St. Paul Notes (Final Notebook Dump)

• That "JUST SAY NO TO B.O." bumper sticker with the picture of Barack that I mentioned yesterday? I asked one of the vendors selling it, "Isn't it a little juvenile to say your political opponent smells?" Answer: "Well, maybe he does. You never know."

• Did you know that "Comrade" Barack is a Communist? A faux Soviet-style T-shirt informs me of the fact: "CHANGE...SURRENDER...MORE TAXES...HIGHER SPENDING."

• Not too many places you see a dead ringer for Abraham Lincoln, complete with stovepipe hat, and don't blink an eye.

• T-shirts with the shape of Alaska in bright red and the legend, "DRILL, BABY DRILL!" It encapsulates a point Digby likes to make: if you want to find childish sixties-style insurgent rage, the right is the place for it these days. Tho' the insurgents this time, of course, are struggling on behalf of oil companies' windfall profits.

• I was at the Republican convention in 2004 and was, frankly, swept away by its majesty—the staging was magnificent. This year the staging is pathetic. The catwalk they erect for McCain's acceptance speech resembles the set of a Miss America pageant ca. 1974.

• "Attention, ladies and gentlemen. Republican National Committee security wants to remind you that you should be displaying your Thursday credentials today."

• Tonight's entertainment: jazz flute straight out of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

• The row in front of me, six seats to the left: Time magazine's Matt Cooper. Directly in front of me, two reporters from Roll Call assiduously study Cooper's Wikipedia page.

• Some reporters don't stand for the presentation of the colors. Careful! Robin MacNeil did that in 1964 (he was Canadian) and was nearly beaten up by enraged conservatives. During the pledge of allegiance, a reporter keeps his hand over his heart as he runs up the arena stairs. Does that count as patriotic?

• Now they're passing out the "handmade" signs.

• As soon as the speakers started pumping out Heart's "Barricuda" in reference to Sarah Palin I immediately presumed the party of property was committing theft of intellectual property. I was right:

Rock group Heart is furious with John McCain for bucking a request to stop playing their 1977 hit, "Barracuda," and is puzzled by the use of a song about "soulless" executives as the theme for his running mate, Sarah Palin.

"I feel completely [expletive'd] over," the band's Nancy Wilson told EW on Thursday night after their song was played following McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. According to TMZ -- which broke the scandal, the band has filed a cease and desist order.

The tune was first played as a theme song for Palin, and the band acted swiftly. They issued a statement asking the campaign to stop use their music. "We hope our wishes will be honored," the band said. Tough luck. Following McCain's speech on Thursday night, what pumped through the speaker system? That's right ... "Barracuda."

Palin got the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for her fierce presence on the court with her high school basketball team.
After the speech, Nancy and her sister Ann issued the following statement to EW:

"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."

• The bottom of the barrel in the politics of conservative cultural grievance was scraped by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who said liberals never get anything accomplished because of —get this!—the way their voices sound:

Last night, for the first time in a long time, millions like me whispered to themselves, “thank God, someone finally gets it.” We heard a voice that spoke with the accent of real America, not the washed-out, mainstream TV-speak that sometimes soothes the soul, but never solves the problem.

And:

We are the gun totin’, God fearin,’ flag wavin’ Americans who are excited to see two crack shots on the ticket with the status quo in their sights. We don’t need to elect someone to install an ATM machine on Pennsylvania Avenue that debits your liberty to fund wasteful programs, and won’t do the one thing that can drive down gas prices.

• Nap time with Timmy Pawlenty: McCain sure made the right call on this one.

• Stepford Cindy goes over like saltpeter.

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