Watching on C-Span...

The colors: NYC Police Color Guard marches out of step...

I missed most of the Imam's invocation...

Broadway musical numbers...boring...get on with it.

Saturday Night Live intro clever. Thumbs up on that.

Roll-call starting. Giant psychedelic blue elephant with rising sun background is completely freaky and distracting...whoa...

The little speeches by each of the delegations are interesting (probably because I've never seen this before), but getting old fast. I may go play a game for a bit and return for Ron Silver's speech...Nevada delegate stop SCREAMING into the microphone or it will be taken away from you!

They suspended the role...glad that's over. Heh...watching everyone stand still for the panoramic photograph is odd. It's like watching one of those photos at the end of The Shining being acted out live on TV.

(Shots of Bush girls in audience. The average of two Bush girls definitely beats the pants off the average of two Kerry girls...in fact I wish they wou...nm.)

The Michigan delegation is presenting a message from Jerry Ford. Last time I saw him he was on C-Span and a caller asked him a question and he started talking about the eggs he had had for breakfast...kinda sad.

Who is Dexter Freebish? (Wow! RNC camera effects! It's just like MTV...sorta...) Kinda cool to see a band holding a Support the Troops sign.

Heh...George Bush, Sr. is walking in to the sound of Van Halen. I remember when the Reagans didn't think the Beach Boys were wholesome enough. [hmmm...faulty memory? a quick Google indicates that was James Watt that messed up the Beach Boys thing]

Ron Silver: "We will never forget, we will never forgive, we will never excuse." Excellent. "This is a war we did not seek. This is a war waged against us. This is a war in which we had to respond." "History shows that we are not imperialists, but we are fighters for freedom and democracy." Silver is taking his fellow liberals to task for condemning any use of force to alleviate the injustices they so often speak out against.

"The President is doing exactly the right thing! And that is why we need this president, this time!"

Powerful. Silver speaks with the voice of the September 11th Democrat, and it is a compelling message. His focus is clear - remember 9/11, remember who's really to blame and shame on you who are unwilling to do something about it. That mindset puts many, many other political issues a distant second. [Update: The transcript of Silver's speech is here.]

Huh? Is that Michael Moore in the audience? This ain't the all you can eat buffet, pal.

Zainab Al-Suwaij, Executive Director, American Islamic Congress: "Today, I come to tell you that today, Iraq enjoys a new day." "Their noble sacrifice was not in vain" - reffering to those killed and injured in the war. "We will never forget what your sons and daughters did for us." Not a sparkling speaker, but a very important voice.

John McCain now...hmmm...I've never seen him speek at length before. He's kinda...nerdy. Very conciliatory toward his fellow Senatorial "friends." Very underspoken.

"There is no avoiding this war. We tried that, and our reluctance cost us dearly." "We can't make our [victory] on the battlefield more difficult, so that our diplomacy is easier to conduct." Excellent! "There was no status quo to be left alone."

Yup, that's Michael Moore in there...McCain is taking a shot at him! (paraphrase)"...certainly not a disingenuous filmmalker [crowd is going nuts, interrupts..."four more years, etc..." This is really the perfect venue for a bundle of masochistic self-loathing and paranoia like Moore to insert himself into.] who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace when in fact it was..."...damn I can't type fast enough...lists the horrors of torture chambers, etc...

"Whether or not Saddam had wmd [when we went in?], he would have aquired them again..."

"As the President rightly reminds us, we are safer now than we were on September 11th, but we are still not safe..."

Not great delivery, although he gathered a little (very little) momentum as he went winding up with a strong finish. Excellent in substance, however. There will be some gems when the transcript is available. [Update: The transcript of McCain's speech is here.]

Very powerful segment next - three of the family members of 9/11 victim/heroes.

The theme/strategy of the evening is clear. Virtually nothing about the usual domestic issues - taxes, abortion (absolutely nothing on this), health-care, race issues. EVERYTHING is about appreciation of the military, the seriousness and the need to *do something* about 9/11 and the need to continue the vigorous War on Terror. Terrorism, terrorism, terrorism. Keep beating the drum.

Rudy Giuliani now. He's a damn-sight better speaker than McCain, I'll say that for sure...

Oh, this is another good one. Going to be worth going to the transcript later in a big way. No way to excerpt this as it goes. I think this is what they call an effective convention speech. Bravo. Someone write this guy's name down. He's going places. This is one of the best speeches I've seen in a long, long while. If you're not watching this now, find a feed and see it later. [Update: Transcript of Giuliani speech here.]

The ceremonies tonight certainly make the sometimes questionable (especially given all the wonderful shots of big protests the media have availed themselves of) choice of New York as a venue suddenly make sense. The constant focus on security and terrorism and the response to 9/11 are given a natural context as they take place here [and, as an aside, there was another theme tonight - boldly tieing the War in Iraq together with the big picture of the War on Terror. The Democrats will keep trying to knock that connection down. The Republicans have a chance this week to keep setting it back up.]. Anywhere else and it would have seemed forced after a time. Not here. Not now. The world created inside that hall by speakers like these leave the trudging sign carters on the street seem a petty, frivilous trifle soon forgotten.

Well, thththththat's all for tonight folks. I'm a partisan, of course, but seeing speakers like McCain and Giuliani (and Ron Silver) tonight was a treat.