The Seattle Post Intelligencer has this article on the importance of the Democratic Convention to the Kerry-Edwards bid to take back the White House. After describing the Convention's four themes, one for each day, the article notes:

And in an effort to reach the largest possible audience, convention organizers are counting on the Internet. Bloggers will be credentialed for the first time, and their Web reports will assume large roles in carrying the message, although whether it is the message the Democratic Party wants disseminated remains to be seen.

Policy discussions will be kept to a minimum and celebrities will come into the mix as organizers hope their star power will attract usually uninterested views. As in other recent conventions, Boston will become party central, with more than 200 official and unofficial events scheduled over the four-day gathering....Much of Hollywood is expected to decamp to Boston for the week. It will be an eclectic crew -- among those likely to attend are Ben Affleck, Sean Astin, Larry David and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

By attending the convention as a credentialed blogger, we hope to convey to our readers the energy, solidarity and resolve of those present to make the Kerry-Edwards win a reality. We want you to feel like you are there with us-- that we're your eyes and ears. We want you to get caught up in the swell of optimism and determination. We can take back the White House and Congress. Only a Kerry-Edwards win will preserve the integrity and independence of our Supreme Court and federal courts. A Kerry-Edwards win is essential to protect our civil liberties and rid us of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

We still need some help with the financial part--if you can kick in a few bucks towards our trip, we'd greatly appreciate it. If you've already given, you should have received a thank-you email by now. If not, let us know.

Amazon (anonymous)

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And whether you've contributed or not, feel free to e-mail us with what you would like us to cover.

Daily Kos reports that Margaret Cho has been uninvited from a DNC-related event . Markos is angry. From the press release:

Margaret Cho has been "uninvited" to perform at the Unity 2004 event which is taking place at Avalon, this coming Monday, July 26, around the Democratic National Convention. The Human Rights Campaign is one of 10 GLBT groups coming together July 26 at the nightclub to "celebrate GLBT strength and unity." Asked to headline the event, Cho was preparing to preview material from her new State of Emergency tour as part of an unpaid benefit performance. She has since been "uninvited" by a spokesman for the HRC, who cited "a potential media firestorm" and referenced the recent criticism of Whoopi Goldberg's routine at a Kerry fundraiser.

Mark Giselson at Norweigianity responds with an update to Pastor Niemöller:

First they came for the Dixie Chicks, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a musician and I don’t like country music.

Then they came for Whoopi Goldberg, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t an African-American with a Jewish surname.

Then they came for Linda Ronstadt, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a chubby hispanic with a closet full of gold records.

Then they they were given Margaret Cho, and I approved because they would have come for her next anyway, so why not speed up the process and just get it over with…

One feature we will incorporate as part of our blogging coverage of the Democratic National Covention is what we call "random media notes" -- interesting snippets we find from various sources. Here's our first roundup:

Update: Michael Moore will appear at a screening of his ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. The screening is for members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,150 of whom are delegates. Also, Moore will speak Monday to the Congressional Black Caucus. [Hat tip to F-911 Blog]

• The Arab tv station Al Jazeera has secured space in a press skybox at the Fleet Center and will have 16 staffers providing live coverage of the convention.

• P. Diddy will be reporting live for MTV's "Choose or Lose" campaign.

• You can catch Janeane Garafalo doing standup comedy Saturday and Sunday nights at Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway in Somerville. She'll be covering the convention live all week for Air America Radio.

• Al Franken will be speaking at a breakfast for the Maine delegation.

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will endorse John Kerry Thursday at a rally in Detroit. Kucinich's spokesman said:

"The congressman looks forward to appearing with John Kerry tomorrow and unifying the Democratic Party in support of Sen. Kerry's winning bid for the White House," Gordon said Wednesday night.

Kucinich is scheduled to speak Wednesday night at the Democratic convention in Boston. The entire list of speakers is here.

A new poll by The Washington Post, Univision and the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute show John Kerry with a commanding lead over George Bush among Latino voters. Those polled were critical of Bush's handling of the economy and the war in Iraq.

The findings suggest that, at this point in the campaign, Bush is falling short of his goal of notably improving on the 35 percent share of the Hispanic vote he received four years ago, although his advisers said they believe he is still on track to do so. Kerry advisers, in contrast, said they are determined to keep Bush from winning as much of the Hispanic vote as he did in 2000.

....Competition for Hispanic voters remains fierce. Latinos now outnumber blacks, rank as the fastest-growing minority group in the country and are less solidly attached to the Democratic Party than are blacks. The 2000 census counted more than 35 million Hispanics in the United States, a 50 percent increase in one decade.

Latino voters who were surveyed were sharply critical of the war in Iraq. More than six in 10 -- 63 percent -- said the war was not worth fighting, a view shared by slightly more than half of all voters nationally. Fewer than a third of all Latinos and fewer than half of all voters believe the war justified its costs. Latinos also are more pessimistic about the war on terrorism than the overall population is, with 37 percent saying the United States is winning and 40 percent saying it is losing.

The Wall St. Journal reports in tomorrow's edition that the Senate has passed a resolution urging the Supreme Court to resolve sentencing issues created by its Blakely decision (subscription only):

Members of the Senate passed by unanimous consent a resolution asking the Supreme Court to resolve questions over the constitutionality of the federal sentencing guidelines. The House is expected to consider the measure this week.
The bipartisan resolution, rare at a time when political acrimony is running high, shows how critical the subject is considered to be. Its passage means that all three branches of government -- legislative, judicial and executive -- have requested expedited action by the Supreme Court to provide clarity to its ruling last month.

Billboard is reporting that Linda Ronstadt may return to the Aladdin this fall--with Michael Moore singing backup vocals.

After a day of negotiations, the prospective new owner of the venue, Robert Earl, Chairman and CEO of Planet Hollywood International, Inc., issued the following statement:

"We hope to be approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission to become the new owners of the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas as early as September 1, 2004. Upon the assumption of ownership, and with a new management team in place, we would like to offer the use of the Theatre of Performing Arts to Linda Ronstadt for a second concert and further to take Michael Moore up on his offer to join her on stage to introduce her and sing a song."

"We respect artists' creativity and support their rights to express themselves," said Earl. "We were very sorry to hear about the unfortunate circumstances of this past Saturday night and want to make it clear that Planet Hollywood has never, in our 13 year history, restricted any artists' right to free speech and we will continue with that policy once we take ownership."

The Recording Artists Coalition (RAC) negotiated for Ms. Ronstadt. Message to Mr. Earl: Good move. We'll consider staying at the Aladdin once your group assumes ownership.

CNN has big convention coverage plans--check out this press release--of particular interest to weblog readers is the announcement that it has paired with Technorati:

“BlogWatch” – CNN.com’s up-to-the-moment review of numerous Web logs covering the convention marks a first for convention coverage using Technorati, the leading monitor of blogs.

Reviews? Or will they just be listing the blogs that link to posts of the convention blogs? We'll wait to see what MSNBC and Fox News have planned before declaring CNN the go-to station for convention coverage.

New citizens have complained of being tricked into registering as Republicans. Sounds like a desperation move to us -- if your candidate can't win, just cheat.

Via Law Prof Doug Berman of Sentencing Law and Policy:

Re-load the paper in your printers, because I have be lucky enough to receive pdf copies of the documents that United States has filed in the Supreme Court today seeking expedited review of US v. Booker and US v. Fanfan!! It appears that US v. Booker will be assigned docket number 04-104, and US v. Fanfan will be assigned docket number 04-105.

Professor Berman has uploaded the text of the documents to his site:

• Here are the Booker documents (including the joint motion to expedite):
  
  Download booker_fanfan_motion_to_expedite.pdf
  
  Download Booker.Petition.pdf
  
  Download Booker.App.A.pdf

• Here are the Fanfan documents:
  
  Download FanFan.Petition.pdf
  
  Download FanFan.Appendix.pdf
  
  Download fanfan_app.attach.16-21.pdf

Once again, we're very excited for TalkLeft Contributor TChris who won the Booker case in the 7th Circuit and hopefully now will head to the Supreme Court.

by TChris

Howard Bashman at How Appealing reports that a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit has ruled that Blakely invalidates the federal sentencing guidelines as they were applied to the defendant in the Ninth Circuit case. The opinion is here (pdf).

Anyone want to play the Republican Convention Drinking Game?

Game author Scott, of I Know What I Know, says he's now working on a version for the Democratic Convention. [Hat tip to Deb in Chicago.]