The Dean benefit wasn't the freak show I was expecting, but it had it's moments.

It was so crowded it was unbelievable. The line was wrapping around the building, down 6th Ave., then down 20th St. If you only paid $35, you were only allowed to hang out on the ground floor; the upper floors were reserved for the $75 and up donors. It was obvious that most people paid $35 because there was just simply no room for all us poor folk. People were standing on the stairs, and there was logjam at the door. I ended up sitting on some little landing-type area, peering through a hole cut in a metal beam. George stood up against the wall behind me, and couldn't see a thing. At one point some woman was in a panic trying to get down the stairs, yelling "Gloria Gaynor is waiting outside! I have to get through!"

Anyway, Jeanine Garofalo was the emcee of the evening. She looked terrible. She had platinum blond hair cut into some kind of mullet/shag hybrid. Al Franken was awesome. He was wondering why every time Bush's approval ratings go down, they catch a terrorist. He also predicted that two weeks before the election, they would catch Osama. He whipped everbody into a frenzy as he talked about going on his fourth USO tour, about how he loves our troops, and that he knows everybody out in the audience loves our troops, and to not let any "fucking Republican" tell you otherwise.

Phoebe Snow sang some tunes, then a lesbian opera singer belted out a few numbers, Gloria Gaynor sang some songs (with no band, just recorded music), and Whoopie Goldberg said a few words. She was really good, actually. Her point was that it was just too easy to rip on the Bush administration, so instead we should put our energies into explaining why Dean will be better for the country.

Then Dean came out, and it was like a Bon Jovi concert: strobe lights flashing, people screaming and yelling. He was a really good speaker. I liked him. The place went ballistic when he said he's tired of this country be divided by race, gender, and sexuality. The women behind me were literally screaming. I''m not so sure he can take the health care plan he devised for Vermont and have it work for the whole US, which he said he was going to do. I mean, Vermont isn't exactly a microcosm of the US. I liked his conviction and enthusiasm for the idea, however.

So meanwhile, as G is standing behind me against the wall, the owner of the club walks by with a couple of guys with walki-talkies (the owner had been introducted and did a little wave on stage earlier), and G hears the owner say "Is this the $75 crowd?!?" all aghast and disgusted, probably at the peons crouching on the floor trying to see, and one of the walki-talki guys says "Oh no no no they're on the upper floors." Jerk!