I TRUST YOU ARE ALL RECOVERED FROM YOUR HANGOVERS. Some things around the web about the Democratic convention, which I didn’t watch.

Jesse Walker‘s Shorter Barack Obama.

Some notes on applause.

A libertarian video I can’t watch on this computer… but it intrigues me: Dems back away from free trade.

The bits I liked from the Reactionary Epicurean‘s liveblogging:

8:16pm I’m amazed again by how perceptive Yuval Levin’s aritcle on ‘Science and the Left’ is. They don’t actually respect science, but it’s an important part of their identity to believe that they do. …

9:23pm “We are on the right side of history.” I had no idea they were still into Hegel.

scroll down (and if all the “they”s in the bits I quoted put you off, seriously, click–guy and I disagree on many a thing, but he’s not a McCainiac by a long shot)

The bits I liked from the Democratic convention: the parts where they denounced torture. (and more) Seriously, since this has, horrifically, become a minority position in this country, the Dems win my admiration by not caving–at least, you know, in their rhetoric. More on this in a bit.

And Mickey Kaus notes Dems vs. teachers’ unions. I do share the skepticism of… someone… some blogger… who?… of Kaus’s “one size fits all” testing-based approach. But the Booker/Fenty stuff rings completely true.