I’m watching the Republican platform subcommittees mark up their sections of the document, and it is every bit as exciting as it sounds. The subcommittees have started at different speeds. Haley Barbour had his “Protecting Our Families” subcommittee plow into the text. I’ve seen it debate how or whether to acknowledge the diversity of family forms in America. (The solution: “We… believe that while families exist in many forms, there are ideals to strive for.”) Also debated: whether to mention AIDS as a disease that abstinence can often prevent, or just refer to STDs in general.

Over at the terrorism subcommittee, Bill Owens let the delegates introduce themselves at greater length. So we learned that Owens’s father won a Shetland pony for his family on The Price is Right, and that Mike Fair, a state senator from South Carolina, is under the impression that Jim DeMint is running for Strom Thurmond’s old Senate seat.

And that’s all I’ve got so far, so placid. There aren’t many reporters here, and the ones who skipped it aren’t missing anything.