August 27, 2008

The Obama stage set at Invesco Field: "a miniature Greek temple."

Reuters reports:
The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos' National Football League team plays.

Some 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington's Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party's nomination for president.

So is this stage set going to seem like a Greek temple, with Obama as some phony god — from somewhere in Europe — or is it going remind us of the federal government — with Obama looking simply presidential? It's makes a big difference, and you never know what these rock concert type structures are going to look like until you see them in action.

104 comments:

AllenS said...

Maybe they're going to put a big chair in the middle and have Obama sit in it and look like Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Or maybe Obama will emerge from it wearing a cape and holding a staff.

Automatic_Wing said...

Toga party!

Simon said...

"You're so vain; you probably think this ascension is about you."

Ruth Anne Adams said...

But it goes to eleven. That's one better, now, isn't it?

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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ron st.amant said...

No one is really questioning whether McCain, standing on his own, is Presidential

Oh good. I look forward to the no frills, stripped down RNC Convention. It will be so 'Our Town, starring John McCain'

Well...'Our Town (except the one half of the country that hates America and wants the terrorist to win)'

Probably not enough space on the RNC Marquee for that many words though.

Anonymous said...
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Ann Althouse said...

Yeah, Wurly, but it's fine. It demonstrates something about how dumb the stage set really is.

Joaquin said...

Obama is the new JFK.....or at least that's what they want us to think. When JFK gave his acceptance speech, he gave it at the LA Coliseum, whose columns resembles a Greek temple. Obama is going for that image.
If Obam wins, expect Michelle to get pregnant with a little John John.

Cedarford said...

Simon said...
"You're so vain; you probably think this ascension is about you."

That was my morning treat. I'm still laughing as I write this. Thanks, Simon!

Widmerpool said...

Smell The Glove!

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Wurly:

Your comment made me immediately think of Apollo Creed entering as George Washington then quickly morphing into Uncle Sam.

This was the best I could do.

Crimso said...

Why on Earth are they glorifying a slaveholding culture?

Ruth Anne Adams said...

When all you have is staging, staging becomes important.

Salamandyr said...

I'm not really sure how unusual this is. Bush in 2004 had a theatre in the round kind of projection into the audience, intended to place him as a man of the people. That was obviously planned, and designed. The difference is, we didn't read articles ahead of time discussing the emotional impact it was intended to have in the most cynical terms.

I'm not sure, if we saw this as it was intended to be seen, Thursday night, that we wouldn't just accept it exactly as intended.

That being said, it does seem a little more elaborate than the normal nomination backdrop. Whatever happened to flags?

Palladian said...

"Whatever happened to flags?"

Obama doesn't do flags.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I remember lots of talk prior to Bush's "Man in the Middle" speech. They showed the film of him throwing out the first pitch in Yankee Stadium when baseball resumed after 9/11. I remember them talking about clearing people out after Cheney's speech so as to convert the arena in time. His staging was covered.

Palladian said...

"Some 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white"

Sounds like a perfect facade from which a bigger facade will "appear".

Roger J. said...

will this temple be decorated with the "obama faux presidential" seal as well? For all the glowing commentary about Team Obama and Axlerod, Cedarford's bete noir, they are hitting nothing but clinkers in their messaging--from content to timing. Perhaps that explains why John McCain has closed the polls to a dead heat.

EnigmatiCore said...

Life is bigger,
It's bigger than you
And you are not me.
The lengths that I will go to,
The distance in your eyes.
Oh no, I've said too much.
I set it up.

That's me in the corner.
That's me in the spotlight,
Losing my religion.
Trying to keep up with you,
And I don't know if I can do it.
Oh no, I've said too much.
I haven't said enough.

Consider this.
The hint of the century.
Consider this.
The slip that brought me
To my knees failed.
What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around?
Now I've said too much.
I thought that I heard you laughing.
I thought that I heard you sing.
I think I thought I saw you try.

But that was just a dream.
That was just a dream.

Peter V. Bella said...

The new politics is not about issues. It is about symbolism and illusion. It is the art of conjuring tricks, it is enchantment made to be thrilling to watch. It is mysterious and seeks to turn our attention to the charisma and charm of the politician with rapt fascination. It is prestidigitation at its very finest. Politicians are practitioners of the ancient arts of illusion. In effect, politics has been reduced to a cheap parlor trick.

John said...

As an encore, Obama will return to the stage and make Hillary "smell the glove".

We I see this I think more tin pot dictator than rock star. Since Obama already had a Presidential seal, why not just make up a military uniform and give himself some medals?

MadisonMan said...

It'll be interesting to see if the stage set actually does look like a miniature Greek Temple. I look forward to hearing Jennifer Hudson singing the National Anthem. (And what happened to all those prayers for rain! Apparently going unanswered).

Let me see if I have the timeline correct: Obama talks Thursday night, and then news stories on Friday focus on the wrap-up, Saturday McCain announces his VP and the Republicans start everything up in St. Paul (I liked Hillary!'s crack about the Twin Cities) on Monday.

Is it good or bad for the Republicans that they will be competing in the news with (potentially) a very strong hurricane (Gustav) in the Gulf of Mexico? By Sunday it's possible that evacuations will be starting along the Gulf Coast. The Democrats had little in the way of news interference (so far). I am not sure the same will be true of the Republicans.

Stay safe Beth!

David said...

Once it became clear that Obama would be the nominee, someone high up in the campaign must have decided that all that stood between him and the Presidency was getting the electorate to see him as a viable president. In campaign argot, he needs to "look presidential." This is the "it's the economy, stupid" of the Obama campaign and we're seeing it everywhere.

Obama gets put in a bubble: he needs to look presidential. He gets a seal: he needs to look presidential. He goes to Europe and meets with heads of government: he needs to look presidential. He gets a quasi-Air Force One: he needs to look presidential. He accepts the nomination in a football stadium from a set dressed to look like federal district Classical architecture: he needs to look presidential.

This has been drummed into the candidate so thoroughly that it even crops up in his off-the-cuff remarks, like how he doesn't look like those other presidents on our currency.

The campaigns not wrong. They do have to get Americans to think of fitting the role. But (a) they're being way too heavy handed about it, as the seal debacle should have shown them, and (b) it's not the only issue out there.

David said...

Or even:

The campaign's not wrong. They do have to get Americans to of Obama as fitting the role of President.

David said...

think. Damnit.

ron st.amant said...

why not just make up a military uniform and give himself some medals

Or put on a flight suit and land on an air craft carrier and claim Mission Accomplished...oh wait...

The Drill SGT said...

Oscar-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem that night.

I hope it's not your "artistic" stylized anthem

Der Hahn said...

Bush in 2004 had a theatre in the round kind of projection into the audience, intended to place him as a man of the people. The difference is, we didn't read articles ahead of time discussing the emotional impact it was intended to have in the most cynical terms.

Well, if you want to talk about how Obama in 2008 is different from W in 2004, there is that little thing about voters having had four years to evaluate W's performance as President.

But yeah, sure, W was relected because of that totally awsome sound and light show at the RNC.

ron's snark about the carrier landing fails on the same point. W was, and remains until January 2009, CINC. Obama isn't anything but a pretender until then.

bleeper said...

Their next child won't be John John, it will be named Beri Beri.

How long until Obama starts wearing hats - Fidel hats, Mommar hats, a fez, anything that befits his status as Savior? Oh, I know, someone could take a picture of him in a turban, that would be perfect.

ron st.amant said...

Drill Sgt, finally something we can agree on. Why can't people sing the anthem in a respectful way? I went to a hockey game last year where the anthem took longer than the first period.

Unknown said...

Drudge has a picture. Reminds me of the Lincoln Memorial.

John said...

Also Bush was and is a real pilot, which when you think about it is more than Obama has accomplished in his entire life outside of politics. I consider editor of the Harvard Law Review a political position.

For all of the put downs the Dems throw at Bush, his resume was about 100 times better in 2000 than Obama's today. Obama has never done much of anything. Yes, he went to good schools, but it is not like he followed that up by being a great attorney or legal scholar. Heck, John Edwards for all of his smarminess if a hundred times more influential and successful lawyer than Obama. What did Obama do after Harvard? Went back to Chicago, joined the right church, hooked up with Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorn and muscled his way up the Chicago Democratic political machine. Outside of politics he has never accomplished anything and within politics he has never accomplished anything beyond winning an election.

Roger J. said...

Somewhere in that liberal facade, Ron, is a conservative eager to emerge. I suspect drill sgt will agree that no one does the National Anthem better than a military band. No frills--just the music as originally written (well not the british drinking song version)

bleeper said...

They can get the flag that Obama's buddy Bill Ayers was standing on in the photo - dust it off, it will be fine. It should burn nicely.

Bissage said...

The Greek Temple thing is fine by me. I’ll gladly cast my vote for Obama if he grows to 25 feet tall and hurls a couple of thunderbolts.

Security should keep a watch out for ship’s phasers, though, and make sure nobody takes a peek behind the curtain.

chickelit said...

mcg said Drudge has a picture. Reminds me of the Lincoln Memorial

Thanks. Looks like he'll be sticking with the MLK impersonation.

The Drill SGT said...

Roger,

Here is a classic you may have missed

The Army Band doing The Battle Hymn of the Republic for the Queen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irZmknvOB4I

a few professional bits in there, but rock solid classic

Unknown said...

This beats "reporting for duty" for sheer audacity.

Will Anne Hathaway be one of the attending vestal virgins? Will Obama wear a wreath of arugula?

How soon before the campaign fires its designer? And why does a campaign need a designer, anyway.

tjl said...

Drudge's photo makes the stage set look rather less megalomaniac than everyone has been assuming. From the above comments, I expected something right out of "Triumph of the Will." The actual set, however, hardly seems adequate for the coronation of a Messiah.

Palladian said...

"Drudge has a picture. Reminds me of the Lincoln Memorial."


Hmm, reminds me more of a backdrop by Olan Mills for photographing high school prom-goers.

Icepick said...

"It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever. "

Unknown said...

Do you think we can convince him to skip the presidency if we promise to build him a memorial anyway?

Anonymous said...

They're going to regret not giving Hillary a bigger dressing room than the puppets.

Beth said...

Stay safe Beth!

Thanks, MadisonMan. We have reservations in Shreveport and are ready to roll out of here Sunday if it's coming our way. Meanwhile, we continue as if it won't.

Richard Dolan said...

Everyone (mostly) is dumping on O's stage set. But underneath the criticism is a general agreement that image matters, and the staging is important. Image, stage, actor and text have to work together if the message is to get through and the play is to be a success.

I don't have any interest in defending O's concept. It's grand in a vulgar and silly way, the image and the stage will work against his text, and the message will come out all wrong. But rather than just saying the same thing over and over again, can anyone here come up with an image and staging that could possibly work for O's big moment, a combination that would unite him as actor with his text (presumably a retooled version of what we've heard from him before) so that his passion play of Hope! and Change! might resonate?

O's production values suggest an old-fashioned Wagner production, with his columned pedestal doing the work of a little Valhalla. My guess is that he'd do better with something lighter, more modern and stripped down, in a smaller setting that wouldn't make him look like a little prop in danger of getting lost in an overblown set no one could take seriously. And, anyway, Valhalla didn't come out well in the end.

bleeper said...

Wagner? Are you suggesting that Obama is an anti-semite? I thought the muslim meme had been put to bed already.

Based on what his disciples believe, the only appropriate stage setting would be one where he walks across some water, ascends a mount, feeds the multitude with loaves and fishes, then hovers above the stage while healing the halt and lame. And lame is the key word in understanding those who worship His Phoniness.

The Drill SGT said...

O's production values suggest an old-fashioned Wagner production, with his columned pedestal doing the work of a little Valhalla. My guess is that he'd do better with something lighter, more modern and stripped down, in a smaller setting that wouldn't make him look like a little prop in danger of getting lost in an overblown set no one could take seriously. And, anyway, Valhalla didn't come out well in the end.

I keep thinking about Nuremberg C.E. 1934 or Orthanc T.A. 3019

Those didn't end well either :)

But the productions were classic and the film image was perfect

Simon said...

Somewhere along the way Obama dropped the mask and "yes we can" became "yes I can"...

Unknown said...

Bissage: thanks, I was thinking along the same line but you expressed it well.

Beth: yes please be safe. Is it true that people in southern LA consider people from Shreveport as Yankees?

bleeper said...

Awesome - AWESOME! Well done. Can we get that made into posters and bumper stickers and buttons? Poster sized buttons?

XWL said...

Prof, if you decide to DVR the final night of this coronation, you better add at least an hour to the end time, cause I suspect that The One will run waaaaaay long as he is forced to pause over and over again as he basks in the adulation of the masses as they adore his every word, erupting into wild claps and cheers after nearly every sentence.

Maybe an extra 90 minutes, even.

(and I'm pissed off, I was going to do the "stonehenge" comparison, but you beat me to it)

Will The One break out with some little people to dance around the stage?

KLDAVIS said...

I'm picturing B.O. like Socrates in Aristophanes' The Clouds, "swinging about, saying he was walking on air and talking a lot of nonsense about things of which I know nothing at all."

The story also features a classic deus ex machina.

Palladian said...

"But rather than just saying the same thing over and over again, can anyone here come up with an image and staging that could possibly work for O's big moment, a combination that would unite him as actor with his text (presumably a retooled version of what we've heard from him before) so that his passion play of Hope! and Change! might resonate?"

I'm thinking something like this.

Unknown said...

I thought of Obama when I watched this.

kjbe said...

I'm guessing the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream speech" will be referenced - easily tied into his inclusiveness message, to name one.

Thanks, MM for the heads up on the repub timeline. Shoot, I'm driving up and moving my kid in that day.

AlphaLiberal said...

This is a sure sign of that silly season is upon us.

Of course, when Republican do the exact same thing, that's fine!

sigh...

chickelit said...

gophermomeh said: I'm guessing the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream speech" will be referenced

Did you suppose "Two score ago" is being scripted in?

Will said...

I don't really see the big deal. Rush Limbaugh has been ranting about it this morning "Greek Temples are the homes of the Gods" therefore this is all part of Obama's Messiah complex.

I could understand that, except for the fact that so many of our great public buildings use Greco-Roman temples for inspiration. You can't swing a dead cat in Washington DC without hitting three or four colonnades like the one seen in the Invesco set. The design is clearly intent on evoking thoughts of the US Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court and the Lincoln Memorial. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Beth said...

Of course, when Republican do the exact same thing, that's fine!

Careful, you'll fall into the toque blanc error, the "I know you are but what am I" fallacy, the "Whenever you catch me in a hypocritical moment I'll squeal in Latin" problem.

Beth said...

Thanks, stever. We'll not be in danger and we're already going through the motions of getting our finances, prescriptions, and important papers together; picking up tranqs for the pets; planning to empty the fridge and freezer (God save me from another fridge left unpowered for 4 week!); taking the backseat out of the PT Cruiser so we can stuff it full of pets and computers; filling up the gas tank; you get the idea...

Is it true that people in southern LA consider people from Shreveport as Yankees?

Wow. That's possible, but at least in New Orleans, we tend to think of Shreveport as more traditionally Southern. We have the Mediterranean/Carribean identity here. Up there, they're Baptists with Southern accents. Down here it's Catholic culture, with accents that run from Brooklynese to Cajun.

kjbe said...

cl: Sure, knock yourself out.

Unknown said...

I do think a lot of us were "Drudged" per se on this one. That is, we bought into the textual descriptions provided by Drudge and ABC News before the pictures came out. There is a difference, in my eyes, between an "ancient greek temple", which is what Drudge and ABC News described it as, and what I saw in the picture.

When I finally saw the picture, it seemed to me that it looks like the Lincoln memorial, a classic Greek Doric design. Fine. Like I said, can we get him to skip the presidency if we build him a memorial now?

AlphaLiberal's rebuttal, as usual, is less clever than he would like it to be. Nobody from Virginia would confuse that design with classical Greek, unless they lived under a rock and had never seen the UVA Rotunda. That's an example of Palladian architecture. Obviously it's influenced from classical Greek design but again, the point is one of classification. Nobody confuses the White House for a Greek temple, either.

Unknown said...

What I meant to say in that last paragraph is that the backdrop of the Virginia convention AL linked to is clearly suggestive of Virginia landmarks and not, say, the Parthenon.

Unknown said...

By the way, Wikipedia rocks sometimes. I did not know what to call the style of the UVA Rotunda until I looked it up.

Palladian said...

Huh? Are you talking about me, mcg? I mean, I know I enjoy the gustatory pleasures, but calling me rotunda is kind of mean.

Unknown said...

Of course not, I'm saying that you inspired the... columns.

Simon said...

AlphaLiberal said...
"Of course, when Republican do the exact same thing, that's fine!"

You - and the blog you linked to - have outdone yourselves in ignorance. The Virginia State GOP convention had a graphic depicting the Virginia State Capitol. Gee, can't imagine how that's just a little bit totally not the exact same thing! Honestly, do you people actually think - like, ever? Or is it just, talking point in hand, brain in neutral, mouth in gear?

Unknown said...

Ah, I stand corrected on the specific landmark. That is obviously right.

Simon said...

In case Alpha has any further doubt that it's the VA capitol, here's a wide angle shot of the same stage, where you can clearly see that the backdrop includes not only the main body of the capitol but its wings too. Pillock.

Unknown said...

Here's a video tour. Advance to 3:40 if you want to focus just on the stage design. (h/t Powerline, Breitbart)

Sissy Willis said...

The Lincoln Memorial it is, but forget about togas and stovepipe hats. Thursday night the golden boy will use the mini-temple at Invesco Field to appropriate the karma of Martin Luther King, who delivered his "I have a dream" speech from the memorial steps.

I don't know who designed the mini-temple, but it was one of Madonna's set designers, a Democrat from Texas, who did the glitzy Democratic Convention podium at Pepsi Center:

Where is the humility?

William said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Beth, I used to watch the Justin Wilson cooking show on PBS and that was a joke he used to make. Not that I have a lot of experience there but it didn't seem to change much from east Texas/Arkansas/Mississippi until I got past Baton Rouge.

vbspurs said...

I'm only tuning in for the pyrotechnics show.

Heard they will set Bill Clinton on fire.

Cheers,
Victoria

William said...

Santa Ana of Alamo fame once spent 25% of the Mexican national budget in order to construct an Aztec pyramid in which to bury his amputated leg. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, routinely spent about 25% of that country's budget in order to erect statues and memorials to himself about the state. There is something vaguely V.S. Naipul about Obama and his pomp. In an interview he was asked about hubris. He replied that he was the kind of person who never, ever became over confident. Megalomaniacs never suffer from hubris.

vbspurs said...

remember lots of talk prior to Bush's "Man in the Middle" speech. They showed the film of him throwing out the first pitch in Yankee Stadium when baseball resumed after 9/11.

I don't care who you are, and what your politics were, but if you didn't get chills down your spine listening to Fred Thompson narrate that part, hand in your Human Card.

Hey, maybe they can get Morgan Freeman or James Earl "This is CNN/Luke, I am Your Father" Jones to narrate something for Obama?

I'm taking bets!

Cheers,
Victoria

Salamandyr said...

To add to what people are saying in reply to the Virginia example, we're talking about excusing Obama for something because of what a state Republican party did it.

Even if it were the same (it's not) most of use aren't going to vote in Virginia, so if they did something stupid and gauche, at most it would make the Virgina Republicans hypocrites, but I don't live in Virginia, Rush doesn't live in Virginia, a whole butt-load of people don't live in Virginia.

Unknown said...

My sources have told me that this classical motif was his second choice. Originally he was going to stand amidst a mockup of the parted Red Sea.

vbspurs said...

OBAMA!"

Hey, it works in this thread too, so why not.

chickelit said...

mcg aid: My sources have told me that this classical motif was his second choice. Originally he was going to stand amidst a mockup of the parted Red Sea.

you meant parted blue sea

kjbe said...

Oh, those crazy freemasons and stonemasons for what they did to DC. Shame on them - columns and granite everywhere!

blake said...

Honestly, do you people actually think - like, ever? Or is it just, talking point in hand, brain in neutral, mouth in gear?

If you knew the answer to that question, I'd hope you'd stop engaging with him. But I'm not sure how much clearer it could be.

vbspurs said...

William wrote another excellent comment:

He replied that he was the kind of person who never, ever became over confident. Megalomaniacs never suffer from hubris.

And megalomaniacs are often rewarded for their ego excess.

VS Naipul never doubted he would win the Nobel Prize for Literature, despite Paul Theroux' better efforts.

And he did. He did.

Nkrumah is a national hero, as is Santa Ana.

Moral of the story: Your ego brought you this far, Obama. Trust it, or others will distrust it for you.

Cheers,
Victoria

vbspurs said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vbspurs said...

Oh, I know, someone could take a picture of him in a turban, that would be perfect.

Ask and you shall receive, Bleeper.

Beth said...

Not that I have a lot of experience there but it didn't seem to change much from east Texas/Arkansas/Mississippi until I got past Baton Rouge.

And hooeee, does it ever change after that!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Are we sure that's a real turban, or is it in fact giant underpants?

garage mahal said...

If you can bare to look, here is W accepting the nomination in '04 to a pretty similar backdrop if you ask me. I don't see anything unusual about either.

AlphaLiberal said...

I came here to post on Bush also using Greek columns when he accepted the nomination in 2004. But George beat me to it.

It was not controversial then. When Obama does it, time to get all huffy and puffy about it. Denounce the uppity, fancy pants negro! "He thinks he's betetr than you!"

Gawd, this is a stupid discourse! Ack!

Link showing George bush in front of columns.

IOKIYAR!

AlphaLiberal said...

I see I've been attacked for pointing out the VA Grand Oil Party also used "Greek columns."

Look, guys, we can also say those columns are DC. There's columns all over that town. Have you been there?

Wow, this is one dumb ass line of attack.

AlphaLiberal said...

By new Republican standards, we must tear down the National Capitol Columns. It's a national disgrace I tell you!

COLUMNS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN OUR NATION'S CAPITOL! ALERT DRUDGE! START FOAMING AT THE MOUTH! HIDE THE CHILDREN!

EEEK! COLUMNS! IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TOO! OMG! AND THE SUPREME COURT, TOO!

THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! RUN!

And you just know one is a fifth column!

I think someone slipped some LSD into the Republican kool aid. You guys are way tripped out.

AlphaLiberal said...

Simon addresses me:
"You - and the blog you linked to - have outdone yourselves in ignorance. The Virginia State GOP convention had a graphic depicting the Virginia State Capitol. Gee, can't imagine how that's just a little bit totally not the exact same thing! Honestly, do you people actually think - like, ever? Or is it just, talking point in hand, brain in neutral, mouth in gear?"

Wha? And the White House has columns. And the Capitol Building has columns. And the Supreme Court. There's columns all over DC.

So what's your point anyway? Democrats can't use columns for stages but Republicans can.

Do you know you're making no damn sense at all? Trying to say that Obama is pretentious for using columns in his staging but George Bush and the VA Republicans are not when they use columns makes no damn sense.

Talk about running with talking points without thinking. Again, Republicans are insulting our intelligence and draining our civic debate of the last shred of intelligence.

Unknown said...

You're moving the goalposts, doofus. The point of ridicule was not the columns. It was that it resembled "a miniature Greek temple."

Nobody confuses a Colonial-style house with front columns a Greek temple.
Nobody confuses the White House with a Greek temple.
Nobody confuses the UVA Rotunda with a Greek temple (despite being modeled after one, no less!)
Nobody confuses the Virginia State Capitol with a Greek temple.

But, apparently, ABC News took a look at Obama's stage design and said "Greek temple".

Unknown said...

Are you one of those dorks who think all black guys look alike, too?

bleeper said...

100 comments to avoid before you die.

Unknown said...

You all don[t think critically.

You accept everything that is reported.

When an article says "Greek temple" - you immediately pounce on it - and accept it as fact.

The backdrop was meant to resemble a Federal Building in Washington. It will be simple and dignified. They wanted to capture the feel of JFK's venue back in 1960.

Man - - -think please. Don't just accept everything you read and hear.

Unknown said...

Honestly---now that I've seen the latest pictures, with all of the "window" treatments in place, it iooks quite far from a Greek temple. Looks nice.

AlphaLiberal said...

I think this bizarre episode reveals how badly to the right ABC News has gone. They started this insane feeding frenzy.

Really, they're blatantly pushing the Rovian attack that Obama is presumptuous.

Thanks for coming around, mcg.

Galvanic Thomas said...

So far as I can see, the set doesn't look anything like a Greek temple. There is a slight suggestion of classical architecture, which has a long history in this country since the first days of the republic--- it reminds us of the Constitution's roots in republican Rome and democratic Athens. Many American cities--- Cincinnati, Rome, Syracuse, Utica, and many American Athenses-- have names with similar classical alusions.

The Virginia State Capitol is actually a direct copy of a Roman temple-- one in Nimes, France, that its architect, Thomas Jefferson, deeply admired. He used another Roman temple--- the Pantheon in Rome--- as his model for the central building on the University of Virginia campus.

Unknown said...

Actually AL it turns out it was a Reuters article, not ABC News, though they ran with it. And it was Drudge that likely kicked it up a notch.

I hate to break it to you but I'm still drunk on Rove's kool-aid. I mean, like I said, the set has turned out nicer than it initially did and now I like it. But I still think he's presumptuous. Sorry Senator, but there isn't a single question you've fielded yet that is inappropriate, and every time you smack one down with hostility it reflects on you. In particular, whining about how senseless a question about Ayers is, for instance, just invites more scrutiny and does nothing to actually answer the question. And now we learn how he sic'ed his attack dogs on WGN Radio for hosting Stanley Kurtz's Annenberg Challenge investigation.

No, I'm not done giving BHO and his supporters the business. And while I may feel differently now about the final result of the set design, I don't even feel bad about the ensuing dustup.

And to Ann's credit, right out of the gate she expressed the possibility that it would turn out fine: So is this stage set going to seem like a Greek temple, with Obama as some phony god — from somewhere in Europe — or is it going remind us of the federal government — with Obama looking simply presidential? It's makes a big difference, and you never know what these rock concert type structures are going to look like until you see them in action.

Anonymous said...

A question to anyone who watched the speech . . .

Was I the only one who thought it looked like he was giving the speech from the front porch of a house in the mid-west?

I really can't believe how far this 'greek columns' thing has gone. It strikes me that Republicans are grasping at straws.

The Republican convention will look like a joke next week when compared to these last four days. I'm excited to see what the Republicans do.