The New York Times thinks the inmates have taken over the asylum in planning the Democrat Convention in Denver. It started out a week ago with the DNC Food Nazis telling everyone what they can and cannot eat (nothing new there). In this post, Idiot, Control-Freak, Do-Gooder Liberals, it was noted.
Warning to Southern delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver this August: it will be a no-fry zone.
As part of the effort to make the August 25-28 convention the greenest ever, the Democrats’ guidelines for food catering include one that strikes at the heart of Southern cuisine: no fried food.
No fried chicken. No fried catfish. No fried green tomatoes. No fried okra. No fried anything.
In promoting healthy eating habits, the Democratic guidelines say every meal should be nutritious and include “at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, purple/blue and white.”
Shockingly, the people in the food business, who have real jobs that actually produce something, think the politicians are a bunch of dolts (nothing new there).
And then there is the food: A 28-page contract requested by Denver organizers that caterers provide food in “at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white.” Garnishes could not be counted toward the colors. No fried foods would be allowed. Organic and locally grown foods were mandated, and each plate had to be 50 percent fruits and vegetables. As a result, caterers are shying away. [snip]
Some of the efforts are being ridiculed by many in Denver. City Councilman Charlie Brown, a political independent, has devoted his monthly newsletter to “Food Fight” over the color-coded rules for convention food . . .. [snip]
And caterers, expected to feed the 40,000 people coming to town, are throwing up their hands over the food requirements.
And in the midst of the food fight, Howard Dean is blowing cash like a drunken sailor.
Some of the Democratic missteps started soon after planning for the event began. The Democratic National Convention Committee decided not to take cheap office space and instead rented top-quality offices in downtown Denver at $100,000 a month, only to need less than half the space, which it then filled with rental furniture at $50,000 a month.
All this spending is teaching the liberals that crucial difference between spending taxpayer money and spending their own; theirs could actually, gasp, run out.
The Democratic convention is already running behind in its fund-raising. At last count, the convention was about $11 million short of the $40.6 million needed to stage the event — even before cost overruns were taken into consideration.
The DNC’s plans for a “green convention” have also gotten off to a great start.
Overly ambitious environmental goals [nothing new there – ed.] to turn the event into a “green” convention — have backfired as only three states’ full delegations have so far agreed to participate in the program.
That’s three states down and 54 to go.
Hippie infestation is also a concern.
Negotiations over where to locate demonstrators remain unsettled with members of the national news media concerned over proposals to locate the demonstrators — with their loud gatherings — next to the media tent. [snip]
“We are having people say that they will be leaving town,” said [City Councilman Charlie] Brown, who fears that the city could be in a no-win situation with the demonstrators — if there is insufficient police presence, the city could be overrun by them; if the police are overly aggressive, they will be criticized as overreacting.
But, alas, not to worry. We are reassured by the articulate spokesperson for the DNC, Natalie Wyeth, that things are proceeding on schedule.
We are exactly where we intended to be at.
Whew. I feel better.
Also find Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room