On the national convention: "It is not a political event; it is a retail event. Nothing will be decided here. Everyone knows this, and yet they are all here anyway, the media chattering in their vast air-conditioned tents about how vapid the whole thing is. The only bit of hard reality to intrude is the heavy show of police force, with black-clad squadrons on horseback, on bicycles, on makeshift running boards attached to SUVs, blocking intersections, and toting at all times some sinister-looking riot-control weapons."

---Thomas Frank (Wall St. Journal, Aug. 27, 2008) from "Obama Should Find His Inner Kansan"

Go Back