DNC 2024 & the Emotional Hangover of a Televised Revolution

Back in the day, kids, we only had three or four channels. On a glorious summer day, we’d have cycled, splashed through sprinklers, lain on the lawn, and then we’d need a break from all the nothin’ we were doin’, and would run in to chill out with TV, and there’d be a fucking political convention on every channel.

DNC and RNC, all day long, every channel, and lord, we hated it.

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Come Clinton’s time, I’d started taking an interest in politics. I got into college at 17, and I found Hunter S. Thompson not long after. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas was the book everyone glommed onto, but it was Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail that really ticked my boxes, and Clinton’s election just dogpiled onto my enthusiasm for the democratic process.

That was the first time my generation experienced the thrill of leftist policies being in vogue.

If I recall right, HST became legend among political reporters of his era with that book, because he’d correctly anticipated the outcomes of every primary while on the trail in 1972.

I don’t know why HST’s ability to understand the political climate of the era was so amazing to me, but I’ve always been fascinated with political climates ever since. Knowing political outcomes is about knowing people, and what they want or need, and there’s something beautiful about understanding people in such a fundamental way. That’s the magic of this DNC — it taps into that underbelly of social need.

It proves political pundits don’t always understand the heart of the country or the zeitgeist they’re in.

*

We’re seeing so much misguided political coverage from legacy media that it feels like political punditry is never right. The problem is, legacy media’s owned by hedge funds these days and they have the most to lose in a Kamala Harris victory. Alas, I digress.

I’m a lapsed armchair media critic, something I came upon honestly from my youth.

I stumbled into journalism in college. It’s a complicated. I took a writing course to share a study block with a cool chick in grade 11. My teacher said, “You have a real talent for this,” so I went to j-school for college.

Journalism was the first time I met people weird like me. I got nerdy about newspapers by age eight. Loved specials on TV about current events. I knew what Al-Jazeera was by the time I was 19 in 1992, and had books like The Underground Railroad, Books that Changed the World, and The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich on my shelf, while I worked in the college library between classes.

But I never had the nerve for a journalism job.

I had thin skin. Several encounters with men showed I lacked the nerve to compete against men professionally in an “old boys’ club” career.

I’ll never live those regrets down — because I never gave it a shot. Because I let those motherfuckers intimidate me.

Maybe I wouldn’t have cut it, anyhow. I had a drink once, at 21, with eminent Canadian journalist Stevie Cameron and came away from it with her perspective: “if you’re inclined to addiction, you’ll become an accomplished addict as a journalist” because of the emotional toll it often takes, and the ethical compromises it often demands.

Even at 20, I knew I’d avoided addiction by luck of the draw. I didn’t want to chance the life so many extended family members chose, with a bottle in hand.

Whatever career choices I made, deep down inside, I’ll always be that journalism nerd.

So, today, I’m emotional, thoughtful, verklempt, and enmeshed in a swirl of other odd feelings, because the 2024 Democratic National Convention is over.

For the first time ever, I watched about 80% of it, and my god, it jazzed me up.

Now over, an odd ennui washes over me. A strange resentment simmers in me, likely because it’s been so long since I’ve been this excited about politics and the world’s future.

I’m big mad about waiting my whole life to see a woman be taken this seriously for leader of the world.

I’m mad I lacked the nerve to stand tall against men in a career I wanted.

I’m mad that I know at least one woman will read these words while nodding her head about roads they, too, never took because they chose an easier path to avoid men’s bullshit.

I know, I know. “Not all men.” But, honey, it doesn’t need to be all men. It needs to be enough men. It was enough men that it affected the trajectory of my life (and so many others) because I didn’t have the strength or courage or nerve to challenge them.

And that’s on me, to a large degree, but it’s also on the events that shaped me. And those men.

*

Today, when I see Kamala Harris, a woman both Black and Indian, whose mom had a thick-as-heck motherland accent, who not only encountered the bullshit I didn’t have the strength to overcome, but also social and systemic racisms I can’t conceive of, and she’s up there, owning her space, owning the podium, and throwing down fightin’ words only the best lawyers can muster… well, there’s more going on inside me than just celebrating a woman running for Prez.

Men will never understand. They’ll try. But they’ll never understand.

*

Just two weeks ago, I’d been having a bad day. I was in the final minutes of 4 hours running errands with a carshare, for which I not only pay by the hour, but also by the kilometre. With eight minutes left in my rental, I needed to park to unload my groceries. I waved on an oncoming car so the woman could get out of my way and I could parallel park more easily.

But my bad: I didn’t smile as I waved her on.

White woman, in her 60s, curly white hair. Beautiful summer day, my window’s down. She shouts, “You’re so CHEERY. SMILE MORE!” while driving past my window.

Readers, I could have torn her limb from limb.

Did I mention I was on my 11^th day of work in a row?

That I had eight minutes to not only unload my groceries to my apartment, but also return the car to its spot two blocks away, with a $50 late-return fine looming?

That I still had to work for 6 hours after I got inside?

Smiling was not my priority.

She never would have said that to a man.

Never.

So, when women talk about what Kamala Harris has had to endure to not only win District Attorney in San Francisco, but then Attorney General, then Senator, then VP, and now to run for President, men will never understand how much bullshit we know she took. Not just from men, but ignorant women, too.

As a white woman, I can’t imagine the additional abuse her skin colour subjected her to throughout the years, and even still.

It’s 2024 and women can’t even drive without being told to smile, for christ’s sake.

*

Luckily a great new generations of kids have been spawned from Gen X parents who are fed up.

One of my friends is a great dad, but his wife has the big-bucks career. She’s quietly fierce. Mom’s designed parts for NASA and led countless engineering teams, seeming to cherrypick her jobs. Their kids got next-level parenting, so I’m jazzed to see the adults they become.

And the older I get, the more I understand how much bullshit my friend’s wife has likely overcome in her career. I wonder how much of her resilience the daughter is gleaning, especially with an empathetic, liberal dad reinforcing those lessons.

The son starts university next week — neuroscience. In a couple years, it’ll be the daughter’s turn to enroll — and it’s game on for another generation of brilliant women.

That is the exciting part for me. How much has Daughter learned osmotically from Mom’s ability to weather a science career, despite the ever-present stupidity of misogyny?

Kamala’s mom was in the sciences too. She overcame so much in terms of racism, sexism, stupidity, and then taught her warrior-like social skills to her girls.

My mother was amazing and tough, but she never overcame many of her barriers. I inherited some of her timidity. I don’t resent her for it; I get it, where itt came from, and why.

But I envy women who had more resilient matriarchs, and potentially more fortunate circumstances, around them than I had.

We don’t all get lucky with parents teaching us defiance and perseverance.

Some lives don’t work out that way.

For those of us lacking excellence-achieving role models, this week’s DNC offered so much insight and power for us to learn from. So much lived wisdom shared in so many capacities, across so many classes and cultures.

Politically, it’s the first time we’ve seen hope, joy, and positivity writ large on a stage, not just for a speech, but for four full nights of diverse voices.

Speaker after speaker after speaker throwing down — how to be fearless in the face of hate and oppression, but also how to celebrate strength, live in the moment, and push through adversity with optimism.

Family — biological bonds, but also our chosen families — got celebrated too. It was meaningful on so many levels, for so many people.

The DNC 2024 provided so many different expressions of what family, support, and love can look like. They threw down with joy and offered us up hope.

*

I spent my Friday night with an old friend, some takeout burgers and fries. She and I talked about politics, mostly because I couldn’t shut up about the DNC. But we also middle-age griped about the loss of common sense, how disengaged people seem from reality, and how it really “didn’t used to be this way.”

It seems crazy to blame reality TV and Donald Trump for the public discourse and lack of respect all around us, but that’s exactly where blame lies.

The reality is, anyone who’s 20 has spent a decade of their life seeing one of the most powerful people in the world being an angry, rude, hateful, inconsiderate asshole. Donald Trump has been depicted as a role model — because how can a Presidential contender not be perceived as a role model? — on newscasts everywhere, nearly daily, for over 3,600 days.

How could rudeness, hatred, and inconsideration not infiltrate our daily lives? It’s elevated on media around the world, daily!

That bad behaviour and fink-on-neighbours mentality have influenced an entire generation. It’s become a permission slip for bad behaviour. It may have begun in the Tea Party era as a response to Obama’s Blackness in the White House, but it’s exploded since the Trump years.

Not just here, either. Bolsonaro in Brazil, Orban in Hungary, Erdogan, Putin, that Filippino shithead that went around executing drug dealers, Modi, and so many other haters have consolidated power since Trump came in. It’s also in the burgeoning far-right parties exploding in Germany, Czechia, Poland, France, Italy, and elsewhere.

All of it spills out from the momentum created by Trump since 2014. It all spills from billionaires seizing on that divisiveness, creating troll farms to exploit it wherever they can.

Because when we’re hating on each other, we don’t fight billionaires, and they’re the enemy.

All of this social disrespect and antagonism comes from glorifying Trump’s pathetic concept of masculinity, and media reflecting his message, and it trickling down into supermarkets encounters, parking lot squabbles, classroom theatrics, and elsewhere.

This isn’t “just” an election about a Black woman seeking office.

This is about electing a return to ethics, decency, morality, common goodness, and a return to civility everywhere, within everyone we meet.

It’s about making accountability matter again.

After all the racist, ignorant, backwater Klan-light bullshit of the last a decade, imagine living under a killer prosecutor with a Black, hip auntie/mom vibe in the most powerful office in the world.

Then, add the good ol’ Midwest “Coach Dad” vibe from Tim Walz, and the fact that I’ve already seen three people JUST THIS WEEK say, “I took the shopping cart all the way back to the store today, because that’s what Coach Walz would do.”

Imagine! I can’t fathom how much public discourse and how we interact with each other might change over the decade to come — not just in the USA, but in Canada and around the world — if the needle’s moving in small ways already after just a month of this positive, stop-taking-their-shit electoral campaign.

Kamala and Tim combine to offer what I think is the very best of “Americana” — from its soul to its heartland. They evoke a blend of what America really is about, and the civility America once embraced, that I hope once again returns.

*

If you find yourself cynical about the world today, then I’d posit you haven’t seen enough speeches from the DNC this week.

I’ve selected a few speeches for you to consider.

*

AN ASIDE: Not included on my list are speakers like Josh Shapiro, who admittedly gives a great speech, but for me will always be “The White Obama,” because he can’t find his own speaking cadence.

Dudes, stop studying Barack Obama and trying to mimic his speaking cadence.

Barack grew up with a Midwest mom, got raised in Indonesia and Hawaii, before adopting the urban vibes of Chicago as home. The man’s cadence reflects Indigenous Hawaiian culture, surfing culture, thoughtful Midwesterners, the soul of Chicago, the fire and passion of Gospel and the Black Church, the slow measure of his father’s scholarly and African roots, the savvy of making Harvard Law Review, the street sense of community organizing, and so much more.

It’s a vibe earned through a life well lived, and you cannot pick that up through watching YouTube snippets. Find your own vibe. No one’ll ever be another Obama.

Here are some of the great speeches for you to catch up on, and why I liked them:

Raphael Warnock

Canadians may be less familiar with Georgia’s Senator Warnock, but the man’s been head pastor at Martin Luther King Jr.’s church since 2005 because he is a world-class orator, and this is one of his great speeches. Builds slowly, slowly, and hits a feverish, inspiring, pounding finish. (And, frankly, It’s the kind of speech that make white people lament our churches being so dull.) (14 minutes.)

Tim Walz

If you haven’t met “Coach Walz” yet, this is a great introduction into who is being called the greatest Vice President pick ever made by either party — this is the kind of man who can bring the center of the country into the fold and create the broadest Democratic Party in history. From free school lunches to protecting abortion rights, he’s a surprisingly progressive governor who hunts, led his football team to the state championship, and served 24 years in uniform. He’s already inspiring people to return shopping carts, for crying out loud! What else can he do for us? (17 minutes)

Hakeem Jeffries

Democratic choice for Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi’s heir — and no matter what you think of Pelosi, she’s a political powerhouse. Jeffries is already, too. He’s charismatic, smart, and shrewd, and he gives a heck of a speech. His sparkle in his eyes tells you when he’s about to throw down a banger of a line. (7 minutes)

Kenan Thompson

The beloved Saturday Night Live star came on for one spot in a running segment across all four nights — snippets teaching viewers about what the nefarious “Project 2025” that the GOP and Trump dream as the future for America. “If you’ve ever wanted a document that can kill a small animal and democracy all at once, here it is.” Kenan’s whole clip is at once alarming and funny, as master class in humour as education. (7 minutes)

The Roll Call

The dreaded paint-drying part of conventions got banished to become the hottest playlist of the week. The DJ spun a great list of songs representing all American states and territories. It was fun, inclusive, and the most “this is America” roll call I’ve ever seen at any political convention. Put it on when you’re cleaning and check out the video from time to time. You’ll enjoy the vibe of all the people lovin’ on one another in the crowd. I’m honesty misty-eyed just thinking about it. (1 hour, 20 minutes)

Doug Emhoff

Kamala’s husband, the “Second Gentleman,” gave an endearing, fun, and heart-winning speech. You’ll get a great look at who Kamala is, through the love of her life, who was a hell of a lawyer himself and now teaches law at Georgetown when he’s not advocating for the issues he cares about, from racism to reproductive rights. One of his stories about how he called her for their first blind date is one you’ll love and laugh about. (14 minutes)

Barack Obama

How could he NOT make this list, right? Yeesh. Like you need to be told Barack can talk? (35 minutes)

Fight for Reproductive Freedom

This was another “running segment” throughout the convention, where they took 4-5 people/couples/families and put them up on stage to discuss their real-life experiences with issues platformed by Kamala’s quest for Presidency. This clip about reproductive freedom is so profound. Five difference experiences on why the Republican forced-birth platform is a nightmare. (7 minutes)

Malcolm Kenyatta

Here’s another face to get to know for the future, again talking about Project 2025 in the same segment Kenan Thompson does so well. This US Representative is 34 years old, and shows we have a lot to look forward to for decades to come in America’s political landscape. (3 minutes)

Michelle Obama

WATCH THIS! There’s a reason this is one of the world’s most popular women. And a reason Barack says he’s the only man stupid enough to talk after her. She’s already had some lines from this speech turned into what might be one of the most popular dance tracks of the year. The Republicans are lucky this woman has zero interest in ever running for office, because there isn’t a chance they could beat her.

Many say this is the speech of the convention, by a woman in grief for recently losing her mother, and in a quiet, simmering rage at the direction the country has taken and the man who’s taken it there. (22 minutes)

Hillary Clinton

Of course, a very divisive woman, but this might be one of the best speeches she’s ever given, because she’s got nothing on the line anymore. I’m glad she had this moment, and she rose to it. (17 min)

Shawn Fain

The leader of the United Auto Workers is the most effective union leader since Jimmy Hoffa, and has delivered historic results for American auto workers, and he hates Trump with the heat of a thousand suns. He gives a great speech and you’ll see why he’s electrified the union landscape of America in the last two years — and pro-union Biden/Harris are no small part of that revolution, either. (10 min)

Elizabeth Warren

I didn’t check if this video includes it, but the Senator received a 3-minute rousing ovation upon entry and was brought to tears, and so was I. But Warren’s like a sniper, comes in, pops off a couple good shots, waits for the body to hit the floor, gives a nice wave, walks off. So underrated as a political voice, but great to have her here. (6 minutes)

Elissa Slotkin

This Congresswoman looks far younger than her 48 years, so it’s understandable if you see her and are shocked to learn she was a CIA analyst, was on the National Security Council, and a State Department official. She’s worked under Republican and Democratic Presidents. And she’s a bad-ass. (3 minutes)

Musical Interlude: Pink & Daughter

The musical performance I’ll remember from this convention — Pink, her daughter, a couple backing singers, and a couple acoustic musicians, and a beautiful rendition of “What About Us?” — lyrics that take on a whole new meaning in the current political context. (4 minutes)

Maya Harris

The VP’s sister is a force all her own. She COMMANDS a room. She’s also a lawyer. I have never wanted to meet someone’s dead mother more than I want to meet the Harris sisters’ mom, because I don’t know what “Mami” did in raising those girls, but the world’s far better for it. (5 minutes)

Adam Kinzinger

The former Republican Representative was one of the leaders of the January 6 Committee, and his is a rousing speech to bridge the gap with Republicans who wrongly think Democrats aren’t patriotic and don’t have a strong grasp on national defense. He’s an incredible example of integrity not being a partisan quality. Great speech! (7 minutes)

There are so many other great speakers of so many backgrounds, and I highly recommend checking more out:

https://www.youtube.com/@DemConvention/videos

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