Democrats still think a command economy works

First, I'm an Obama supporter. He makes me nervous, but I attribute this mostly to the pressure of running a campaign where the results will be decided by, as H L Mencken so aptly put it, the "booboisie." An honest and intelligent presidential campaign is essentially an oxymoron, so I'm giving him a lot of latitude.

However, I'm not a fan of the Democratic Party. Or the Republicans, the Greens, the Libertarians, or Socialist Labor, but it's the fact that Obama belongs to the Dems that concerns me. Witness the botched job that they are making of the upcoming Denver convention.

First, the lavish expense on office space, $100,000 plus $50,000 for rented furniture per month. The attitude appears to be, "It's not our money and we deserve this." It's not an appealing attitude and makes you wonder how they would run the country if they had the chance.

Second, there's the deal with the caterers, who are being told, probably by people who don't know a lot about catering, exactly how to construct each meal, down to the presence of fried foods (not) to the combination of colors. It's the kind of top down thinking that didn't work well in the Soviet Union and doesn't here either. The potential caterers are not showing much interest and time is running out.

I don't know why the Dems are so intent on having a "green" convention. It has nothing to do with the political imperatives. Who do they think they'll sway? The handful of people who might otherwise drive to Nader? There's no need to have a green convention. Eat hot dogs, drink beer, wave flags, cheer, vote, go home and start an exercise plan to wear off the extra calories.

There is a serious political reason, however, to appear to be competent. If the DNC runs around, tilting at politically correct windmills and failing to deliver an efficient convention within the budget, then it will reflect badly on Obama.