Sunday, September 7, 2008

Post-convention fatigue

No, I can’t say that I watched the conventions. I did, however, go to their DNC and RNC websites, and took in the “important” speeches.

The summary:

• DNC—a mixed bag, some of it iffy, some of it actually downright impressive.
• RNC—the same old sack of manure, with twice the stink.

Now, it’s important to keep in mind that these conventions are nothing more than media candy these days: highly orchestrated, no real spontaneity, and the potential to be mind-numbing.

There were over 150 speakers over the course of the DNC; the RNC had barely over 30, preferring to spend their money and time on video tributes.

Here’s where it all fell apart for me: a lot of the sentiments expressed at the RNC (smaller, more competent government, less of a tax burden, and so on) were sentiments that resonate with me. Unfortunately, what I kept remembering was how the deficit skyrocketed during the Republican-controlled House, Senate and Executive Branch from 2000 through 2006, and how there was no coherent effort at energy policy or climate policy or anything of the sort, while the relative tax burden on the American public generally increased, and none of the purported benefits of lowering the tax rates for the rich or for business came about. Also, many of the sentiments expressed at the RNC were sprinkled with petty, questionable cheap shots directed at the opposition, which pretty much sucked the “high moral principles” away. Over and over again, the politics of divisiveness was trotted out for the Bush groupies, and they just ate it up.

By contrast, the DNC had some stellar moments. Seeing Edward Kennedy, in what may be his last presidential convention speech, was inspiring—a short speech, but for heaven’s sakes, he had brain surgery just three months ago!

I quite liked seeing Jim Leach (R–IA1, 1977–2003; R–IA2, 2003–2007); one of the few Republican congresscritters I respected, his speech was a concise condemnation of the current GOP and the current administration’s policies, and a call to arms to change the atmosphere of corruption with this election.

I liked Michelle Obama’s speech a great deal as well (truly. I think she’s going to be a great First Lady).

The speeches by the Clintons were . . . hard to describe. If you read through the speeches, they’re quite good. Listening to the delivery, on the other hand, left me with the impression that both of them are still struggling with the outcome of the primaries. Ms Clinton in particular doesn’t really seem to be reaching to the disaffected supporters who claim that they’re going to go vote Republican (which still strikes me as a completely immature, petty and short-sighted “retribution”). The DNC was probably her biggest opportunity to correct that, but I found myself less than convinced. Mr Clinton did a more convincing job, but even he seemed to have mixed feelings.

I also appreciated seeing Rear Admiral John Hutson (ret.).  A lifelong Republican, he butted heads several times with the Bush administration over military and judicial policies (he was a Judge Advocate General for the Navy), particularly regarding the administration’s policy of abuse, torture, and suspension of due process of people in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, and opposed the appointment of Alberto Gonzales as the US Attorney General. His speech was a short but searing condemnation of the administration’s policies.

I thought Joe Biden’s acceptance speech was quite good, too; I especially liked this bit:

Let me make this pledge to you right here and now. For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: “The vice president’s office is on the phone.”

It’s interesting how much Al Gore has loosened up since 2000; he’s actually a fairly engaging speaker these days. Somewhat predictably, he hammered at the climatological consequences of the GOP’s energy “policy”—but somebody has to, and Gore is the right person for it. I still think we lost a golden opportunity in 2000—Gore is arguably one of the smartest candidates we ever had. And we probably would be a lot better off by now.

And finally, Barack Obama—wow. He knocked it out of the park, quite frankly. You should probably read and/or listen to the whole speech.

Of course, the RNC had to be tempered a little by the threat of Hurricane Gustav. From the start, a lot of the “our thoughts and prayers” sentiment was uttered, but it was hard to take that seriously over what happened three years ago in the wake of Katrina, and it is difficult to see how this is anything other than election-year posturing.

In fact, most of the speeches at the RNC weren’t what I’d call inspiring. Perhaps unintentionally funny—the obdurate hypocrisy, the relentless self-delusion, the head-spinning denials. Seeing Giuliani—certainly one of the least competent, more corrupt politicians of the last decade—certainly drove the point home: the GOP isn’t changing anytime soon. It’s full of hot air, false accusations, stealing credit, continued financial irresponsibility, and diplomatic disaster, piled proudly on top of a bunch of naked prisoners.

The RNC was the GOP’s last chance to sway my vote in this election. Sadly, McCain-Palin would be just as bad as Bush-Cheney—perhaps less overtly evil, but also less competent and thought-out, and certainly no more Republican than the last guys.

So it seems that the more Republican candidates—the more principled, the more responsible, the more constitutionally conservative, the more thoughtful candidates—in this election are still the Democrats.

And thus, my official endorsement of Obama-Biden.

Comment forii

Gritting my teeth all the way, I recently signed up this modest little site with the Intense Debate site to provide user comments. You’ll note a new “Comments (n)” thing at the bottom of every entry on the home page, and at the bottom of every entry page.

Note that this is an experiment right now. I have a deep and abiding hatred of spammers, particularly comment spammers; I’m not so crazy about the Bush-groupies’ lowbrow slime, either. So at least for now, all comments are moderated; they don’t get displayed without my say-so. At the moment, the Intense Debate scheme sort of has an all-or-nothing approach; I’d like to be able to whitelist good participants, but they don’t have that option right now. Hopefully, they’ll add it soon. And finally, I will be checking every link you post. Sorry.

Note that if you want to see or post comments, you will have to have JavaScript enabled for the site. I promise I will never play games with your window, or use popup advertising of any sort.

At the moment, an email is sent to me whenever I get a comment on the site, so I can promise prompt approvals. So please, feel free to contribute something to the site. (And I do mean contribute. Don’t just flame or rant or insult. Be Thoughtful. Thank you.)