Today in Tampa

I’ve decided I’d rather follow the convention on Richard Adams’s liveblog than actually watch it on television.

More stuff to read:

Ta-Nahisi Coates, “The Myth of an Affirmative-Action President

Matt Taibbi, “Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital.” I haven’t read this one yet, but I look forward to it.

Brian Beutler, “A Critical Juncture.” Beutler says that the Romney campaign is taking politics and media into new territory. If Romney continues with his outrageously false charges against President Obama —

… the political establishment will be facing something very new: a candidate — not his surrogates or outside supporters, but the top of the ticket — ignoring fact checkers, traditional campaign reporters, and even a few conservatives, all of whom have determined and publicly declared the attacks false.

That effectively pits the media against the Romney campaign in a test of will and influence. And it’s disconcerting to imagine that a determined media might not be able to effectively neutralize a presidential campaign intent on flooding the airwaves with false attacks. But that’s where we might find ourselves in the next couple weeks.

Peace and Love at the RNC

First, yesterday’s highlights. Nice audience reaction to a Latina speaker from Puerto Rico:

I think the guys in white hats are Ron Paulites. Certainly, an enthusiastic crew. I’m not sure about this, but I believe the Paulites were miffed because Puerto Rican delegates got seated and they didn’t.

In other news, two attendees were removed from the convention after they were seen throwing nuts at an African-American camera woman while shouting, “This is how we feed the animals.” The RNC wants you to know that merely by mentioning that this happened, I am playing the race card.