From the NY Times, via Harley in comments: Tom DeLay wants Republican delegates to the 2004 convention to stay in an enormous cruise ship safely away from the dirty, dirty city. Excerpts:
“Our floating hotel will provide members an opportunity to stay in one place, in a secure fashion,” said a spokesman for Mr. DeLay, Jonathan Grella.”
…..
“The Norwegian Dawn has 10 restaurants. It also has grand Garden Villa suites with a garden and babbling brooks. The ship has a children’s park with a dinosaur theme, and it has a 1,000-seat theater. It is registered in the Bahamas, and its staff is multinational, Ms. Robison said.”
I assume he-who-must-not-be-re-elected’s political staff is much too smart, but I SO hope they do this. It is the perfect symbol for Democrats talking about how fake the national Republican party’s newfound, pious, utterly shallow devotion to New York is.
It will also annoy Bloomberg, a lot. One day Mayor Mike is going to realize that identifying with the national G.O.P. is bad politics in New York City, and he’s too moderate to be elected or appointed to state or national office as a Republican. I sincerely hope that day comes before the convention.
I’m sorry, this just reinforces my view of DeLay as a barely-functioning chimpanzee.
Again, if people like Bloomburg/Arnold/Lugar/Voinovich/McCain were in charge, I’d probably be registering as a Republican. As it is, every vote for a Republican is a vote for Tom DeLay and his of selfish (and barely-concealed racist) coterie-of-idiocy.
OK, done venting for now.
As it is, every vote for a Republican is a vote for Tom DeLay and his of selfish (and barely-concealed racist) coterie-of-idiocy.
Which is not to say (I’d hasten to add) that I’m not planning on doing everything in my power to send Lugar back to the Senate — should he want another six.
What’s wrong with a little boat action in New York City? Jeez, I wuz there for a weddin’ this weekend at the Water Club (30th St, overlookin’ the East River,) and I saw a lotta boats!
Y’all be gettin’ worked up over damn minutiae. Stop readin’ the damn NOO-york Tahms!
Sometimes they act in a way that is both perfect and perfectly appropriate. Delay foremost among them. I still can’t believe it. And suspect there are several conversations going on right now about just how foolish and out-of-touch it will look. I’m curious to see if Delay stands his ground. But again, it’s the perfect metaphor for the Republican party. Remote, removed, at sea.
Hey, does Shrub get to stay in Capt. Stubing’s quarters?
Gives me a great idea for a joke. On the night before the nominees are announced, we break onto the bridge and pilot the boat to Marseilles. It’d be at least 24 hours before most GOP delegates realize they’re *not* in NYC.
Count me in, Jordan. Sounds like a great plan.
Jordan, well done. Tho’ Cuba is closer.
Good call, Harley. Havana it is.
Well, I do agree, that a boat ain’t where the action is — also a bit confined for my tastes. Myself, Central Park on a brisk, clear day, is the happiest place on earth, so I’d opt for the Plaza Hotel, but………
Who gives a rat’s ass where people be stayin’?!!?
Ohhhhh, I get it — rich fat-cat Republicans, sippin’ Chablis on a yacht, absent folks of color, ‘cept for the staff. The horror, the horror……
Y’all really gotta stop readin’ frivolous stories by the Times.
Y’all really gotta stop readin’ frivolous stories by the Times.
Yup, I agree: my insta-hate for DeLay aside (revealed above), this is a nonstory.
Of course it’s a non-story, but it’s great fodder for tabloids, comedians, and clever political opponents.
“Havana Club” is already one of the restaurants on board, but the pool deck does boast that “Ambiance is Côte d’Azur beach Riviera”. So either one works.
More info here:
http://www.norwegiandawn.fsnet.co.uk/deck_by_deck.htm
Navy, I’m pretty sure the point of putting delegates on a boat is to avoid the near-inevitable traffic blocking protests & marches seeking to make life hell for conventioneers. You can clap your hands and make gridlock in this city.
But that’s what they get for having their BBQ so far behind enemy lines. It really is going to be tough for your boys to be sure they’re *not* in Havana by mistake. Except of course the cops are mostly on their side.
Of course it’s a non-story, but it’s great fodder for tabloids, comedians, and clever political opponents.
Sorry — that came off wrong. I wasn’t disparaging the post, only suggesting that Harley, Jes, and Jordan not be too eager to pilot Republicruise off to Havana for an all-day Fidel-o-thon.
“Of course it’s a non-story, but it’s great fodder for tabloids, comedians, and clever political opponents.”
And whenever the day comes that GWB is faced with a clever political opponent, that might be a problem. 🙂
Bush didn’t know how to use a grocery scanner. Or at least folks said he didn’t. Hey, it’s a non-story. But metaphor is important, particularly in politics (Gov. Dukakis, watch out for that hellllllllmet!!) and while I doubt this rises to the level of the other two….it’s still pretty rich. And Letterman and Leno and Stewart will work it to death.
Jordan,
You mean NYC is hostile terrain? 🙂
2 things over the weekend (besides turkey)
1. Museum of Natural History (77th & Central Park West). Newsflash: If its rainin’, many New Yorkers go there.
2. Greek Wedding officiated by George Stephanopoulis Dad:* You know it’s bad, politically, when the Priest starts raggin’ on you for votin’ for Schwarzenegger. Heluva guy, though. Shared some Uzo with the feller.
Navy Davy
* Uncle Navy gettin’ remarried to a nice Greek woman.
Enjoy the voluminous, corpulent, grecian nuptials, Navy.
J,
It was my Uncle (not me) gettin’ married to those Grecians — heluva a group, I’ll tell ya.
And, NYC, is a heluva City!!
The last thing we want is to tempt the hate-Bush brigades into commandeering a submarine and sinking a luxury liner. Sounds like a sequel to Speed II.
Katherine, whether conventioneers are at sea or on dry land, you’ll always find something to kvetch about.
And whenever the day comes that GWB is faced with a clever political opponent, that might be a problem. 🙂
It could be a dream set-up, with the Dem candidate glad-handing his way through the city Rockefeller or Koch style right in the networks back yards, painting the Republicans as sitting in their “yacht/party boat on the Hudson,” while “regular Americans, like this fine fellow right here, struggle to stay afloat. And the only chance he gets to see the people representing him in Washington from the other party is with a pair of binoculars on a clear day. Why did they even pretend to come here? If they want to use the city as a backdrop, why not do like low-grade movie producers do, and use Vancouver or Toronto as a stand in? At least they would have saved some money for a change…”*
Sorry. Slow one down the middle of the plate like that, though. Hard to resist.
*Not an actual argument, just an example of the shameless political hay that could be made by the hypothetical “clever opponent.”
harley,
Bush didn’t know how to use a grocery scanner.
False, that one’s an urban legend, harley. C’mon now.
MattK,
“…with the Dem candidate glad-handing his way through the city…
I dunno, my friend, can Senator John Forbes Kerry pull it off? Or Howard (Park Avenue summers) Dean? Might be too subtle for the spam and beer crowd who tend to support Bush.:)
Isn’t the whole point of this story the potential loss of all those people spending their money in local hotels, restaurants etc.?
I thought that’s why all every other town or city on the planet try to lure conventions big and small.
Yukoner
Bird, I actually had heard that re Bush and the scanner. Hence the ‘at least folks said he didn’t.’ And I’m curious, do you think it’s a good idea to hide* the delegates on a luxury liner?
*Or whatever verb you prefer.
Davy,
Thus my fizzle to “hypothetical clever opponent” at the end. C’mon, don’t take my daydream away. 🙂
Dean could pull it off. He rides the subway anyway, and how much of his abrasive reputation can be ascribed to the remnants of his New York accent, I wonder? (Oy, with the “idear”s on Hardball just now.)
And NYC could use the money. This convention’s going to cost a lot, and hotel and restaurant bills are a major way to recoup the cost. This is a trivial issue but there is a real issue underneath it–not that Republicans are fat cat yachters, but that they are very, very bad for the city they like to use as a set.
Sorry — that came off wrong. I wasn’t disparaging the post, only suggesting that Harley, Jes, and Jordan not be too eager to pilot Republicruise off to Havana for an all-day Fidel-o-thon.
Oh, c’mon, didn’t the idea make you grin? At least just a little bit?
But yeah, it’s going to be one of those great non-stories, like Bush-doesn’t-know-what-a-scanner-is: The Republicans are adrift, out of touch with reality – their only interest in NYC is as a backdrog.
Dagnabbit. I thought this would happen, but I hoped it wouldn’t. DeLay is dropping the idea:
http://www.thehill.com/news/120303/delay.aspx
I suspect this has more to do with the hotel worker union’s threat to strike than with our dastardly Havana plan, so I don’t feel guilty. Also, NY could use the money.