And so it begins...

Frankly, I'm not sure there will be any more news from the protesters than from the actual announced speakers.

In any event, I can't help but pay attention; the First Amendment is my sentimental favorite (though the Ninth Amendment needs to get out more, come to think of it). I'm glad to see from the Boston Globe (1) that they ran a reasonably thorough rundown on protesters boycotting the Free Speech Pen and (2) that they cared enough to spell out "the Bl(a)ck Tea Society". Nevertheless, the media conventional wisdom on protests is an ill-disguised yawn, so I suppose we should expect the same when the GOP troop into Ground Zero.

I'll try not to get obsessed with this, since there will be convention gossip and weird tales aplenty. I tend to experience the conventions the way people I know might experience the NFL draft. The official breezy DNC blog makes kissy-face with bloggers, but while I'm glad to see that speech transcripts will be posted, I expect the real interest to be off in the corners. When the media say "X is happening, and it's news", I generally agree. When the media say "Y is happening, but it's not news", that's when I reach for my revolver.