So here in covention land, I beheld some weirdness.
First off, faneuil hall has been a great for seeing big media, especially with MSNBC stationed there. They are not all my favorites – I watch CNN much more – but still amusing.
Of that crew, I got to see Joe Scarborough (not that exciting) and Tom Brokaw (very cool).
Tom was actually a couple of blocks away, talking on his cell, and on his own walking around down town and trying to keep a low profile. I almost didn’t recognize him with his wind blown hair, but talking into his cell phone was a dead give away – that voice cannot be missed.
More fun than celebrities are the regular folks out to make a statement. One convertible promoting voter registration is rolling around with effigies of the candidates propped up in back. I don’t think they’ll be getting into the carpool lane, but clever none the less.
Also on the T I stood next to a woman in medical white carting around a massage chair – her plan being to support the conventioneers (Californian in particular) by offering free massage.
A less positive message was the site of 3 billboard sided trucks touring downtown and quincy market. The bill boards were blown up pictures of aborted late term fetuses – the kind of abortion where the fetus is broken up into pieces when removed. The pieces had been positioned to once again resemble a small baby (though not so small on the side of a truck) – which oddly enough is part of the procedure, so that the doctors can be sure the entire fetus was removed.
Look, I’m pro-choice, so take my views how you will, but those billboards are just gross. At the same time, there are very few medical operations I would want to see blown up and displayed on the side of a truck touring the food court where I am eating. I wouldn’t want to see a gall bladder or appendix after it had been removed, but that doesn’t make me want to ban appendectomies; it just means I’m too squeamish to be a surgeon. There are pictures you could take of the most vital and life saving procedures, including birth itself, that I just do not want to see 10 feet tall and moving down the road while I am eating.
Also amusing is the relatively common presence of supporters for LaRouche.
I have found his pamphlets all over the place.
And finally, my run in with a Nader-phile. Sitting in the Park T station, chatting with a friend, a Nader support tentatively asked if we were registered voters. We explained we were both registered democrats, and would both be voting for Kerry. She happily and helpfully explained we could still sign the petition to get Nader on the MA ballot. In a moment of great restraint, I managed to say only “I would prefer not to”, rather than ripping the clipboard from her hands and shredding it and the republican-aiding signatures while she watched. But I would never subvert the democratic process that way – I’m just tempted.