Fred Hiatt's Editorial Board!!!

it was stunning to see the GOP nominee renew his verbal offensive Wednesday morning, when the country was still absorbing the news of the first death in service of a U.S. ambassador since 1988, as well as the loss of three other Americans. Though reports were still sketchy, it appeared that a militant jihadist group, Ansar al-Sharia, took advantage of the Benghazi protest to stage an armed assault that overwhelmed the Libyan security force at the consulate.

At Outside the Beltway, Doug Mataconis writes:

The statement issued last night was ill-advised and dumb, but at least the campaign had the excuse of not being aware of the facts behind the embassy statement. Nearly twelve hours later, after we not only knew the truth behind the Cairo Embassy statement but also knew that four Americans, including an Ambassador, had died was there any attempt by the Romney campaign to walk back their ill-advised statement? Of course not. Instead we got [Romney's morning appearance.] A worse response to the news of the deaths of four Americans who were serving their country I cannot possibly imagine. Worse yet for Romney, it was sandwiched between televised statements by Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama that made his attempts to characterize the Obama Administration in the manner that he did look foolish and ham-handed[.]

Mataconis' post is titled "Could Foreign Policy Cost Mitt Romney The Election?" I think what he is really asking is "Could Romney's Lack of Judgment And Honor Cost Him The Election?" The answer, I submit, is yes.

Who said this?

[We] reject the reported message of the movie. There is no room for religious hatred or intolerance.

Compare that to this:

[We] condemn[] the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims—as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.

Sounds similar no? The difference? Mitt Romney's campaign is circulating the former talking points AFTER the news of the death of the US Ambassador to Libya. The latter was issued by the US embassy in Cairo before the unrest faced the embassy. So who did the "apologizing?" My timeline says Mitt "No Apologies" Romney.

CNN reports on the Romney campaign's planned damage control talking points:

Questions & Answers:

Don’t you think it was appropriate for the embassy to condemn the controversial movie in question? Are you standing up for movies like this?

– Governor Romney rejects the reported message of the movie. There is no room for religious hatred or intolerance. [..] But we will not apologize for our constitutional right to freedom of speech.

[...] If pressed: Governor Romney repudiated this individual in 2010 when he attempted to mobilize a Quran-burning movement. He is firmly against any expression of religious hatred or intolerance.

[More . . .]

The text of Obama's speech is here.

It's a Wrap: Obama gave a great speech -- he was inspiring, authentic, inclusive, humble, passionate and most of all, Presidential. His supporters love him. They will work extra hard in November. There's too much at stake.

8:55 pm: Obama's hit his mark. Most moving line so far: "Welcome Home."

You’re the reason a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she’s ever called home — why selfless soldiers won’t be kicked out of the military because of who they are or who they love, why thousands of families have finally been able to say to the loved ones who served us so bravely, welcome home. Welcome home. You did that. You did that. You did that.

[More...]

Far and away, Julian Castro was the best speech of the convention so far (with a big assist from his incredibly telegenic 3 year old daughter.)

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is speaking now. I didn't find it special.

A very happy, energizer-bunny of a nun is up next. She seemed very nice but a little too cheerful.

The big flap on Jerusalem, brings to mind this fun video from "Working Girl."

I'll be back for Clinton and check the comments to see if I've missed anything. [Post speech thoughts below...]

The live audience capacity for President Obama's acceptance speech has just dropped from 75,000 to 15,000. The DNC has moved the speech indoors, due to weather concerns. Naysayers are claiming he couldn't fill the 70,000 seat outdoor stadium, the weather is showing only 20% chance of thunderstorms, and the real concern was hecklers.

This is what 84,000 people looked like the night of Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC convention in Denver [More..]:

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks tonight from the Democratic convention. (Added: If you missed it, you can watch here.)

Big Tent Democrat sent along some photos, here's one of the convention hall earlier today.

I'm just getting online today, and haven't caught up with the news, so this is an open thread, all convention related things welcome. [More....]

David Waldman and I are now in Charlotte for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. I'll be with Kagro on the Kagro in the Morning show, from 9-10 a.m. ET

Then from 12-2 p.m. ET, catch us on Daily Kos Radio LIVE on the SiriusXM Convention Radio channel. That's channel 123 on Sirius, and channel 142 on XM. We'll also air at the same time on SiriusXM Internet Radio on SiriusXM Left Plus, channel 853. You can even listen in online with a free trial. Listen on your iPhone, iPad or iPod, or your Android-y thing. Want in on the action? You can call the SiriusXM listener line at: 888-971-0896. And if you miss our SiriusXM shows, they'll repeat later in the day, from 4-6 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on Thursday, just our second hour will repeat, from 5-6 p.m.

The Democratic Convention begins today in Charlotte.

The 2012 Democratic Platform is here.

We have two choices. I'll take this one.

The other choice is below:

President Obama will be speaking in Boulder today at the University of Colorado. Both Obama and Mitt Romney have addressed the rising cost of college and student loans. Obama's plan:

Obama would let the current $5,550 per year maximum Pell grant increase to $5,635 next year, as scheduled under current law. That figure has grown by more than $900 since 2008 for a program that is the largest source of federal aid for students, serving more than 9 million of them.

• make the American Opportunity tax credit permanent (it was created as part of his 2009 economic stimulus program.) The credit provides up to $2,500 a year per student for college costs but is due to expire Jan. 1.

• Tie some federal aid, including Perkins loans and subsidies for students' work-study jobs, to schools' abilities to curb tuition increases.

Romney says Obama's plans haven't worked. What is his advice? Get a better loan and shop around."

Romney replied that while it might be popular for him to answer that he would provide students with government money, "what I'm going to tell you is shop around."

[More...]