The Tanager Blog

Tonight I’m writing with a lot of mixed emotions about America. The thoughts I have rattling around my head are so nuanced and layered I probably can’t untangle them tonight. Maybe it is best that I don’t. This blog isn’t meant to be political, it’s meant to tell stories. Well, if you are in Denver right now, the DNC feels like the story of the decade for this city.

Of course, one Broncos Super Bowl win will change all of that, but c’mon…we all know that ain’t happening anytime soon.

Hailey and I went downtown to see what was up…no agenda or plan. I held out hope that we’d bump into Obama and I could get him to autograph my new $9.99 gas-station aviator sunglasses.

Instead, we just aimlessly wandered and saw the beautiful, the sad, the crazy, the powerful, the awe-struck, the lost, the empowered, the embattled and the fervent.

I have never been witness to such a wide spectrum of humanity, but for purposes of tonight’s post, I’ll stick with one street corner where it was at its most intense: Speer Boulevard and Market Street. This is where those with credentials can enter the Pepsi Center area where the convention is being held. Bored cops everywhere, praying anti-abortion demonstrators with photos of dead fetuses, Army vets promoting Fox News, people holding signs that make no sense, and a ridiculous entrepreneur dressed as Uncle Sam making a buck off of the way Hillary Clinton laughs. No, I didn’t buy one of his Hillary Laugh Machines. That would have gotten old in the office real quick.

It would be so easy for me to ramble and judge and make proclamations on this whole spectacle, but I think it’s best to just leave it be and let the images tell the story.

Beanie bear anyone? Bet you could sell it for $400 on eBay next year…