Welcome to Poopa Scoopa. It is Day Two of the Democratic National Convention. What has happened thus far, and what can we expect?

SuBSCRiBe. Write, "Give me the Scoopa" to: Poopdelascoop@yahoo.com

Bright Lights, Big Money

After pledging to "fight for the people and not the powerful" Vice President Gore has made his trek across the nation to accept his nomination as the Democratic Presidential Nominee. Despite his promise, top Democrats' face-time belongs to the powerful.

"At one of the most lavish parties on Saturday, a cluster of movie stars paid tribute to President Clinton and poured about million into Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate race in New York. A brunch on Sunday hosted by singer Barbra Streisand was expected to net million for the planned Clinton presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas" (Reuters, 8/13).

Reliving Your Self In A Classy Porta-Potty: k

At a k per couple Hollywood adios to Pres. Clinton, couples were not sparred a posh place to poop.

"These [porta-potty] bathrooms had honey-hued 'oak' floors and matching toilet seats. Brass fixtures and frosted 'crystal' wall sconces. Oriental carpets, faux marble sinks and fresh floral bouquets in shades of lavender.

"We overheard Carol Burnett rating the facilities a "10 plus"--on a scale of 1 to 10. Only in L.A." (Chicago Trib.)

Are You Now, Or Have You Ever Been A Member Of The Reform Party?

"As if he did not have enough problems, embattled Reform Party faction presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan today found himself defending his choice of a black woman as a running mate after discovering that she belongs to the John Birch Society. ... [A group that] had even called President Dwight D. Eisenhower a conscious agent of the communist conspiracy" (Chicago Trib.).

"Now You Do What They Told Ya"

"The Democrats have so sold out," said Medea Benjamin, Green Party candidate in California for Senate and founding director of Global Exchange. "We wouldn't be caught dead with NRA money. But they take money from the NRA. They mouth pablum and hypocritical statements to throw people off. At least with the Republicans we already know they're in bed with assholes." (Todaro, Village Voice, 08/14)

More than 1,000 environmental activists and anti-capitalist demonstrators marched through downtown Los Angeles to the Democratic Convention where Gore will accept the party's presidential nomination Thursday.

"Divest your shares and show us you are an environmental champion on the side of the U'wa," Atossa Soltani, director of the Amazon Watch environmental group, said at the rally. Gore reported in his public financial disclosure in May that his family's shares in Occidental were valued at between 0,000 and million. "Gore's connections with Occidental make him no better than Bush," Soltani said (PBS.org).

"When electricity to the concert stage was shut off, the crowd began to chant, 'Leave the power on.' Some protesters set a U.S. flag on fire while others carried a U.S. flag upside down. A police representative then told the crowd, in English and Spanish, to disperse immediately or they would be arrested. 'Please cooperate with us and leave the area peacefully now,' he said. Officers on horseback drove most in the crowd out, but several sat on the ground defiantly and were taken away. Some protesters videotaped police actions, and some officers videotaped the protesters" (CNN, 8/15).

Protesters blocked off one of the main gates outside the Staples Center after Pres. Clinton's speech last night, leaving delegates to wait 30 minutes while police cleared the area.

Jesse Jackson in reference to the number of Police in LA: "There are more police here than people," said civil rights activist Jesse Jackson. "They should go catch the criminals and set the people free."-CNN.com

A Day In The Life Of Dem Convo Protest Organizer: 8:45 a.m. Day One "[Protest organizer Lisa] Fithian emerges from the convergence center with her bullhorn, wearing a purple tank top, old Reeboks and cargo pants. 'It's not fun to be in jail in shorts,' she explains. A cell phone, the protest leader's main organizing tool, is clipped to her waistband. She scribbles the number for her legal advisers and for the protest's media center on her hand in indelible ink, then hops into her Saturn, which has a Buddha in front. Arriving near Pershing Square in downtown L.A., she leaves her identification in the car, to foil the police in case of arrest" More.