Even when judged by the unusual standards of this pandemic year, the recently concluded Democratic Party convention in the United States was decidedly odd.
Gone was the razzmatazz of previous conventions, with their packed vast arenas and oversized people in garish clothes shouting their approval. Instead, we were treated to the equivalent of a TV infomercial, a tightly scripted variety show stretching over four long days, complete with fake studio backdrops and pre-recorded applause, all designed to persuade us that what we were witnessing was not some production put together by a few studio technicians and an electronic console, but a massive get-together of the entire American nation.
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