We're here! It's amazing. Beyond amazing. This may be the coolest thing I've done in years. I'm running around like a maniac, so here's a brief recap....starting with the plane ride.

So, a few minutes after I sat down in my seat, Colorado's Governor Owens boarded and sat a few rows behind me. (Yes, coach for both of us today.) What on earth is he dong attending the Democratic Convention? Well...of course I asked him. (Note, I've met him before at television studios where we had sequential hit times, so it's not like I walked up to him cold.)

Gov. Owens' answer was quite interesting: He has been selected to be the media opposition to the Dems Monday night. I asked which channel and he responded "all of them." Then he said that Gov. George Pataki is doing Tuesday night and Rudy Guiliani is doing Wednesday night. Mass Gov. Romney is doing Thursday night. I figure if they're doing all networks the media isn't paying them and they've been sent by the higher ups of the Republican party.

We're on the road to Boston today....we thought we'd leave you with a chuckle. We don't know if it's real or not, we received it by e-mail, you decide:

Dear Abby:

I am a crack dealer in Villa Park, who has recently been diagnosed as a
carrier of HIV virus. My parents live in Mt. Prospect and one of my
sisters, who lives in Rockford, is married to a transvestite.

My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling
marijuana. They are financially dependent on my other two sisters, who are
prostitutes in Maywood.

I have two brothers; one is currently serving a life sentence at
Statesville for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is
currently in jail awaiting trial for sexual misconduct with his three
children.

I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute who lives in
Schaumburg. She is a part-time "working girl". All things considered, my
problem is this: I love my fiancé and look forward to bringing her into the
family. I certainly want to be totally open and honest with her.

Should I tell her about my cousin in Romeoville who supports John Kerry?

Signed,

-- Worried About My Reputation

Our next post will be from Boston sometime tomorrow night. This should be quite a trip and we extend our sincere thanks to all who contributed and made it possible for us.

There's a split going on within the left as to whether to hold organized protests at the DNC in Boston. Some groups say yes, others say no. The group that says no is ABB (anyone but Bush) all the way and doesn't want to give anything up to the Repubs. We share that view. Bush and Kerry may not be all that different on the war--but they will be very different when it comes to who they nominate for federal judgeships and our Supreme Court. The thought of Bush shaping our Supreme Court for the next 40 years is beyond unfathomable and unacceptable.

If you feel differently, you can attend the anti-war events being sponsored by United for Peace and Justice near the convention. The article reports that one such event is set for Thursday, when John Kerry speaks. We won't be there.

We'd rather go to some of the 'People's Conventions':

At People's Parties on Sunday night, organizers will pass around a "Fund the Dream" petition calling for the $100-billion defense budget to be reallocated for social projects. The "Campaign for America's Future" will host three days of "Take Back America" events concurrent with the convention, open to Democratic leaders, activists and "progressive" delegates. Headliners will include former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), "Nickel and Dimed" author Barbara Ehrenreich, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and former Vice President Al Gore....On Tuesday the "Revolutionary Women 2004" event will feature Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Anaheim).

"These are folks who want to help Kerry win, but they also want to make sure Kerry is accountable to progressive values," said Toby Chaudhuri, a spokesman for the group. "With the popularity of 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' there are indicators of the surge of progressive energy out there."

That's more where we're coming from. Elect Kerry. But let the progressive wing of the party flourish and grow so we can keep him accountable. Save the protests for the Republican convention in New York.

Here's an early report of Sunday night's media party in Boston:

From the network television talent to the anonymous Internet scribes, thousands of reporters, pundits and hangers-on rubbed elbows at a lavish party in Boston last night to kick off the 2004 Democratic National Convention in style.....Reporters entered the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center near the waterfront on a red carpet guarded by a fairly heavy police presence outside. There were droves of officers, but no picketers. The event, sponsored by the Boston Globe and Verizon, among others, had a budget of $800,000 and included such extravagances as a full-size Ferris wheel, food donated by 70 different restaurants -- including celebrity chef Todd English -- and a concert by Little Richard.

No tickets to the cool kids' parties? Don't despair. US News and World Report has this roundup of Boston places and events that might be more fun:

John Kerry might look even stiffer than usual among the tie-dye-wearing regulars at the Zeitgeist Gallery (1353 Cambridge Street, zeitgeist-gallery.org ), but the Kucinich crowd will fit in. Through July 29, check out "Yo! What Happened to Peace?" a collection of antiwar posters, with images like W in a football uniform clutching a bomb over the words "Sack the Quarterback."

With your blood aboil over current affairs, take comfort in that world-renowned bastion of lefty be-liefs: Harvard Square. The Harvard Book Store (1256 Massachusetts Avenue, harvard.com ), an indie with new and used titles as well as a petition against the Patriot Act, is hosting events with Al Franken, Ted Kennedy, Wesley Clark, and more during the convention. The outspokenly liberal crowds will prove why people sometimes call it "the People's Republic of Cambridge" --as will the nearby commie-themed bar, People's Republik (880 Mass. Ave.). Finish up the night at the Middle East (472 and 480 Mass. Ave., 617-864-3278) for homemade Lebanese food and eclectic musical acts, not war.

Here's a great way to begin the week at the DNC in Boston. Attend the Civil Liberties Conference.

Date: Monday, July 26, 2004
Time: 10:30 am
Place: Holiday Inn Select,
8 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02108
Info: 774-696-0537

Civil rights communities will challenge the Democratic Party to take a bolder stand on civil liberties and human rights....The Civil Rights Communities Can Help Democrats Win...'When Democrats Lean Right, They Lose: A History Lesson' by Paul Rockwell

According to a new New York Times/CBS News poll, 9 out of 10 of the delegates attending this week's Democratic Convention in Boston think the war was wrong and not worth the cost:

Nine out of 10 of the Democratic delegates gathering in Boston this week think the United States should not have gone to war in Iraq and say the gains from the war were not worth the loss of American lives, a New York Times/CBS News poll shows..... Only 7 percent say "the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq," while 86 percent say the United States should "have stayed out."

9 out of 10 delegates say they are now supporting John Kerry enthusiastically. As for issues of major concern to the delegates, Iraq, war and terrorism are not at the top of the list:

Only one in six cited them as most important. Half of the delegates, on the other hand, said the most important issues were the economy and jobs, and one-third of all voters agree.

The majority of the delegates say they are "political moderates." Happily, that's not the case on social justice issues. Then, the delegates slide a little to the left:

The print media descended on Boston today. One of the first complaints: the lack of sufficient toilets.

Twenty portable restrooms, like those used on construction sites, are lined up in front of the media pavilion to service nearly 1,200 members of the print media who will be working around the clock. That's about 60 serious coffee-drinkers per toilet. "That's absurd," said Jim Drinkard, a political reporter for USA Today, when he heard of the ratio of toilets per media member. "This is not the type of planning you'd expect out of someone trying to be a good host."

The DNCC says the toilet arrangement was a cost-cutting measure. Guess we're lucky bloggers will be in the hall and not the Press Pavilion.

It sounds like we are headed to the capital of the world's largest military dictatorship, not Boston.

The security measures are becoming more and more evident as the convention nears. At the FleetCenter, the authorities began a full security lockdown Saturday morning in a driving rainstorm. A double barrier of steel fencing was erected around the convention hall. Private cars and trucks were banned from the nearby network of streets called the Bullfinch Triangle. National Guardsmen in camouflage were stationed at the nearby Haymarket subway stop. In the latest addition to the security plan, eight Air Force F-16 fighter jets have been called in to patrol the skies.

In the well-to-do Beacon Hill neighborhood, street garbage cans have been removed from their metal hoops to prevent bombs from being hidden, leaving residents to complain that trash is piling up. On Thursday, transit police began random inspections of handbags on the subways. The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning that some unknown group might want to attack the television satellite transmission trucks setting up around the FleetCenter and at picturesque locations like Faneuil Hall, but gave no specifics. At 8 p.m. on Friday, the last train for the duration of the convention left North Station, which serves 25,000 commuters a day.

Coast Guard and police patrol boats will cruise the harbor. The police have equipped themselves with exotic devices like a gun that fires clusters of ball-shaped containers of pepper irritant for dispersing crowds.

This should be interesting. Chicago in 1968 may be tame by comparison. We should probably bring flak jackets. The best advice may be this, coming from a downtown paralegal:

You should definitely wear sneakers, because with all that's going on you never know when you might have to walk a lot.

This is ridiculous. How can the Court allow it? This will be the shame of Boston:

An area designated for organized protests appears enclosed by mesh and chain link fencing near the site of the upcoming Democratic National Convention, in Boston, Wednesday, July 21, 2004. A new federal lawsuit has been filed against the city over the fenced-in protest area that has been called a 'demonstration zone,' and a 'free speech zone.'

From an editorial in the Boston Globe today:

US District Judge Douglas Woodlock also split the difference Thursday when deciding two lawsuits brought by civil liberties activists. The judge, wisely, will allow antiwar protesters access to Causeway Street tomorrow for what is expected to be the largest protest march of the week. But disappointingly, Woodlock left intact the pathetic coop, complete with razor wire and netting, that is to serve as the designated protest area during the rest of the week. Yesterday, lawyers for the protesters appealed for redress to the US Court of Appeals, and a three-member panel of judges agreed to review the case and additional filings on Monday morning. Clarity must be brought to Woodlock's decision, in which he refers to the protest zone as "an affront to the idea of free expression" yet, fearing violence, allows it to remain.

The FBI is warming up to its new role as a preventive law enforcement agency. It has begun knocking on the doors of those they expect to be protesting at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and asking questions and giving warnings to the occupants inside. Where? Denver is one place. From today's Rocky Mountain News:

Law enforcement officers visited several Denver young people Thursday to warn them against committing violence at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. "This is part of an ongoing FBI investigation with the Joint Terrorism Task Force," Colorado FBI spokeswoman Monique Kelson said Friday. "That's all that we can comment right now."

Some of those receiving the unwelcome visits called the ACLU:

Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Colorado, said young people living at two locations in Denver reported the visits to the ACLU and that similar visits have occurred elsewhere in the United States in recent days. He said officers told the Denver young people that they were visiting "protesters and anarchists."

"It's an abuse of power, designed to intimidate these kids from exercising their constitutional right to protest government policies and associate with others who want to protest government policies," Silverstein said.

Sarah Bardwell, one of those visited, said the six officers and agents who knocked on her door asked these questions: