Thursday, August 28th, 2008...7:40 am
Your Money Is No Good Here
There are a lot of things to do here, and a lot of things to buy here. At the same time, there are things that some people are not allowed to do and buy.
Case in point: a friend of mine managed to snag passes to an event for One.org featuring Kanye West. This was regarded as THE party to get into last night. We were all psyched to go, until she was reminded that she couldn’t. One of the event co-sponsors was the Recording Industry Association of America, and she is a US House staffer. Staff, like the House members themselves, are bound by ethics rules. Going free to an event sponsored by RIAA, even if it was to promote a charity like One.org, is considered a “gift” and illegal under the rules of the House of Representatives. Had she wanted to go anyway, she would have had to pay $90. She gave me the passes, and I found another friend to take.
Some folks can’t buy official Obama swag, but for very different reasons. Buying any campaign merchandise is considered a campaign contribution. When you walk by one of the booths on 16th selling official merchandise, you can see people furiously filling out disclosure forms. The Obama campaign has a policy of not taking any money from lobbyists, so I’ve seen more than one lobbyist walk away from one of the official campaign vendors complaining that they can’t buy a t-shirt. They shouldn’t worry, there is plenty of “unofficial” merchandise to be had.
9 Comments
August 28th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Ted,
I’m glad to hear that you were able to get out and have some fun last night, you’ve definitely earned it!
I know what a big Kanye West fan you are. lol
Just curious, did he do Gold Digger?
Great job yesterday!
August 28th, 2008 at 9:30 am
More importantly, did he say “John McCain hates Black people”
and did you ask him what his favorite Beatles album is?:)
August 28th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Very funny!
Maybe the White Album?
August 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am
trade you an Obama and/or Olbermann shirt for a Copper Queens shirt…
August 28th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I always admire artists who stand up and say what is on their mind–even I disagree with them. Can’t say I am huge fan of Mr. West’s music, but I dig his ability to call a spade a spade when everyone else is dancing around being polite.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
The best part of that whole incident with Kanye and his statements was watching Mike Myers squirm!
And I don’t think GWB hates Black people, he just only loves rich, predominately white, ultra-conservative Christians that agree with him. He hates everyone else, regardless of race.
August 28th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hey Tedski–
I don’t know if it’s possible at all, but if you’ve got enough of a view to post pictures of this notorious stage with Greco-Roman columns I keep hearing about, that’d be great!
August 28th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I doubt that he is blogging from the stadium I doubt that there is free Wi-fi there.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Who gives a rats @$$ about what the stage looks like. Oh yes, the republicans, all about style and not substance.
Go Dems.