Of Podiums, Plain and Tall

Ok, now that we've gotten past the non-convention day due to Gustav, and the Republicans in St. Paul have gotten their convention off to a partisan start, I have to comment on the podium.

I've had a fascination with the “set design” of political conventions for years. I remember back in 1988 when the Dukakis campaign was criticized for the palate of colors used for the podium in Atlanta. They didn’t use true red white and blue, but pastel substitutes.

Last week the Democrats had a pretty spectacular podium at the Pepsi Center,

and when they moved it to Mile High Stadium; they added some stately columns and a rostrum to the mix, taking design elements from the 2004 GOP event in New York.

Contrast the current podium at the Republican convention this week:

It is very plain. In fact the design of the whole convention is quite understated as compared to what we saw with the Democrats last week, and podiums we have seen in the past. I haven’t seen a design this plain since maybe 1972 or 1976. Sure, the huge digital screen that serves as a backdrop is high tech, but it is technology that is delivering some simple and bold imagery. I do suspect that there is some amateurishness in the McCain camp, but I don’t think the design cues at the Excel Center are an accident or a sign of penny-pinching the convention budget. Perhaps this look is meant to telegraph McCain as the opposite of the “celebrity,” Obama.

Shame on you, James Dobson.

Hurricanes are serious business. As I write this, over two million people have evacuated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as Gustav bears down on the area. We all remember the devastation of Katrina, and I pray that the nation is spared from the death and destruction Gustav could bring.

Michael Moore (and Don Fowler) got themselves into trouble today because they took note of the irony of a major hurricane headed for New Orleans just as the George Bush and Dick Cheney were preparing to address Republicans at their convention on Monday. The comments were callous. Natural disasters are not a joke, and certainly not fodder for political "gotchas." That is exactly why I just can't stop thinking about James Dobson and his cronies at "Focus on the Family."

Back in the beginning of August, Focus on the Family unveiled a video on their website where they urged their followers to pray for rain to disrupt Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field. Essentially, they asked God to smite Obama with rain:

“abundant rain, torrential rain … flood-advisory rain ... I’m talking about umbrella-ain’t-gonna-help-you, swamp-the-intersections rain.”

The video called for a weather disaster to befall Denver on the day of Obama's speech because Focus on the Family disagrees with Obama and the Democratic Party.

It is not ironic that there now is a terrible storm heading for the Gulf Coast that is disrupting the Republican Convention. It IS a reminder of the stupidity of individuals and tax exempt organizations that purport to have a religious mission invoking the Almighty to get involved in partisan politics. By James Dobson's logic, the God he prayed to for meteorological punishment on his political enemies, heard his prayer and responded by smiting his allies instead.

Thankfully, the God I believe in would never do any such thing. I pray that the good people of the Gulf Coast be spared another devastating storm.