protest groups, some of whom submitted applications twelve months ago. The ongoing lack of details on allowable demonstration areas is also hindering civil rights advocates by providing less and less time to challenge efforts to keep protesters isolated in cage-like “free speech zones,” as was the case at the 2004 DNC in Boston.

“No one will tell us what these restrictions are,” said Silverstein. “There’s a very real risk that there won’t be enough time for the judicial review before the convention begins.”

Silverstein says the postponement in revealing the security perimeter amounts to a violation of the First Amendment rights of the thirteen activist groups named in the suit, which ranged from local outfits like Recreate 68 and the Escuela Tlatelolco to national organizations such as United for Peace and Justice.

“The public has a right to demonstrate their beliefs to the delegates,” Silverstein added.

The federal court lawsuit requests an expedited hearing schedule for the security perimeter that would give all parties sufficient time to challenge unfair restrictions. While the city has yet to issue parade permits, it used a lottery to award park permits for protest groups wishing to hold events. – Jared Jacang Maher

The ever-popular bar/bat mitzvah location for my friends of middle school days, the Jewish Community Center on Dahlia St. takes a break from such festivities to host John McCain today starting at 10 am.

McCain is in town holding a town hall meeting to discuss his health care plan. McCain’s position on the issue contrasts sharply with his Democratic rivals who have both called for differing levels of universal health care coverage—Barack Obama advocating mandatory coverage for children while aiming for universal insurance, Hillary Clinton requiring insurance for everyone. Both would pay for their plans by rolling back President Bush’s tax cuts for households making over $250,000 a year. McCain believes in the competition of a free-market system and encourages tax credits for individuals to purchase their own plans. He insists that a tax increase will not be necessary.

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This is our past eight years in American political quotes. No commentary, no comedy, no frills. Just the statements themselves, the situation in which they were said, and the people who said them. Twenty-three lines that have come to shape America in the twenty-first century:

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On April 28, Roseanne joined the cast of characters dreaming about riots in Denver. Guest-hosting a show on Air America, she let loose with this:

..I mean I think somebody’s profiting by keeping us all divided and making us feel like oh my God we don’t even know what to believe what we’re reading what’s true. But you know, we have a lot of power and there is a Democratic Convention in Denver in just a short time and we should a bunch of us go there and repeat the Democratic Convention from Chicago. Like, let’s just cause a bunch of trouble. Let's wrest back our government from what, six or seven you know guys like McCain and Romney and Bush from the top. Let’s just go take it. It’s ours. Nobody gives it to you, you just go take it. Let’s meet in Denver and let’s do it.

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On Monday, the Supreme Court voted to uphold an Indiana law that requires voters to show a photo ID to cast a ballot. The ACLU and Indiana Democrats had challenged the state law, passed along party lines in 2005 by a GOP-controlled legislature, which opened the debate on increasingly restrictive voter registrations and identifications in the highest court in the land.

Indiana Republicans and their national colleagues, seen by many to benefit from low voter turnouts, particularly amongst demographics they fare poorly with—minorities, elderly and poor voters—argued that without photo IDs, elections were imminently susceptible to fraud. Detractors, including state and national Democrats, civil rights groups and the ACLU, believed that photo IDs place an unnecessary burden on vulnerable voting groups that could lead to systematic disenfranchisement. Indiana’s law is of particular national interest as is seen as the most restrictive in the country, stating that the photo ID, though provided free of charge, must be government-issued.

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John Prine had it right. And this was back in 1971.

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Twenty-seven years later, the decals have changed to lapel pins, but the argument is back full-force. When in October of 2007 Barack Obama made his now-famous comment about not wearing the flag lapel pin because it had "become a substitute for true patriotism," he caused a tremor in the political force that has yet to completely subside. Even though he went on to clarify that "you show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans…by values and ideals," the political cat was out of the bag, running around the FOX news set, and pissing on everything.

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Oregon

Total Number of Delegates: 65
Pledged: 52
Unpledged: 13

How to Recognize an Oregon Delegate:
Perhaps Oregonians have made assisted suicide legal in hopes that California transplants will consider it a viable option after their first nine months of living in near-constant rain and complaint. That's because Oregon is a beautiful landscape populated by slackers. Since the opening of the Oregon Trail, the state has always been considered the bright-new-beginning destination of choice for the disgruntled ne'er-do-wells of American mythology. It's the kind of place that is especially attractive to people who are big on dreams and short on details (and cash). To add insult to injury, people have always flocked here faster than job growth, which leaves Oregon with a consistently high unemployment rate. It also explains why the Beaver State ranks high in early retirees, strip clubs, microbreweries, and Ph.D.s who wait tables. For hard-core slackers, dream-busting advances from a lifestyle adaptation to a political agenda. Bitter Oregonians have a tendency to mock all those who stand in the way of their dreams. Consequently, their look will put all the delegates from other states to shame. Females will look sharp but sensible in Portland-based Columbia Sportswear's Heavenly Gauze Multi-Print Skirt and Omni-Dri UPF-50 long-sleeved shirt. Males will wear the Workweek-to-Weekend Tetherow Butte Pants and Grindstone Ridge Shirts. All will sport Beaverton-based Nike athletic shoes by day and Nike subsidiary Cole Haan dress shoes by night.

Famous Oregonians:
Disney Studio's Donald Duck creator Carl Banks; voice actor (for Bozo the Clown and Disney's Goofy) Pinto Colvig; Oscar-winning claymation director Will Vinton; Simpsons creator Matt Groening; Erector Set toy inventor Alfred Carlton Gilbert; juvenile writer Beverly Cleary; Nike founders Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight; figure skater turned pro wrestler Tonya Harding; ESPN sportscaster Neil Everett; All in the Family co-star Sally Struthers; WKRP in Cincinnati star Howard Hesseman; Sleater-Kinney singer Corin Tucker; Dandy Warhollers Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Brent "Fathead" De Boer; mother of all anarchists Marie Equi; father of Burning Man Larry Harvey; father of gastronomy James Beard; perpetual Green Party V.P. candidate Winona LaDuke.

Famous Oregon Democrats:
Former United States senator Maurine Brown Neuberger; current United States senior senator Ron Wyden; 6th United States Secretary of Transportation and (disgraced) 33rd governor Neil Goldschmidt; 35th governor John Kitzhaber; 36th governor Ted Kulongoski.

Famous Oregonians With Denver Connections:
Former United States representative Pat Schroeder; University of Denver director of jazz Malcolm Lynn Baker; Clyfford Still Museum architect Brad Cloepfil: Littleton Public School computer lab teacher Sonja Lahana; Boulder photographer and electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate Charles Dietlein.

State Nickname: The Beaver State, The Hard-Case State, Pacific Wonderland (official); Poor-again, Pour-again, Unspecific Wanderland (unofficial).
Population: 3,700,758
Racial Distribution: 83% white, 2% black, 1% Native American, 4% Asian, 10% Hispanic
Per Capita Personal Income: $29,340
Unemployment: 9%

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Rush Limbaugh is something of an expert on the incitation of riots. Of course, he isn’t inciting riots when he dreams of them disrupting the Democratic National Convention in Denver and destroying the Democratic Party, but was he dreaming of nailing Obama with the charge of inciting riots on his talk show a year ago?

On his June 6, 2007 show, Limbaugh ripped Obama’s June 5 speech at Hampton University in Virginia, where the senator discussed what he called the “quiet riots” fostered by disconnection, hopelessness and despair in the forgotten communities of the country:

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Denver, we have a problem.

Blubbermouth Rush Limbaugh of advocating rioting in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. For the record, on his April 23 radio show (which airs from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays on 850 KOA), Limbaugh was responding to comments from Al Sharpton, a Barack Obama supporter, that there will be "trouble" in Denver if the nomination is taken from Obama.

"Now, I am not inspiring or inciting riots. I'm dreaming" -- and here Limbaugh started singing to the tune of "White Christmas" -- "I'm dreaming of riots in Denver."

He went on (no surprise): "Riots in Denver at the Democrat Convention would see to it we don't elect Democrats. And that's the best damn thing (that) could happen for this country as far as anything I can think."

As that creepy Richard Dreyfus senator croons in An American President, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...."

For a transcript of the show, click here. -- Patricia Calhoun