Republican delegates were over 90% white and two-thirds male, while almost two-thirds of the Democrats were minorities and more than half were woman. The contrasts don't stop there. Democrats wore a kaleidoscope of fashions while Republican men dressed in suits. The "red meat" liberals in Denver didn't hear all they wanted while "red meat" conservatives in Minnesota were whipped into feeding frenzies by conservative hardliners, including their VP candidate. Democrats repeatedly hammered us with broad policy goals while the Republican drums beat out their traditional themes of morality (as in Christian), family values and nationalistic pride.
Such stark contrasts received little comment during convention coverage. Television had us pondering the trivialities of tactics, personalities and dumb speculations of its own making.
Meanwhile, outside the convention centers, thousands of ordinary American's showed up to voice opinions not heard from either podium. These folks were herded into "free speech" zones far away from the cameras. Corralled into these tightly controlled zones of silence, the police treated them like suspects. Minnesota police even conducted "preemptive" raids, without warrants, to jail members of a group planning to videotape police conduct during the convention. Later, these same police in full riot gear knowingly and violently arrested independent news reporters who witnessed them arresting scores of peaceful protesters.
None of this was covered by the mainstream reporters embedded within the convention centers. Republican's accused the news outlets of not being conservative. I accuse them of not being journalists.
