I know you're not looking to cause a stir but here's what I would do (for what it's worth):

Show up with the original letter signed by Francesca Gage and state that you're officially allowed into the 'Hall' area of the Fleet Center.

If they don't let you in just say that you're going to go on Fox News and any other network/local station and state your case to be allowed in.

My heart tells my El Jefe's idea is dead on, rub it right in their actual faces (with the FOX camera crew in tow--screw the threat at that point), but my head tells me the whole business of heading up there would be a waste of time and money.

Instead, fire off another e-mail saying you're gonna do the "rat 'em out to the media" thing if they don't immediately issue a check to cover your losses, and 'bcc:' it to some FOX firebreather like O'Reilly or Hannity.

Could end up a "Win/Win" gambit: You recover the dough, and they get a spanking.

I already fired off that e-mail last night. No response.

Interesting situation. I'm sure you will keep us appraised.

If you've already got the tickets, I say use 'em. Consider it a sunk cost. Jet into Boston, set up your laptop and start doing your thing. In fact, why don't you contact some of the other bloggers who got disinvited and call in Fox News, CNN, and anybody else? It couldn't hurt for you guys to shoot an e-mail to Howard Kurtz and the Post reporter who covered the original issuance of blog credentials.

--|PW|--

Already on it, PW. Not sure about attending without access, tho.

I'd cancel the trip and bill the DNC for the fee. Maybe throw in a word or two about detrimental reliance, just enough to get their lawyers' attention.

Ah ... "detrimental reliance." I was discussing that with a lawyer friend last night.

I can find no preemptive terms and conditions in the application process that invalidate the use of that test.

Call the ACLU!

Nah, not a FOS issue. It's just unprofessional and cruel to stick it to the little guy.

Bill, you don't need access! A lot of the news is going to be outside the convention proper. I can think of a few things off the top of my head:

1) How far away is the so-called "free-speech zone?" Who's living in it? Why is it there?

2) Local, local, local. What do the Boston natives think of having this thing in their home town? Do they like it? Dislike it? How's the commute?

3) How's the help? Spend a day with one of the janitorial types -- chambermaids, etc. What kind of mess do parting Democrats leave behind in their rooms? Are liberals good tippers?

4) Access, access, access. How many parties can you crash while you're there? How long before your cover is blown at the D.C. Democrats for Kerry party?

5) Holding my interest: At the same time that Democrats are there, you can bet that a number of liberal and/or conservative groups will hold their own
shindigs. Infiltrate one of those and see what you can find out.

You could still make an interesting go of it. You just have to get creative.

--|PW|--

That's no reason not to pester the ACLU, if only for kicks. After all, they take a lot of wacky cases that have nothing to do with freedom of speech or any other "civil liberties" in any meaningful sense. They won't take yours, of course, but I wouldn't put it past them to take up a case just like it if the shoe were on the other foot (e.g., the Daily Kotze got the same treatment from the GOP).

PW -

I don't have that much time/energy, and there is a good chance I'll come up empty. Big diff between fringe reporting and having direct access to celebrity politicians and conventioneers. Most of that stuff I can do in DC, if I just start stalkin the right locales.

You've got the original letter, Bill - pull a Kennedy, ignore the second one. Show up with it in hand (and a Fox news crew in tow).

Sounds like the makings of a classic to tell the grandkids some day!

Bill --

Just offering suggestions if the Democrats won't let you in.

--|PW|--

Bill

Get in touch with Howie Carr, a writer for the Boston Herald and host of an afternoon radio show on WRKO in Boston from 3pm to 6 or so... he has a website HowieCarr.org I think. He would love to know that you were invited and then not invited.. who knows maybe he'd pull some strings...worth a try.

Have you considered the possibility that sloppy (or illiterate) vetters at the DNC might have seen "indcjournal.com" and imagined you were with Indymedia? Or maybe thought they were reading "iDNCjournal.com"? Of course, once someone discovered the mistake, the decision had to be reversed....

Dang, if I ever have a convention and invite any of you people, I sure won't renege and "disinvite" you - I think we need to coin a phrase along the lines of "Hell hath no fury like a blogger scorned"! Go get 'em, Bill - these folks have given a boatload of good ideas. It's not revenge or retribution, really, it's more like letting some boneheads know what a hornet's nest they've just run into.

Well so far, limited response from the media ... and even many bloggers.

Absodamnlutely, Bill - show up at the door with signed letter in hand and a FOX camera crew in tow. Make a lot of noise if they won't let you in, maybe start wailing about a "fictitious" credentialing system, or how they're engaging in "class warfare" by locking out the little guy in favor of the "entrenched do-nothing press" or some shit like that.

ATTICA! ATTICA!...

I realize everyone where is yelling in their best "Animal House" voice "ROAD TRIP." In case you do go, just claim the all the cancelation mails & e-mails were lost when a wall of water from "The Day After Tommorrow" overran your site for a couple of hours.

Howie Carr @ WRKO in Boston

You may not have heard of him Bill, but gemma is right on... at least shoot him an email... a very entertaining conservative voice there in New England.

Why don't you get Evan Coyne Maloney on the phone, or some other amateur filmmaker? This sounds like a great setup for "McAulliffe and Me"

Bill,

I can't believe that a Yankee fan (The Penguin) actually agrees with me.

If you haven't gotten a response from your e-mail you could always pull a 'Patton' stating that it (the e-mail rescinding invitation) got garbled in transmission.

And yes, Howie Carr would more than likely back you up on this one. Same with Hannity, O'Reilly, Rush, etc, etc.

A. You all make the assumption that these big guys will back me. I haven't heard much of anything back from any media folks that I've contacted.

B. Even certain quarters of the blogosphere have been surprisingly quiet thus far on the issue.

Believe me, you won't be missing much by not coming to the People's Republic of Boston that week. Those of us who are local are trying our best not to be in Boston during the DNC.

You were mentioned on the Globe's website: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/07/09/democrats_approve_blogger_credentials_but_rescind_some_invites/

The news is starting to spread.

22 trackbacks and you think things are quiet? This from the guy who a few months ago was telling me, "I just want a little site that maybe my family and a few friends will look at..." ;-)

Basing the quiet on traffic Dean, traffic. It's only slightly up from my normal flow. Big Media is biting a bit though, so sit tight.

So you may get what you aimed for. Making a big deal outta peanuts. Congrats