RNC Day 3: Palin rallies the culture warriors

She's got stones....ya gotta give her that.

Sarah Palin came through for Mad Johnny on Wednesday night. Her spot-on delivery of a comprehensive speech wrapped up the rabid right. Not only did she bring some life into the Xcel Center (which, to that point, had carried the pall of a crypt), but she delivered a speech that accomplished all the goals that had been set for her: she introduced herself to the country, roused the fake patriots, and seemed to show a better-than-expected grasp of policy.

Of course, the speech was largely "canned," in the sense that it was written by Republican speechwriters before McCain had selected a running mate. Nonetheless, her delivery was excellent and few can doubt that the speech was a success. Hats off to her.

Courageous protesters

(Hats off, as well, to the two Code Pink protesters who got tossed during Palin's speech. It takes courage to go into the belly of the beast and raise hell.)

It was a given that, at some point, Republican nastiness would rear its ugly head. And last night was the night.

It seems that the McCain campaign is now banking on evangelicals to carry the day for it in November. Spineless Mitt Romney and fanatic Christian warrior Mike Huckabee spit out some bile early causing a stir in the zombie-like crowd. Then, just prior to Palin's speech, vampiric Rudy Giuliani spewed out the time-tested appeals to fear with talk about "Islamic extremism" and "evil." He had them roaring and chanting.

Governor Palin herself showed that she has teeth, delivering some biting lines about Obama and likening herself to a pit bull. By the time she finished delivering her low-brow cynicism and sneering throw-away lines the crowd was ravenous.

It's the old Karl Rove methodology and it is designed to evoke hatred toward some vast horde of enemies. Enemies which include not only "terrorists," but "liberals," "elitists," and "the left-wing media."

That strategy, the strategy of dividing the voting public through fear and hatred and then relying on a narrow electoral victory, has definitely worked in the past. But its success this time around seems less likely. The Republican brand is badly damaged by the stink of the Bush administration. And although McCain, with his pick of this well-spoken former beauty queen, the epitome of so-called "conservative" values, has finally and completely won over the right-wing religious zealots of the nation, it seems a little late in the game to be nailing down the base.

"Don't smear the lipstick, John."

Mad Johnny came out on stage after Governor Palin had finished speaking, to stand with her and her family. As he stood there with that young, beautiful family, he looked like a confused old grandfather brought out of the nursing home for Thanksgiving dinner. He didn't say much.

Thursday night Mad Johnny delivers his pitch to the nation. One wonders if he can scale the peaks that Sarah Palin has set for him.

RNC Day 2: Now that's a party!

Plenty of good seats are still available

There is only one thing more pathetic than a bunch of Republicans having a good time.....and that's a bunch of Republicans pretending to have a good time. Last night's event in St. Paul was like the parent-sponsored punch-and-cookies graduation party at one's high school. While the cool kids are whooping it up with a keg of beer at the local make-out spot, the nerds are back at the school gym eating brownies and polishing their spectacles.

Last night, as each speaker came forth to try and rally the dispirited Republicans, the camera shots would occasionally pan out, away from the rostrum to reveal a lot of empty seats and a general miasma of boredom. The cameras even caught one or two Republican delegates yawning.

Joe Lieberman: he's kinda icky.

Joe Lieberman came out and muddled through a whiny speech with his usual hangdog expression and defeated tone. Poor old Joe...forced by his utter lack of political instinct to debase himself in front of a crowd of people that despise him for his "liberal" views, but that will pretend to honor him so long as he is useful to them. The word running through the various news channels is that Lieberman was McCain's first choice as a running mate, but that Republican insiders forbade it, saying that it would be the coup de grace for any support Mad Johnny might get from the rabid Republican evangelical base. Well, Joe, you're used to being the loser, right?

Tonight, Sarah Palin will come out of her sequestration, where she has been avoiding prying reporters and awkward questions, to speak. From a Republican standpoint, Palin is probably the highlight of the convention. Her nomination is said to be a big hit with the nutty right-wing religious zealots that represent that 28% of the public that still supports Junior Bush. Well, that may be, but it does not bode well for Mad Johnny that it has taken him this long to nail down that base.

"I just wuvs my wittle Johnny..."

Anyway, this slow motion shipwreck just keeps plowing on through. Let's see what they come up with next.

RNC Day 1: Sublime farce

Shakespeare got nothing on these guys

The Republican National convention is off to a fabulous start. Absolutely fabulous. One simply could not have written it better: this is farce of Shakespearean quality.

Gustav crashes the party

Last night was originally to be the night on which the GOP was going to stealthily bow to obligation and have Junior and Big Dick deliver their questionable benedictions on the dispirited masses. When better to have them speak than a day when most Americans are likely to be out enjoying the last of the summer far away from their televisions? Get the first day over with and move on.

Well, apparently, the Great Whatever had other plans. Hurricane Gustav came roaring in off the Gulf of Mexico. Republicans, unable to sustain the split screen images of horizontal rain beating the coast line and Junior Bush blabbing his mouth off in St. Paul instead canceled the first day of the convention. I haven't heard of any plans to reschedule Junior's or Cheney's speeches.

(I saw Junior delivering remarks from a FEMA meeting, urging people in the storm zone to heed the warnings, listen to officials, evacuate danger zones. He spoke with the forlorn honesty of a man that knows that no one has any reason to believe anything he says...I've never before seen him look so presidential.)

Sarah Palin gets screw-tinized

Meanwhile, McCain's gamble on Sarah Palin doesn't seem to be paying off. Apparently, she is under investigation in her home state for potential misconduct surrounding the firing of Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan.

The media, having no convention to report, have been asking a lot of questions about it. None of them have, as yet, gotten off their asses and flown up to Alaska to get answers, mind you. Nonetheless, the questions themselves are progress. (And, let's be reasonable. One can't blame our intrepid national media for not wanting to leave behind the promise of catered buffets and open bars at the GOP convention to have to fly all the way to Anchorage.)

You can tell that these are two people who know each other well...

Did the McCain campaign know about this investigation when it tapped Palin for the bottom end of the ticket? To me, that seems a little far-fetched. McCain surely wouldn't have chosen her had he known.

But, if he didn't know about the investigation, that raises the question of whether he knew anything at all about Ms. Palin. According to Jonathan Martin of Politico, McCain had met Palin only 6 months ago. His decision to include her on the ticket was based on that one meeting plus one phone call that occurred on August 24. It's almost as if (gasp) McCain picked Sarah Palin as a political gimmick!

What does that imply about a potential McCain administration? Haven't we already been subjected to an administration that bases decisions entirely on politics rather than on good policy?

The plebs are pounding on the door

Meanwhile, even though most of the Republican mucky-mucks stayed away from the convention on Monday, outraged citizens staged a protest against the war outside the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Public safety officials put the size of the crowd at between 8000 and 10,000. That's a lot more people than were inside the place. And the protesters were certainly having a lot more fun. (I wish I could have been there with them).

Give 'em hell, brothers and sisters!

High comedy

As I watched the coverage of opening night of the Republican National Convention; as I listened to right-wing pundits stammer about the stories swirling around Sarah Palin; as I saw dispirited Republicans feebly put together a half-assed ovation for Laura Bush and Cindy McCain in the cavernous and near-empty convention hall; as I saw McCain standing by a trailer hitch filled with emergency supplies for Gustav victims, squinting and reading from a set of prepared remarks that looked to be written on a diner napkin; I couldn't help myself.

I laughed. I laughed long and hard. As farce, this is high art, worthy of comparison with any of the Bard's best comedies.

More to come, people. The convention hasn't actually started yet.

Gustav, Sarah Palin and the Republican National Convention

Hey, Johnny...Gustav's at the door and he says he wants to come in...

Tonight, the Republican party is scheduled to commence the quadrennial hate-fest that passes for its convention. This year's event is shaping up to be a downer (from a Republican perspective) for a number of different reasons.

The Republicans are set to begin right on the heels of Barack Obama's triumphant convention in Denver where he put forth a vision of hope and change before some 38 million viewers on Thursday night. Even Republicans will admit that Mad Johnny's death grimace and grumpiness is pretty poor fare when contrasted with Obama's charisma and oratory prowess. Add to that the fact that as many as six Republican senators (including Oregon's own Gordon Smith) are skipping the convention out of sheer embarrassment and --well, let's just say the frosting on the birthday cake looks a little gray...

Gustav invites himself to the party

The big question hanging over the Republican convention is whether the party is going to be crashed by the most unwelcome of guests: Hurricane Gustav. Images of Republicans yucking it up in Minneapolis while Gulf Coast residents huddle against lashing wind and rain must surely cause RNC chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan to feel a little queasy.

On the other hand, Gustav spares the Republicans the embarrassment of having to give Junior and Big Dick speaking slots. The two "leaders" of the party had already been assigned to speak on the first night of the convention (today, Labor Day) when most Americans would be barbecuing and enjoying their last summer weekend and not too likely to spend their evening watching the blowhards in Minnesota. But, now, the Republicans can forgo having Bush and Cheney speak at all.

That's right, Bush and Cheney, the sitting President and Vice-President will not be attending their own party's nominating convention this year. They're going to stay at their respective desks to "oversee the federal response" to Gustav.

But we can still have a good time, right Junior?

Regardless of what happens in the wake of Gustav, even if the federal response is flawless, the GOP will not be helped by this storm that will evoke memories of one of the more spectacular failures of this administration: the disaster that followed Hurricane Katrina.

Sarah Palin is McCain's "Soulmate"

The McCain campaign's pathetic attempt to steal Obama's thunder after his nomination acceptance speech was to name Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska and a relative unknown on the national political scene, as his running-mate. The pick raised a lot of eyebrows, certainly. But, despite the claptrap that's coming from the various right-wing loudmouths about it being a "bold and deft pick," I get the feeling that behind the scenes there is a lot of.... well, let's call it "consternation"... about choosing a 2-year governor of a sparsely populated state that was already in the bag for McCain anyway.

Our next vice-president? Sarah Palin, Miss Wasilla 1984

Yesterday, on Fox News Sunday, McCain referred to Palin as a "soulmate." But, to me (and I'm not alone) Palin's elevation to the national scene smacks of desperation on the part of the McCain campaign. The woman has no real experience, which is, of course, one of the arguments that McCain has tried to put forth against Obama. Further, by virtue of the fact that Palin is a mere 44 years old, she invites examination of McCain's age which was already a peripheral issue. For God's sake, Johnny, at 72, you're old enough to be her father!

It's said that a drowning man will grasp at anything to keep his head above water and I believe that's what we're seeing here. McCain has actually come to believe all that talk about some vast army of disgruntled Hillary supporters. He imagines some mass of Hillary fans so resentful of Obama's success that they will actually betray their own values and vote for the Republican ticket. It is a measure of John McCain's attitude toward women that he assumes they'll vote for him just because there is a woman in the number 2 spot.

Well, Johnny, keep dreaming.

Convention events curtailed

Already, events and speeches at the Republican National Convention are being curtailed or cancelled. Many party luminaries are skipping it altogether. And Mad Johnny has to still go out in front of the cameras and try to make it seem like fun.

Well, is it a party? To me, it looks more like a wake!

DNC Day 4: Mountain starts to move

The morning after Barack Obama's triumphant appearance at Mile High Stadium before some 75,000 people, one gets the sense that something very big is afoot. It may just be that I am deadly weary of the brutal incompetence and corruption of the Bush administration and am therefore delusional, but if so...well, judging from the huge crowd, the enthusiastic acclaimations, and the whining and sniping of the conservative punditry, I'm not the only one.

The McCain campaign certainly had a premonition that Obama's climactic convention speech might prove to be worrisome from their perspective. This very morning, in a rather pathetic attempt to steal the cable news chatter, McCain announced that his vice-presidential candidate will be Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Well, Johnny, I admire the attempt, but I just can't see that picking an unknown and inexperienced woman governor from a sparsely populated state is going to win you any of those supposedly disgruntled Hillary supporters. The "PUMA" thing never really got much momentum behind it, and it has the suspicious stink of a Karl Rove plot about it anyway.

As he accepted the Democratic party's nomination for President of the United States, Barack Obama appeared presidential, stately, and intellectually-serious. Certainly more so than tired and cranky John McCain or the laughably idiotic Junior Bush. (Remember when Junior played dress up in a flight suit?)

Obama addressed each and every charge leveled against him by his critics: his supposed foreign policy inexperience, his "rock star" persona, the scurrilous attacks on his patriotism. And he went on to hammer McCain. The tone was respectful, with an acknowledgment of McCain's service as a war veteran, but Obama lacerated McCain for being out of touch, domestically, and for exercising poor judgment vis-a-vis Iraq and Afghanistan. In this he went right at McCain's perceived strength.

But coming out of that convention, with Obama's challenge ringing in our collective psyche, one has the feeling that the mountain is starting to move. Just as Tropical Storm Gustav comes barreling toward New Orleans, threatening to highlight Bush incompetence by evoking memories of Katrina even as the Republicans hold their convention, the Democrats emerge roaring for blood. Can you hear it, Johnny? There's a rumble coming down from the Rockies...

Rumble, rumble

(See the speech for yourself:

• Part 1
• Part 2
  
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5)
  

DNC Day 3: Excoriating the Right

Here we come, Johnny.

Now, we're talking. Never mind my worries, after DNC Day 1 that the Democrats weren't hitting hard enough.

Last night's speeches at the Democratic National Convention were what the pundits refer to as "red meat." The prominent speakers were Senator John Kerry, President Bill Clinton, and Vice-Presidential nominee, Senator Joe Biden. And they spent the evening laying into Junior and Mad Johnny.

Had I seen the text of the speeches beforehand, I would have had the following advice for McCain: "When you hear the words 'John McCain is a friend of mine...' it's time for you to turn down your hearing aid, but quick!"

Those words were the precursor to brutal but truthful rhetoric that points up how utterly and shamelessly McCain has bowed to blind ambition in his quest for the presidency.

Ripping on McCain

Here's the choice passage from Kerry's speech:

I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years. But every day now I learn something new about candidate McCain. To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician, I say, let's compare Senator McCain to candidate McCain.

Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain once denounced as immoral. Candidate McCain criticizes Senator McCain's own climate change bill. Candidate McCain says he would now vote against the immigration bill that Senator McCain wrote. Are you kidding? Talk about being for it before you're against it. --John Kerry

You can see the speech in its entirety here.

Unifying the party

President Clinton went next and laid to rest any desperate Republican hopes about division within the Democratic party. Clinton has few rivals when it comes to political instincts and one senses that, apart from a sincere wish to not see McCain in the Oval Office, the former president has at least one eye on his legacy within the party. As with Hillary, President Clinton, if he hopes to maintain his influence with Democrats, is compelled to fully and completely support Barack Obama.

That being said, examination of anyone's motives often reveals the less savory aspects of the subject's character. Best not to read too much into it. And the zeal with which Clinton delivered his hits on Republicans was sure to raise Democrats' blood-lust.

They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8 million Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty - and millions more losing their health insurance.

Now, in spite of all the evidence, their candidate is promising more of the same: More tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy. More band-aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured. More going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.

They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Let's send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks. In this case, the third time is not the charm. -- Bill Clinton

You can see the speech in its entirety here.

This man is a fighter

The evening ended with Senator Joe Biden's acceptance speech. Biden was introduced by his son, Beau, who will soon be deployed to fight in Junior's filthy lie of a war. That's more sacrifice than we are ever likely to see out of Junior's two daughters or any other of the Bush clan. And Senator Biden showed his pugnacity by whipping up on McCain with this passage:

John McCain is my friend. We've known each other for three decades. We've traveled the world together. It's a friendship that goes beyond politics. And the personal courage and heroism John demonstrated still amaze me.

But I profoundly disagree with the direction that John wants to take the country. For example:
John thinks that during the Bush years "we've made great progress economically." I think it's been abysmal.

And in the Senate, John sided with President Bush 95 percent of the time. Give me a break. When John McCain proposes $200 billion in new tax breaks for corporate America, $1 billion alone for just eight of the largest companies, but no relief for 100 million American families, that's not change; that's more of the same.

Even today, as oil companies post the biggest profits in history-a half trillion dollars in the last five years-he wants to give them another $4 billion in tax breaks. But he voted time and again against incentives for renewable energy: solar, wind, biofuels. That's not change; that's more of the same.

Millions of jobs have left our shores, yet John continues to support tax breaks for corporations that send them there. That's not change; that's more of the same.

He voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage. For people who are struggling just to get to the next day, that's not change; that's more of the same.

And when he says he will continue to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq when Iraq is sitting on a surplus of nearly $80 billion, that's not change; that's more of the same.

The choice in this election is clear. These times require more than a good soldier; they require a wise leader, a leader who can deliver change-the change everybody knows we need. --Joe Biden

You can see the speech in its entirety here.

On a personal level, the remarks that struck home the most were these:

President Obama and Vice President Biden will shut down Guantanamo, respect the Constitution, and make clear once and for all, the United States of America does not torture, not now, not ever. --John Kerry

Most important, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power. --Bill Clinton

You know, I believe the measure of a man isn't just the road he's traveled; it's the choices he's made along the way. Barack Obama could have done anything after he graduated from college. With all his talent and promise, he could have written his ticket to Wall Street. But that's not what he chose to do. He chose to go to Chicago. The South Side. There he met men and women who had lost their jobs. Their neighborhood was devastated when the local steel plant closed. Their dreams deferred. Their dignity shattered. Their self-esteem gone.

And he made their lives the work of his life. That's what you do when you've been raised by a single mom, who worked, went to school and raised two kids on her own. That's how you come to believe, to the very core of your being, that work is more than a paycheck. It's dignity. It's respect. It's about whether you can look your children in the eye and say: we're going to be ok. --Joe Biden

The Democrats on the floor roared their approval throughout the night. And Barack Obama made a "suprise" appearance at the end of the evening to rally the troops before his Big Event tonight.
Well, the troops are rallied. The party is united and, unlike the dismal campaign of four years ago, it looks like the Democrats are going to be hitting and hitting hard.

Bad news for Mad Johnny.

DNC Day 2: Hillary and Kucinich

Hillary does the right thing

All eyes were on Hillary Clinton last night. She was set to deliver the prime time speech. The media punditry was doing its level best to keep alive the notion that she had the ability to deliver or deny votes to Barack Obama based on the tone of her address.

Well, that's a load of crap. The 18 million voters who checked the box for Hillary in the primaries are, of course, going to make up their own minds about who will receive their support in November. The truth of the matter is (or was) that the speech last night had more to do with Hillary's own political future. If her speech seemed anything less than full-throated in its endorsement of Barack Obama, she would be perceived as petulant and negative. Not a wise move, in a party that is desperate to win in November. Such a speech would doom her future prospects within the Democratic party.

I've always felt that GOP characterizations of Hillary as "shrewish," "hostile," or"scheming" were more projection than observation. While it is true that Hillary is a politician, and therefore has a calculating mind that is constantly assessing how each situation or opportunity that presents itself can be used to her advantage, she is no more guilty of cynical manipulation than any other politician.

And so, Hillary came through for her party. She graciously and enthusiastically expressed support for the Obama-Biden ticket, acknowledged Michelle Obama, and threw some punches at Junior and Mad Johnny.

Well, like my friend, PapaK, I've got to hand it to Hillary. Her speech was inspiring, especially toward the end, when she cited Harriett Tubman, the heroine of the Underground Railroad.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.
If they're shouting after you, keep going.
Don't ever stop. Keep going.
If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

But, for my money, the real fireworks yesterday were delivered by Representative Dennis Kucinich. You want the truth? Check this speech, which was largely ignored by the pathetic cable and network media outlets.