The view from the expensive seats

I somehow got stuck in some of the best seats in the house. The place is packed. Bill Frist, the senate majority leader is giving a speech on the subject of health insurance. He denounced John Edwards as a preditor and and attacks Kerry again and again about the damage that the raising of malpractice insurance rates has hurt the industry. Edwards will have to respond to that, and no doubt he could do it.

A "CJ" interviews a couple of delegates and the then someone else starts speaking. Something has happened to the sound system and you can't really hear what she is saying. Right now I'm sitting next to A delegate from Virginia and who gave his credentials to an alternate and he's a lawyer who's doing some malpractice cases..he here to lobby some of the senators who are considering the judicial nominations in his state. The secretary of education is speaking, and as far as I know he's the only one in the cabinet who's speaking at the convention this year. I've got a really good view of the presidential box, where Bush sr and his family are watching the show. I can't really hear a thing as the delegates are talking about trading credentials and getting on the floor. I've done it once already and I guess I don't have to do it again, especially as I have a really good views of the arena.

The guy next to me and I discuss frivolous lawsuits and what it's done to West Virginia, there seem to be no doctors left in the state. We also talk about travel and how to get around the city. He's actually a very nice guy for a Republican.

Some other people talk and we seem to notice how bad the acustics are. We either can't hear all that well, or what's being said is soo boring that we can't really listen properly. The Leutenant Governor of Maryland denounces the Democrats and the crowd eats it up. Everyone's waiting for the main event....the governator.

He's not a particulary good speaker, but he gets a lot of applause as he calls the Democrats "girlie men." He gets a standing ovation when he mentioned Richard Nixon, the first time I heard his name mentioned in Decades at one of these things. The guy sitting next to me reminds me to mention that it was what Nixon stood for that was being applauded for, not the man himself. In deference to him I'll do it, but I don't believe it for a minute. Arnie spoke for the better part of an hour and the hall was ecstatic. As Arnie left with the sound of thuderous applause in his ears, so did I.