One shotgun wedding (and a funeral)

That’s a wrap. The Democratic National Convention 2024 is in the books, and it’s hard not to feel a little funny about what we just witnessed. Yes: It was a show, complete with star power and a couple of former presidents. But it was also a funeral for the living, breathing, sitting president. And then there was a dance party on his grave for the raucous shotgun marriage that followed. Pink played.

Monday night was a long affair. President Joe Biden finally came to the stage at 11:30 p.m. EST after most of the country had gone to sleep. It was his bitter farewell. He said he wasn’t angry, and leaving was his choice, but his own staff pulled the curtain back in repeated texts to reporters. The late-night treatment of the sitting president’s effective farewell speech was a final disrespect, they said. And Biden is reportedly so angry at the Obamas for their part in it all that Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate had to leave the convention when Barack and Michelle spoke Tuesday night.

Those offering toasts did their best to pretend there hadn’t even been a funeral.

But Monday’s ceremonies were a tragic formality. By sunrise Tuesday, the old man was buried and gone, and it was time to get onto the wedding festivities. It had been touch-and-go in the lead-up, so those gathered in Chicago did their best to forget that just five weeks ago every top Democrat in the country was desperate to find anyone but Kamala Harris to accept the nomination. It was a doomed but romantic search, untethered from reality, and it officially ended with Thursday night’s balloon drop.

The newspapers, magazines, and TV shows did their part to change the narrative, dressing Harris up, doing her hair and makeup, plastering her picture on their covers without so much as a callback or interview from the bride herself. And those offering toasts did their best to pretend there hadn’t even been a funeral.

Former first lady Michelle Obama paid tribute to “the sacrifices our elders made,” but it wasn’t about Joe – it was about her mother. Biden himself didn’t even catch a nod from the woman he worked closely with for eight years. “We’ve got energy,” she said. “We’re happy. We feel like a load’s been lifted off our shoulders.” Painful.

In fact, Michelle talked about 2024 as if there hadn’t even been a Democrat in the White House for the past four years. It was as if Kamala Harris was the first ray of light the former first lady had seen since she herself was in the White House. (Remember: Michelle couldn’t bother to so much as mention Harris’ name at 2020’s DNC, if that tells you what she thinks of Joe.) Through it all, it was hard not to wonder how much the cheering Democrats would have preferred that Michelle was their nominee, but alas.

Michelle’s husband followed and per usual had more grace than his wife. Former President Barack Obama paid a short tribute to the man he’d stabbed in the back, calling him a brother and a friend before getting onto the business of the night.

Former President Bill Clinton wanted “to say one word about ... Biden,” who he bizarrely called an “improbable” president before claiming he’d “healed the sick” and “voluntarily gave up political power” (neither of which was true).

"Now,” he concluded, “let’s cut to the chase.” Except that wasn’t the conclusion, and the former president would drone on for nearly twice as long as any other major speaker. Very bad form for a toast.

Oprah Winfrey was the best to the bride. She had nothing to say about the current occupant of the White House (but no awkward shade to cast either). Sure, she was another woman the crowd might have preferred to the nominee, but no such luck. Instead, she joined the parade of old but distinguished retirees headlining a convention ostensibly about the younger generation.

And then it was the big moment: the crowning of Kamala. Pink played the concert. There was dancing. And the curtain fell.

Washington Examiner: Democrats pass the torch while playing the oldies

Blaze News: Uncommitted delegates camp outside DNC after dozens vote 'present' rather than for Harris at convention roll call

Blaze News: DNC theatrics continue as GASLIGHTING takes the main stage

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The fire rises: Washington Examiner: Biden DOJ’s 2024 voting battles raise alarm for election integrity advocates

Democrats take elections seriously — and not just the running but the mechanics. It makes a difference (as we saw in 2020). It’s not just the partisan lawyers like Marc Elias, either. They legislate on it, they wage lawfare for it, and more and more they use the Department of Justice. Ashley Oliver reports:

During the Biden administration, the DOJ has become more vocal about elections and made a concerted effort to expand access to voting, an entirely opposite approach from the Trump administration. The activity aligns with Democrats’ broader claims that Republicans want to make voting harder, which Democrats claim can disenfranchise voters or discriminate against racial minorities.

Chad Ennis, a longtime attorney and vice president of the Honest Elections Project, observed that Democrats’ push for more voting access threatens election integrity.

“They’ll couch it in under the guise of expanding voting rights, but it’s really, almost without fail, an attack on common sense rules to help make sure the elections run smoothly and fairly and accurately,” Ennis told the Washington Examiner.

Blaze News: Supreme Court partially reinstates Arizona voting law requiring proof of citizenship in time for election printing deadline