Yup, they planned the event before the meltdown, and it was just another convention in the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco . No streakers this year as has happened before, but a few memorable moments, nonetheless. Hecklers, protestors outside with bullhorns, and screaming rage made many attendees, many of whom were just nerds, look up from the laptops and calculators to “feel the pain.”
The high point probably happened, as the NY Times pointed out this morning, when Karl Rove appeared as a guest speaker: “Mr. Rove, the Republican strategist and former adviser to President Bush, was accosted onstage during a convention panel here on Tuesday morning by a protester who tried to handcuff and arrest him ‘for treason.’ Mr. Rove tried to elbow her away before she was taken offstage.”
With about 2,500 of these cuddly bears huddling for protection (20% less than last year), loving topics like “Eliminating Foreclosure” and “High Speed Legislation: How Congress Is Responding to the Mortgage Industry” were certainly drawing interest. High profile entertainers (Jay Leno was scheduled to appear) and high-end facilities and programs suggest that some folks have figured out how to maintain a lifestyle on that troubled side of the industry.
“It was unfortunate that they chose this venue to protest whatever they chose to protest,” said Cheryl Crispen, a spokeswoman for the Mortgage Bankers Association, the convention’s organizer, “We believe in free speech, but we believe there is a right time and place for it.” I’m actually trying to think of a better place and time for a protest against past mortgage lending practices. Help me out here… Got any ideas?
I’m Peter Dekom, and I approve this message.
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