See that guy over there on the right? That's Barry Goldwater, accepting the Republican nomination for president in our fair city back in 1964, in the same venue where we now try out American Idol contestants! Why we bringing up old stuff? Well, because, as SFGate's Politics Blog reports, San Francisco has been asked, along with 30 other cities, to submit an application to host the 2008 Republican National Convention! Goldwater's visit was the very last time we hosted the GOP -- and as you may recall, that race featured the famous little girl getting blown up by a nuclear bomb TV ad, one of the greatest Republican losses of the 20th century (Goldwater lost 44 states and only received 38.4% of the vote.) Hey, if the RNC wants to come back, who's gonna stop them? Plus, just think of all the fun protests we'd have if the Republicans actually showed up! Bush Ter Down! And won't it be fun if we catch any closeted gay red-staters buying tina in the Castro? Say no more -- SFist is voting YES! for San Francisco submitting a bid! Let's get on that, SFGOP! ...

Local filmmaker Ryan Junell went to New York for the Republican National Convention back in August and filmed what he saw. See the Elephant is the result. See the Elephant is a documentary that runs on four separate screens: one for the action inside Madison Square Garden, the second for the action immediately outside, the third for the street protests, and the fourth for the media coverage of the event. ...

New York Times finally gets hip to Berkeley proposition....