It’s Their Party (and They Can Cry If They Want To)

By GAIL COLLINS, NYT

Our subject for today is: Presidential nominating conventions — why are they still around?

Other possible subjects were: The Facebook phenomenon and why does its board of directors look like a reunion tour of the Backstreet Boys and their managers?

Or: The new sensation of dancing dogs on TV talent shows and how many of them do you think were ever made to ride on the roof of a car?

But, no, I think we should go with the conventions. The Republicans are having theirs in Tampa, Fla., in August and then the Democrats will be in Charlotte, N.C., at the beginning of September. The presidential nominees have been chosen, but there’s still a lot to look forward to. The speeches! The funny hats! And, um ...

Little-known factoids about the upcoming conventions:

• The Democrats have an official barbecue sauce. Actually, three. You can buy them on the official Web site, along with a bunch of T-shirts and a very fetching oven mitt.

(More here.)