In case you thought that national political conventions no longer held any import, that they are puffed up, propagandistic, overly scripted acts of meaningless political theater, the events of this past Monday night will restore your faith in government. For one Yale undergraduate sought to stand up to the political establishment and speak truth to power. Or, at least, that's what his lawyer would have you believe.
| That's usually what the mouthpiece wants you to believe... |
In light of all the trouble I went through just to secure a measly press credential to the Republican National Convention this week in New York, I should have taken a cue from my enterprising Yale classmate Thomas Frampton '06.
| Oh. He's a sophomore. I guess that's why he acts sophomoric... |
Frampton, not one known for his conservative political sympathies, eluded the convention's organizers by allegedly hatching an elaborate scheme in which he feigned allegiance to President Bush and the Republican Party, attending volunteer training sessions so as to gain access to Madison Square Garden as a uniformed and credentialed usher. It's hard to imagine the radical Frampton keeping a straight face while discussing President Bush's plans for a "Safer and Stronger America," or the RNC's trumpeting of "Armies of Compassion," with the uptight college Republicans and elderly women donning cowboy hats who comprise the corps of convention hall volunteers.
| Looking over the faces at the convention, I'd say there was a slightly larger slice of Americana there than the Yale stereotype would have us believe. Thank you for that little bit of condecension... |
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