Chesler Chronicles

August 27th, 2008 10:03 pm

The DNC: A Night of Political Soap Opera

It was an evening of political soap opera. Senator Biden’s wife, Senator Obama’s wife, each wept a little in their seats. Biden and his son hugged each other. In full view, both Democratic candidates kissed the other candidates’ female relatives. And although the speakers at the DNC got one rousing ovation after the other, even though I myself was sometimes moved by the theatrical tactics–the platitudes did not move me so much as sadden me. The speeches were fraught with promises which bore no relationship to reality and which failed to deal with the existential peril to America posed by Islamic jihad.

The only speaker who even remotely touched upon this was Senator Biden who only once mentioned dangerous “fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan”–as if al Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Jihad, etc. do not exist world-wide. President Clinton ignored this very Islamist threat when it might still have been contained. It now exists on every continent and it became so on his watch.

Both President Clinton and Senator Biden were charismatic speakers. Biden mainly presented himself as a family man, whose track record as a brave and caring single father was and is exemplary. Biden also praised his white-haired mother, (who was present), and his father, (who has since gone on to his final reward). Both parents had taught “Joey” Biden to “pick himself up after he was knocked down.” Biden’s gratitude and love for his parents and for his children and grandchildren was sincere and moving.

I am sure that Oprah might have loved these staged performances, but I am not sure what they have to do with transforming the American economy and repairing America’s international reputation.

Just because a six term Senator has, admirably, also functioned as a hands-on father does not mean that he can–or has–passed legislation that will allow all American fathers and mothers to do likewise.

If we wish to put working America back on its feet, we need specific plans, not platitudes and we must do so without robbing Peter to pay Paul and without bequeathing enormous debt to the next generations.

I heard no specific programs. Did you?

Now, President Clinton strongly praised Obama as “ready to lead” right after he spent ten months condemning him as unfit to lead. This Big Dog doesn’t need to learn any new tricks. But are we to believe him? Was he lying before or is he lying now? Or, do we still exempt Bill from telling the whole truth so help you God? Charles Krauthammer, commenting afterwards said: “(Bill) can fake sincerity like no one else ever has.”

I can’t– and thus I’m not a politician. But America, at least the Democrats, are ready to vote for a new kind of American Idol, a new shining Camelot, in the hope that this will save us economically and restore our failed reputation in Paris, Mecca, and Teheran.

Alas, this cannot be done, not quickly and not on the cheap, not without winning major military victories and not without enormous sacrifices.

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17 Comments

1. Judy, NYC:

phyllis chesler, i am a life long democratic voter from a family of FDR democrats (you know the type). barry, does have a plan. mansour, barry’s long time supporter, funds the isna. invited to speak at the convention is its president, islamic fascist, ingrid mattson, whose website calls for the murder of jews. isna has ties to the fanatical muslim brotherhood. the democrats were asked to disinvite her. she’s still around. the AP release was picked up by a canadian newspaper that has more concern about america’s future than this democratic party. i will vote mccain. and, without a backward glance.

Aug 28, 2008 - 7:49 am 2. SAL:

good to hear how many people who, after hearing all the Obama bunch stuff, nothing about him is good about what we will get if he manages to be the next President– thank God we can & will have a man we can rely on & trust– Senator McCain– I am looking forward to November with out new Republican President.

Aug 28, 2008 - 9:09 am 3. Marcia:

And with all that has been said, I can only vote for who is the best person to lead this country. I’m writing in Hillary.

Aug 28, 2008 - 9:22 am 4. Lorelei:

I don’t think last night was the forum for shouting about Islamist
fundamentalism. Voters (outside of our metropolitan area) DO
need to see who Joe Biden is as a father, family man and not just
a dandy. Similarly, if there is a demonization of Obama because
he is an unknown, let his family stand up there and allay anxiety.
I’m a Hillary supporter and believe she did what she had to. As did
Bill. They’re attempting to unite the party. There will be forums to
speak about fundamentalism, etc. Last night, and the previous nights, were BS, but it couldn’t be otherwise. And I also believe that it is important for republicans to see democrats as family people, flag wavers (not me) and not just a fringe extreme.

Aug 28, 2008 - 9:33 am 5. Fern Sidman:

Several quibbles concerning Democratic VP candidate Sen Joe Biden. While he did indeed briefly acknowledge the threat of Islamic fanaticism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he also stridently declared that Barack Obama is right in seeking to open the lines of communication with Iran, saying that even the Bush administration has realized that recognizing and negotiating with a terrorist regime such as Iran must become a viable option.

If that be the case, and the US and Iran engage in political summits to stave off a potential nuclear attack, then how much longer will it be before the US, under the leadership of Barack Obama agree to sit down and acknowledge and negotiate with the Iranian terrorist proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah? How long will it take before the US decides to remove these organizations from the State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations? How long after that will it take for the US to declare that the existence of Israel is an obstacle to peace in the Middle East? How long after that will it be before the US assumes a bellicose posture towards Israel, declaring it a nemesis to the world order?

Say what you like about Pres. George W. Bush, however he made a clear distinction between good and evil, between right and wrong and he called a spade, a spade and a terrorist, a terrorist. Once we acknowledge terrorists as equal political partners, then tragically we have lost our moral compass and even the most righteous of people can morph in to barbarians.

Aug 28, 2008 - 9:44 am 6. david levavi:

My take on the future is that of John McCain early in the campaign. An armed American presence in and around the Persian Gulf will continue for some years to come.

I was drawn to McCain before he announced. He was more genuine than alternative offerings from either party. With a reputation for being stubborn and a bit of a crank which I identify with.

As a Jew, I’m reassured by McCain’s relationship with Lieberman who is the only respectable Jewish politician of national stature we have. McCain’s reverence for Theodore Roosevelt also resonates. TR was wildly popular among Jews of his day.

We live in perilous times and the danger isn’t from global warming, corporate greed or lobbyists. Our faith our way of life our freedom is being openly threatened by Islamists.

Foreign policy and economics are at the center of this campaign. McCain needs to bring Romney aboard and keep the debate focused on these two issues.

Aug 28, 2008 - 10:14 am 7. George Jochnowitz:

The way to deal with the enormous debt we are facing is more taxes. No candidate will ever say this. The last one to do so was Mondale.

Would Clinton have done more to stop the spread of Islamism in its early days had there not been an impeachment process going one? The are no could-haves in history. We can’t know. But impeaching a President for lying about his sex life (yes, I grant it was perjury) is disloyal. Eleanor Roosevelt publicly lived in New York City during her husband’s entire term of office. Go look at the plaques at 20 East 11th Street and 29 Washington Square West. It was the impeachment process, among other things, that got politicians into the habit of talking about how wonderful their families are.

Aug 28, 2008 - 10:16 am 8. Virginia/Greenconsciousness:

This is what I wrote on my blog:
Poor Bill
Well Bill Clinton is speaking.

He just could not walk the line unlike Hillary. He is reminding me of that other speech so much like this one.

“I – did – NOT – have – sex – with that woman.”

What a bore and a hypocrite.

Thanks for NAFTA Bill – now go back to being irrelevant.

The country has a choice between 2 evils – McCain is against reproductive Choice which is THE fundamental means of access to women’s liberation. If a woman cannot control her own reproduction in a country where one in four children are raped IN THE HOME to say nothing about what it is like when they grow up, then women cannot be free to actualize.

McCain voted against equal pay for equal work.

McCain will build nuclear power plants instead of alternative energy. With no place yet to put the toxic waste.

Obama is a corporate tool, wall street his money source.

Both parties have corrupted the process so the votes of citizens do not count. Also to that end both parties are flooding the country with immigrants whose understanding of civil rights will degrade what unions and women have won.

Obama has no history of Civil Rights work although he and his wife benefited by AA, they destroyed women who won it and those who supported AA legislation through sexist tactics and race and age baiting. BO is supporting Kenyan politicians working to install Sharia courts. The BO’s concern for people in poverty shows in what they have done for his Kenyan relatives and the examples they use when they talk about how hard their own lives have been.

So I have no party and no people. Soon my country will be unrecognizable.

Neither vote for either candidate will save my country which has been sold to commercial interest by the co-optation of the non-profit people’s organizations by corporate wealth which decided not to fight but to buy the boards and staff.

All this happened because people believe what feels good not what is in front of their eyes. So I will vote for the best person – Hillary Clinton. It no longer matters how the vote is counted.

I am writing in Hillary as we have two corrupt parties in the US, both sexist, neither of which will produce anything for working people , both of which will produce only for corporate wealth and Wall ST., both of which are now into vote manipulation through computer balloting which does not allow write-ins.

http://www.writehillaryin.com/

Aug 28, 2008 - 10:30 am 9. Virginia/Greenconsciousness:

Judy thanks for reminding me about Dr Ingrid and the ISNA invited to speak at the DC as a “religious tolerance” organization. — All BO’s crap about I am not a Muslim is just to cover how strong his ties are with radical Islam in Chicago, in Kenya and with the Palestinians through Hamas and Hezbollah.

Still what difference does it make if BO cuts your throat or McCain shoves you into a Burqa?

Aug 28, 2008 - 10:37 am 10. Lorelei:

Am much in agreement with Fern. I am thus uncommitted to Obama
at this point (although I’ve been a lifelong Democrat). The assumption of being able to reason with the unreasonable is absurd.
Worth a try, to be sure, before sending youngsters to war.
As a humanist and Zionist, I need to know that our next president has Israel’s
interest at heart.

Aug 28, 2008 - 10:38 am 11. Ester:

I became a citizen in 2007 and was so happy to vote for Hillary. I’ve always followed the political scene very closely, and was terribly disappointed when she lost. I think she would make an awesome president. Nevertheless, rather than vote for McCaine, I’ll be putting her name on the page. It’s a privilege to be able to vote.

Aug 28, 2008 - 10:45 am 12. When conventions were fun… | The Anchoress:

[...] of their own creation, and partly because I find so much of it tedious and time-wasting Why invest hours in a PR event, when you can get the highlights from blogs and youtube? I don’t feel an overwhelming need to [...]

Aug 28, 2008 - 11:26 am 13. Z Budapest:

Darling friend and sister!
Democrats do deserve a time of coalecing without spelling out the details of their plans. This night was NOT for specific issues. Only feelings. You call that soap opera i call it a relief from bickering.
I was hurt when Hillary was not chosen to be the vice president.
But reality is what it is, and she still made herslef a pioneer amongs women. Her speach was flawless. She looked terrific. Bill was very much enjoyed, the people still love him. He did good. Both are forgiven. Chelsie looked great as well, turned out to be quite a looker.
I will vote for Obama/Biden. I wished i could vote for Hillary but i need this country to go democratic. Sometimes as Hillary have done, you have to step aside and stop wishing for perfaction.
Vote in a democratic candidate.
Nobody gets to be president without the support of big money. Come on.

Aug 28, 2008 - 11:31 am 14. David M:

The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 08/28/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.

Aug 28, 2008 - 12:53 pm 15. John Peter Maher:

The show was a completely scripted soap opera. Turn off the Teleprompter. All the “speakers” would be stutterers without it. Oh, for the days when the convention outcome was not “pre-announced” days, week, months earlier! Once upon a time we didn’t know who the party nominees wuld be until the end of the show. Biden is in bed with the Albanian Muslim heroin/prostitution mafia [so is McCain] and with Nazi Croatia, an ethniccally “pure” fascist Catholic state.

Aug 28, 2008 - 1:39 pm 16. Phyl:

I share Phyllis Chesler’s concern with Islamic fundamentalism. I was in lower Manhattan on 9/11. My first requirement of a president is that he protect the United States. I was struck by one thing Obama said in an interview—did McCain really think he, Obama, was less concerned to protect his wife and daughters than McCain was? I think Obama was and is sincere. I believe he will follow through with a reasonable timetable for exiting from Iraq—which even Bush thinks is necessary now—and will turn our energies to winning in Afghanistan. He will protect the United States and will maintain our commitment to IsraeI as he pledged. I believe he will also protect a woman’s right to choose, as McCain definitely will not, and will at least try to help people who are struggling rather than comforting the comfortable as McCain would. He realizes that the United States should not be one of the few developed country’s where an illness can be a financial catastrophe. He will at least try to bring about universal health care coverage.

Dr. Chesler, the personal stuff and trotting out the family stories may be silly, but this is how politics is conducted in this country, by left and right. Terrorism has receded from the public consciousness and Obama and Biden have to address the main immediate concerns of the people. I was glad that Biden at least brought up terrorism.

I’m sort of disappointed that you, a person who has fought for equality, don’t feel any of the real joy of this moment. I ask myself, how can you NOT feel it? The struggle against terrorism is hugely important but it is not the only struggle that matters.

Because I worship the United States I am so glad that we have reached this landmark that so many good people died for. Forty-five years after King’s “I have a dream” speech, a big part of that dream has been realized. A major American political party is nominating an African American for president of the United States.

Aug 28, 2008 - 3:00 pm 17. BBloom:

I am so disgusted with the DNC that I have stopped watching. I don’t know what I will do. My daughter has said I have no choice, I should think about the Supreme Court. I have a choice, though. I don’t believe that I can support such blatant liars. McCain is not Bush. Obama is much more of a Carter then a Kennedy.

Aug 28, 2008 - 4:19 pm