Thoughts on the Republican National Convention, Day 3
As I watched the RNC Day 3 festivities, I couldn't help but notice that very few people whose last names weren't Palin appeared to be around 45 or 50 at the youngest. Lots seemed to be wearing cowboy hats.
I just wanna offer some thoughts on a few specific points raised by the speakers on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention. Here are some snippets of the speeches and a few of my thoughts:
Giuliani:
"We the people' — the citizens of the United States — get to decide our next president ... not the media, not Hollywood celebrities, not anyone else." - Does this mean that people in the media and Hollywood cannot or should not be allowed to vote? Obviously, those people alone don't elect presidents.
"He worked as a community organizer, and immersed himself in Chicago Machine politics." – Bullshit. Obama rose up in Illinois politics in spite of the Chicago Machine, not because of it.
"He's never had to lead people in crisis. This is not a personal attack ... it's a statement of fact — Barack Obama has never led anything. Nothing. Nada." – Except a lengthy campaign to unseat Hillary Clinton (you wanna talk about a machine...), who was a virtual shoe-in for the Democratic nomination. The Obama campaign employs about 2,500 people.
Romney:
"Is a Supreme Court liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitution rights? It's liberal!" – Only if one thinks that accusation should equal guilt and that we should scrap the innocent-until-proven-guilty thing.
"If government spending - excluding inflation - liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? — It's liberal!" – Does that include the spending on the Department of Homeland Security (Bush's creation) and billions of dollars in no-bid contracts to private corporations like Halliburton to provide services, at inflated prices, that used to be handled by the military?
"Opportunity rises when children are raised in homes and schools that are free from pornography, promiscuity and drugs; in homes that are blessed with family values and the presence of a father and a mother." – Promiscuity? Can you say Bristol Palin?
"Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to take work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who pay no taxes at all." – Obama was instrumental in Illinois in moving people from welfare to work. Who are these liberals, exactly?
"Republicans prefer straight talk to politically correct talk!" – Republicans prefer patriotically correct talk to straight talk.
Huckabee:
No real problems with Huckabee's speech, other than, as Keith Olbermann pointed out, Abraham Lincoln did not start the Republican Party, he merely ran on their ticket.
Palin:
Palin gave a relatively civil, if vapid speech. Hockey mom, PTA, family, USA, USA, USA, etc. Until the money quotes, that is:
"Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities." – Community organizers have zero responsibilities? They're the backbone of inner city communities. They make great sacrifices to provide paths out of poverty for people who otherwise might not be able to find a way. Perhaps Mrs. Palin would be wise to educate herself on what a community organizer is and does before she criticizes that occupation. What a fucking insult.
"If you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone." – No word on who, specifically, the "Washington elite" actually is. This is a typical straw-man argument. Palin provided absolutely no evidence of anybody specifically declaring her unqualified for her stated reason, imaginary as it is, to pursue the vice-presidency.
"But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all." – Obama made very clear in his acceptance speech that any new drilling would be a stop gap measure and not a solution to America's energy problems.
"Obama can't use 'victory' in a speech about the wars we're fighting." – Mission Accomplished was declared on May 1, 2003. Clearly, victory has been achieved.
"Obama will make government bigger and take more of your money. Obama is against producing more energy." – I'm not aware of any promises by Obama to make government bigger or take more money from 95 percent of the American people. Obama has clearly stated that he supports the development of alternative energy sources, including expanded oil drilling and nuclear power development.
Thoughts???
Comments
The insults were awesome--very well done, very effective.
The misrepresentation of Obama's positions (as well as her own) will only play to the base. In the cold light of day, whoever bothers will note the hot air and boilerplate b.s.
If I were to advise, I would tell Obama to knock of the democratic boilerplate, which usually stems from people's misery and promises that gov. will make it better (I rolled my eyes almost as much during the democratic convention with this go-nowhere stuff). Stop telling me about the fucking "mother in Ohio" and "steelworker in Michigan." Obama is naturally empathetic--don't resort to the rhetoric designed to make him appear so.
We know exactly where and how they will attack Obama. Come up with specific responses to those attacks aimed right at the heart of failed GOP policy, and present specific, sensible alternatives.
(Oh, is that all, barabaralelagab?)
Posted by: barabajagal | September 4, 2008 8:46 AM
The insults were very appealing to the Radical Right, I think. I also think they put a lot of people off. When she mocked his work as a community organizer (as did Rudy), the subtext was basically, "You're just a dumb nigger." Rural white America loved it.
Posted by: Jude | September 4, 2008 12:00 PM
No, the subtext was more "So you ran a soup kitchen? I run a state."
As for "radical right," I'm not sure what that means, but put it this way: I highly doubt a single person who intends to vote for McCain was seriously offended.
Posted by: barabajagal | September 4, 2008 1:19 PM
The McCain folks ate it up, for sure. I think a racial undertone was definitely there - that soup kitchen was in that cesspool of liberals and minorities known as Chicago.
By Radical Right, I mean extreme small/anti-government conservative; she has close associations with a seccesionist party, creationism in public schools, ignorance-only sex ed, etc.
Posted by: Jude | September 4, 2008 1:40 PM
Really Jude? A racial overtone to that statement? I don't see it that way at all.
I think it was her way of saying she has more executive experience than him. It was basically a hit on what community organizers do versus being mayor or governor etc. There was nothing racist about it.
I do agree it was insulting and mocking him. And I think it will put some independents off, no doubt. But racist, no way.
She was just reacting to Obama's first statement when she was selected, ya know, the whole 'a mayor of a town of 9000 has just become a heat beat away from the presidency.'
If you found that offensive, just wait...
Posted by: Tim | September 4, 2008 2:58 PM
Tim,
I think the comment about being an organizer was a sort of code - as in the way they like to suggest that Obama has "European ideas," by which they really mean he's an arrogant communist effete wimp. And it's a crafty attack too, because, of course, it wasn't racist to the letter, but I think the speech-writers knew that it would create an association with poor blacks who are, as every good Republican knows, stealing our tax dollars and using their welfare checks to buy crack.
For the record, I just read somewhere that the mayorship of Wasilla is a part-time job. Not that that in and of itself qualifies or disqualifies her for the VP slot. Obama was probably as surprised as everbody else that after months of trashing his resume, McCain(?) chose someone with a comparably thin resume.
This is gonna get really intersting. Palin hasn't really engaged the media yet. It's one thing to read scripted insults off of a teleprompter in front of adoring fans, quite another to engage one-on-one. We'll see how that plays out.
Rumor has it that the National Enquirer has dirt on an extramarital affair of Palin's. (I haven't found the story, if it has been published, yet, but there's lots of chatter.) I shudder at the thought of using NE as a reference, but look what they did to John Edwards. Now, that would create some fireworks...
Posted by: Jude | September 4, 2008 4:00 PM