Life is on a rise right now. We have an Amazing President and I cant be prouder of my country of putting Obama in office. Well I am now going to Denver United Church and I am still basketball manger for Metro State but this will be my one and only season with them. The job takes up too much time and I dont even get that much in return. I am hopefully leaving Metro to go Colorado Christian University next school year. I am a intern now too at the Colorado State Capitol for State Rep. Joe Miklosi. It a fun time in my life and I give all thanks to God. Without God none of this whould be possible. Well enjoy a new fav song of mine.

And on the third day, they united — behind Barack Obama, against John McCain, for a new way of doing business in the world.

At 4:48 p.m. Wednesday, in a raucous Pepsi Center, the delegates at
the Democratic National Convention made history when they officially
nominated Obama as the party’s presidential candidate — the first
African-American to ever move so close to the nation’s highest office.

Along the way, vanquished challenger Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton played leading roles in the party’s effort to leave Denver a picture of tranquility in the place of the turbulence
that marked the bruising primary season and even the last-minute negotiations over the machinations of the nomination.

Joe Biden, the six-term senator from Delaware who accepted the party’s nomination as vice president, stepped before the television cameras in prime time and called for a change of course in foreign policy, something he said is necessary to restore the country’s standing in the world.

In a verbal gaff that drove home an assertion made at the convention over and over, he accidentally said “George Bush” when he meant “John McCain.”

“Freudian slip,” Biden said. “Freudian slip.”

Biden, who ran for president, heaped praise on Obama, a man he called too inexperienced for the job on the campaign trail.

“You can learn an awful lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him, and seeing how he reacts under pressure,” Biden said. “You learn about the strength of his mind. But even more importantly,
you learn about the quality of his heart.”

And Obama himself made a surprise visit to the Pepsi Center in a show of unity with Biden.

All of it set the tone for today’s historic move of the convention across the South Platte River to Invesco Field at Mile High, where Obama is expected to stand before a crowd of more than 75,000 and
formally accept the party’s nomination.

But before that could happen, drama — some of it apparently orchestrated behind closed doors — played out on the floor of the Pepsi Center and on Denver’s streets during the convention’s third day.

Outside the hall, the protest scene picked up. Several hundred self-proclaimed anarchists marched down the 16th Street Mall during the lunch hour. And about 2,000 people who streamed out of the Denver
Coliseum after a concert by Rage Against the Machine marched to the Pepsi Center in a protest against the war.

Obama himself finally touched down in Denver, landing a few minutes before 3 p.m. And the Republicans, who gather next week in St. Paul, Minn., to nominate McCain, worked again to get in a word or two during
the Democratic Party’s gathering.

“Sen. McCain would keep us on offense with terrorism … and Senator Obama would put us back on defense,” former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said during an appearance at a Denver warehouse.

But the biggest doings were in the convention hall — and the questions of exactly how the roll-call vote of delegates would be handled. The roll call vote had been the subject of negotiations
between representatives of Clinton and Obama, the two combatants in the longest, most-difficult primary season in recent memory.

And the question of its mechanics took on a life of its own in the wake of lingering hard feelings between Obama and both Clintons.

Shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi banged the gavel and opened the convention at 3 p.m., the state-by-state tally began.

The first surprise came when delegates from Arkansas — where Bill Clinton served as governor — cast all 47 of their votes for Obama. Then delegates from California, which Hillary Clinton won, passed. So did
Obama’s home state, Illinois.

With the vote standing 1,568 1/2 for Obama, 341 1/2 for Clinton, New Mexico’s delegates yielded to those from Illinois. And Illinois delegates yielded to New York, the state Clinton represents in the U.S.
Senate.

Just then, on the big screens, images of Clinton making her way to the New York delegation’s microphone, and the crowd in the arena erupted.

“On behalf of the great state of New York,” she said moments later, “with appreciation for the spirit and dedication of all who are gathered here, with eyes firmly fixed on the future, in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and our country, let’s declare together in one voice, right here right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate,” Clinton said. The Pepsi Center erupted.

“I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules and suspend the future conduct of the roll call vote,” Clinton said. “All votes cast by the delegates will be counted and I move Sen. Barack Obama of
Illinois be selected by this convention by acclimation as the nominee of the Democratic Party as the president of the United States.”

The motion was met with a rousing ovation. It was quickly seconded and approved by the thousands of people in attendance.

Pelosi did not wait for any “no” votes before slamming down the gavel. As prime time arrived, so did Bill Clinton, and for a few minutes it was hard to tell whether he or Obama was the bigger rock star. Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” — an old campaign song — blared, and the crowd roared and roared.

“Thank you,” Clinton said again and again, before finally imploring the crowd to “sit down.”

“I love this and I thank you, but we have important work to do here tonight,” he said.

Then he got to business — praising his wife’s history-making run —the closest a woman has ever come to winning a presidential nomination.

“In the end, my candidate didn’t win,” Clinton said. “But I’m very proud of the campaign she ran. She never quit on the people she stood up for, on the changes she pushed for, on the future she wants for all
our children. And I’m grateful for the chance Chelsea and I had to tell Americans about the person we know and love.

“I’m not so grateful for the chance to speak in the wake of her magnificent address last night. But I’ll do my best. Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us.”

Clinton, who was supposed to speak for 10 minutes, was on the stage for more than 20.

He hammered away at Obama’s attributes, calling him “the man for this job.”

“Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world,” Clinton said.”Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.”

Later, in the evening’s final act, Biden took to the stage.

Once he got there, he pounded away on foreign policy — a major reason that many experts believe he was chosen to be Obama’s running mate.

“As we gather here tonight, our country is less secure and more isolated than at any time in recent history,” said Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “The Bush-McCain foreign policy
has dug us into a very deep hole, with very few friends to help us climb out.”

Biden’s wife, Jill, introduced “a very special surprise guest” — Obama.

The running mates stood arm-in-arm on the stage, and Obama took a microphone.

“Hello Democrats,” Obama said. “Hello Democrats.”

He had something to say. He hoped that people now understood why Biden was his running mate. He paid homage to the Clintons.

He looked ahead — to tonight.

“At the start of this campaign we had a very simple idea, which is change in America doesn’t start from the top down,” Obama said. “It starts from the bottom up. That change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things. And so we want to open up this convention to make sure that everybody who wants to come can join in the party and join in the effort to take America back.”

After the hugs and after the music died down, Biden and Obama walked from the stage, and the Pepsi Center cleared out, and eventually the lights dimmed in the convention hall for the final time.

Tonight they go on in a football stadium. Tonight the spotlight’s glare shifts squarely onto Obama.

Aaron J. Lopez, Todd Hartman, Paul A. Anthony, Ryan Sabalow, Dan Kelley and Sara Burnett contributed to this report.

Marching behind a police vehicle that flashed the words “Follow Us. Welcome to Denver.” on an electronic sign, at least 3,000 Iraq war veterans and anti-war protesters made their way through downtown Denver on Wednesday during the largest demonstration of the Democratic National Convention to date.

Though the event, co-sponsored by the anti-war group Tent State University and Iraq Veterans Against the War, was unpermitted, the parade proceeded peacefully.

It began at the Denver Coliseum and ended at the Pepsi Center perimeter about three hours later. There, veterans attempted to contact aides of presidential candidate Barack Obama to deliver a statement urging Obama to endorse the idea of an immediate withdrawal of “all occupying forces” from Iraq among other positions.

The letter also upbraided the Democratic Party for their “initial and continued” support for the war.

After an hourlong standoff, during which tensions between veterans and police escalated, a meeting with an Obama aide was arranged, and the crowd dispersed.

The march began around 3:15 p.m. outside the coliseum after many of the participants had attended a free concert featuring the heavy metal/rap band Rage Against the Machine and three other acts.

Throughout the four-hour show, band members and emcee Jello Biafra, formerly of the Dead Kennedys, offered political commentary and urged audience members to join the demonstration.

They stressed that it would be a peaceful march.

Referring to conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, who had been widely quoted as saying it would be his “dream” for Denver to break into riots during the convention, rapper Jonny 5 of the Flobots, a Denver band, told the crowd the worst thing they could do was make that dream come true.

While some feared the police would attempt to stop the unpermitted march, officers escorted the group through city streets, redirecting traffic and pedestrians.

The group of mostly young people walked behind a banner that said: “Support GI Resistance.”

Protesters appeared to stretch across at least four city blocks.

Wearing T-shirts and stickers with slogans such as “Arrest Bush” and “Make Out Not War,” they sang rolling chants, Marine style. “Tell Me What We’re Marching For,” sang some. “Stop the torture, stop the war,” answered others.

People lined the streets to watch, mostly in approval.

As the parade made its way down Brighton Boulevard, Jonathan Paul, general manager of Builder’s Outlet, stood outside his door-framing business. “We had no idea (what was happening) until police started showing up, and I went out and talked to them,” he said. Paul said he thought the road had closed because of a passing dignitary.

Further down the route, Betsy Crane, a Denver mother, stood with her children, ages 9, 7 and 5. “They wanted to see what was going on,” she said. “They’re interested in seeing police officers, as well as protesters.”

Not everyone was as respectful.

From the balcony of an apartment complex, a man yelled at the throngs of protesters to move on. “Don’t come back here,” he said.

But one protester had the last word: He suggested the man join the Army.

As the march wore on under a hot sun, some dropped out. Others found ways to take shortcuts. Two teens on the 16th Street Mall shuttle wearing Rage Against the Machine T-shirts admitted they had skipped part of the march and planned to join it as it neared the end.

One foot clad in a black shoe, the other barefoot, James Koller, 17, explained: “Someone clocked me in the face and took my shoe in the moshpit,” he said. “This is a quicker route to the Pepsi Center.”

Koller’s friend, Joey Minicucci, 18, of Littleton, noted that his brother was in the military, getting ready to be sent to Iraq, one of the reasons he was going to the march.

Another woman in the throngs of protesters had her mind on civil liberties: “I’m marching because it seems to be the last vestiges of our free speech and because people have demands and our government’s not listening,” said Anne Hill, of Montrose.

Montrose and others came to a standstill at the perimeter of the Pepsi Center around 6:30 p.m., at which time they attempted to have the letter delivered to Obama. Once veterans had set up the meeting with a liaison for Obama, tensions defused.

“I figured as long as we kept things peaceful, they would hear us, and they did,” said Jeffrey Wood, an Army veteran who served 18 months stateside.

A group of around 150 protesters snaked through downtown early this afternoon, passing by various corporate offices, chanting slogans critical of the allegedly environmentally-conscious Democratic National Convention.

“The Democratic Party isn’t going to make any change if they take money from corporate polluters,” said 22-year-old student Danny Fisher-Bruns of Denver.

The march, which was not permitted, remained peaceful as it wandered down from Civic Center and around the 16th Street Mall, ending on the lawn of the Park Central Building at the corner of 15th and Arapahoe streets. The crowd had completely dispersed by 1:45.

The protesters chanted “One party, two names” and “For the earth, we will fight. We know where you sleep at night” as protesters drummed on upside down five-gallon buckets.

A large contingent of police followed on foot, bike, in SUVs and on horseback.

The march meandered through a grassy area, where co-workers Tiffany Nation, Caryn Becker and Dana Kose sat eating salads.

They said they weren’t expecting the commotion, but they didn’t mind.

“It’s embarrassing we have this protest zone behind a fence in the sun near the Pepsi Center,” Becker said.

A second arrest was also made on the street. One bystander, Lou Brown of Oakland, Calif., said, “the police have been out of control all week.” No pepper spray or gas was released during this event.

A member of the group, Douglas McComey, called their actions part of a “peaceful civil disturbance.” Thirteen protesters including a priest and the group’s leader Randell Terry from Washington D.C. were taken into custody.

Around 7pm tonight the group know as Recreate ‘68 took to the street in front of the city and county building of Denver. Police met the group of around 200 with full riot gear. The unruly protesters tried to break the chain of police and when doing so the shot off pepper spray onto the crowd, then they shot another round of pepper spray. I was hit by the first round of pepper spray and was not fun.

The protesters then ran through Civic Center Park and headed down 15^th Street. The protester were were met by an army of police. The police trapped the protesters into a small area. One by stander told me that “protesters did nothing to deserve this” Laura Dunmer or Aravad, CO.

All I know this was total chaos and it took hours for police to get things under control. Maybe all the money that they got did not go to traning for these events. Some police were very aggressive to bystanders and Press. They Police did not care who you are they were going to make it known that they are in control. Well from my opion.

Just a day before the official kickoff of the Democratic National Convention here in Denver, many voices are heard on the lack of support for Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Two major anti-war groups Recreate 68 and World can’t wait, Drive out the Bush Regime were at the event. There were hundreds of people at this event and after many speakers and a couple of musicians, on the steps of the state capitol the group finished off by marching to the Pepsi Center where the Convention will kick off tomorrow.

For the most part this was a very peaceful protest and did not get out of control. At one point Fox News Channel arrived on the scene and was ambushed by protesters and at some points were shoved around. Protesters were chanting “Fuck Fox News”. Fox news was also ambushed at a point during the march to the Pepsi Center.

One of the groups there World Can’t Wait, Drive out the Bush regime was very vocal at the event. World Can’t Wait, Drive out the Bush Regime main issue was protesting to prevent an invasion on Iran. One member the group spoke to us Gioivanni Jackson of California and
was asked what he says to the people that say Iran is a threat to the United States and responded “the biggest terrorist are in the White House right now” he also stated “with the United States in the Middle East we are putting ourselves at danger for a attack from Iran.
Another Member from the group spoke. Emma Kapala, 23, from Seattle stated “we need a revolution; there is a dictator over us in this country”. She also went on to say “we need to overthrow our current government”. When asked how does she think she can bring about change for her ideas she stated, “we need to have marches were people resist to leave and have their voices heard like the marches of the 1960’s”.

I AM IN A SHOT WITH A BLUE SHIRT AND RUBBING MY HEAD AFTER GETTING OUT OF THE CROWD!!!!

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