The most surprising moment of the day so far … a room full of journalists not only standing up to sing the national anthem, but continuing to sing when the audio went down … except for a few, like the shaggy-haired guy from CNN, and me. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I alternately stood and sat, but didn’t sing.
Another interesting moment … a BBC reporter eloquently taping this bit: “With helicopters overhead and sharp shooters prowling the roof of this multimillion dollar mega-church in Southern California …” Only, I didn’t see any sharp shooters. Maybe I misheard.
Other outlets relegated to the tent:
NewsJoy
High Desert Gospel News
Working Nurse Magazine
California Crusader
Precious Times Magazine
Scholastic News (Kid Reporter)
Hanin News
Not, however, Candy Crowley. She went in, but was as gracious as could be when I talked with her and took this hideous photo.
I spoke with about a dozen African Americans, most of whom are Obama supporters. Not one confessing McCain supporter in the bunch. Also ran into Miles McPherson. This San Diego mega-church pastor didn’t say who he’s supporting. We got to talking about people we both know here in SoCal, like my sister-in-law’s brother, Todd Durkin. Todd was my mother’s paperboy back in New Jersey. Now he is a personal trainer for athletes like San Diego Charger LaDainian Thomlinson.
I also did not speak to one person who paid for a ticket. One attendee said 200-250 tickets were sold to offset costs and that the majority of seats went to church volunteers.
More later …
