Yesterday brought more even more guests to the convention. I failed to mention that there happens to be a delegation from Louisiana here. They have brought with them some real positive spirit, and have been a lively part of the audience. Last night the main ballroom was set up in New Orleans style; each table had loads of bead necklaces, visitors guides and miniature bottles of Tabasco sauce. A band, lead by Delfeayo Marsalis, consisting of a trombonist, saxophonist, keyboardist, bass player and drummer, was set up on the stage. In addition to a sweet rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” they performed a memorizing original piece called “Lost in the Crescent,” which was meant to represent, via an alteration between cacophony and piercing solos, the turbulence of the post-emancipation South.

Earlier in the day, Mike Gravel gave a lively speech, making a number of bold claims while lamenting his exclusion from the Democratic party debates. I think it is unfortunate that he is being shut out, and am disappointed in the party for doing this. His big idea is to have citizens draft and vote on laws via direct democracy. I’m not sure whether this is a good idea or not, but it’s worth looking into. What excited me about Gravel was his passion and lack of mincing words; given that he has less to lose than some of the frontrunners, though, this is understandable. A good point he raised is that the current furor over immigration is merely the current manifestation of the tired old pattern of scapegoating. Given how much has gone wrong with this country over the past 8 years, he claims, certain “rednecks” look not inwards but rather seek to blame the ubiquitous “other.” He warned that with either Billary or Obama we’d get only equivocation instead of action while firing up the audience and eliciting a few chuckles as well.

We also had a great presentation from Ben of Ben and Jerry’s fame. If you are unfamiliar with his work, take a look at this short presentation. He educated the crowd, through extremely clever visuals, about just how much of the Federal budget goes to the Pentagon and how little goes to social programs. He advocates a reduction in the military budget to fund much needed social programs, such as school and infrastructure reconstruction, children’s health care, and job training. As an added bonus, he brought in a ton of ice cream… It is important that this theme get some airtime, because as I see it, the military still seems to be funding Cold War era programs as we continue to see the failure of superior technology on a daily basis in Iraq. This elephant in the room is one which the mainstream candidates must address.

Today and tomorrow there should be some Republican candidates, and who knows, there may be some surprises as well.