Friday, August 29, 2008

The Greatest Show On Earth



I'VE NEVER seen any thing like it. I'll never again see anything like it.

And I'm not one to say never.

From my girl Jennifer Hudson's rousing rendition of the National Anthem, complete with bombs bursting in air, fireworks that exploded from the top of the columns and the top of Invesco Field after Barack Obama's jaw-dropping acceptance speech, I was left with aching bones, weeping eyes, and a hopeful heart.

Just as Barack Obama was about to address the nation, my camera card filled up. Whoops. I forget to empty the card of the 900 photos I'd taken throughout the week.

900 photos? You ask. But I've only seen a handful of them. What's up with that?

Well, I'll tell you. Editing photos and creating a slide show or two -- or 10 -- takes so much time that I chose instead to tell the story as it happened and how I felt about the unfolding narrative.



In the next week or so, I'll do my best to show you some of the behind-the-scenes images and the anecdotes that go with them, complete with shots of all the celebrities and high-ranking government officials I was lucky to meet.

But I digress.

Not being able to take pictures allowed me to fully absorb Barack Obama's speech and drink in this incredible American history straight with no chaser.



Have you ever seen anything like it? It played like a great film, but it was reality. The producers of this convention are geniuses. We got a climax we might heretofore have only been able to dream, and Barack Obama brought it home in the words of the preacher from Georgia who delivered his dream 45 years ago today.

I wept and wept and wept.

Barack Obama's gloves are off. When he throws an uppercut, and he threw many, he bloodies your nose. Knocks you down. He punched John McCain and the other party so hard, their shills in the Associated Press had to disseminate yet another desperate set of lies about his address just to try to get up off the mat.

The slightest glimpse of integrity would have required the AP to deliver something like this:



Through all the brilliant stagecraft, the exquisite set design, all the live music and dancing, even the presence of Al Gore, the inclusion of regular working Americans telling their stories in front of 84,000 enthusiastic voters in Mile High Stadium and millions more on television and the internet stands out and proves that this campaign is truly about the people.



Power to the people. A sea change.

And I was there.

I was there.

I was there.

Crossposted to Kennebec Journal

7 comments:

rikyrah said...

Craig,

thanks so much for your reports.

I know it must have been an amazing experience that you will never forget.

Anonymous said...

craig: Major props for "bringing it" !! Very compassionate/inspiring report!! :>)

Anonymous said...

great pics. that must have been BIG BIG fun!

Ms.Martin said...

Craig, I am glad you had this wonderful experience.

We missed you, glad you're back.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Craig!

So happy you got to experience something so beautiful. Now, we have a lot of work to do.

Fired up! and Ready to go!

Craig Hickman said...

Thank you all.

rikyrah said...

I've rewatched the speech. Hell, the whole day.

I'm telling you, we, who are political junkies, and have watched the crowds grow, and know Obama inside and out as a candidate, we nitpick.

But, dammit, the only thing that I think didn't work were the red, white and blue streamers in the end.
At first, I didn't like Michelle's dress, but, the color coordination of the family works.

the music totally works because it's not what you would expect with a Black candidate.

the theater of it. The spectacle was so amazing. Looking at the crowd. the waving of the American flags, please tell me that it just didn't exude Americana.

And, the fireworks worked. They definitely worked in pictures.

To quote Michelle Obama:

for the first time in my adult life, I'm REALLY proud of my country.

And, I'm not just saying that. I damn near cry everytime I watch the speech. Watch my tapes of the week.

When you remember why MLK was there 45 years ago, and then look at Obama...it's so humbling.