This convention is so boring I’d rather go to the dentist. (Okay, Dan didn’t actually say that, but he came close). This “centrist” Democratic Party makes you miss Howard Dean. At least he had convictions of some sort - it was never quite clear what.
Barak Obama, supposed to be the Dems great hope, seemed like another Clinton clone to me, zig-zagging his way through a litany of clichés, though I suppose with more style than most. But when he mouthed that canard about keeping federal agents out of our libraries, my eyes rolled back into my head and did a flip-flop. Has any known person actually seen this happen? Do we know of any cases of this? It kind of reminds me of Western movies, which by now, laid end to end, would reach somewhere north of Alpha Centauri when the actual Wild West lasted about ten years with scarcely more than a week or two of gunfights all added up. Quel horreur! I know. We’re supposedly on a slippery-slope to a police state. But get serious. Have any of these people actually lived in a real police state?
But that doesn’t stop anyone from opining at the Great American Convention — epicenter of the factually-meaningless. Is there any reason we should be watching this? Is there any reason I should be? Can anyone tell me a single thing of significance they have learned? Can you imgine how much more productive it would be if we all spent the time studying Mandarin?
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26 Comments
1. dougf:Is there any reason we should be watching this? Is there any reason I should be? Can anyone tell me a single thing of significance they have learned? — Roger.
Roger I would like to say that I share your pain but I have not watched moment one.I would as soon watch paint dry.At least I would not become angry at the paint.
At the risk of engaging in psychobabble, perhaps you feel a need to punish yourself for all the years spent in the wasteland of modern liberal ‘thought’.
Rent some good DVD’s and spare yourself the pain.
Jul 27, 2004 - 7:48 pm 2. Charlie (Colorado):Nah, it’s too distracting — I’ve been trying to read Mandarin all evening.
Jul 27, 2004 - 8:00 pm 3. richard mcenroe:Roger, as I said before, you are watching as they Shape the Lie. The truth, you can tell by what they pare away…
The party of women lines up their lady senators and even gets their bull lady senator to give a hug and peck to her cheating, lying husband on camera… but the minute their prospective first lady even looks as though she might say something unscripted and spontaneous, they pull her airtime.
Then they respect their women by honoring their patriarch whose most notable political achievement was drowning one of those women in an act of drunken philandering, on the anniversary of that woman’s death. Her name was Mary Jo Kopechne, if any Democrat at the convention remembers. I doubt Teddy does.
The putative first lady says, (or would have said, for the TV audience), “That is why, as President, my husband will not fear disagreement or dissent…” but right now they’ve built a cage for their dissenters miles from the convention in the middle of a construction site. They’ve even roofed it over,
Their every act betrays their hollowness and hypocrisy. Even as they say they will fight the war on terror “better,” one of their bagmen has been caught altering the historical record. What will they do “better” in the future? Improve the filing?
All they can do is deny, and pose.
When the time comes for the RNC, assuming we are allowed to see except the screaming, snarling, posing mob in the street outside by the networks, the messages will be simple.
“My fellow Americans, in your name we have freed 50 million people from brutal religious tyrannies…
In your name we have shattered a worldwide network of trafficking in the works of weapons of mass destruction, in Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Syria…
Where many of the world’s governments have eagerly trafficked with tyrants, we have stood up for their victims…
We have provided billions of dollars to combat the scourge of AIDS in Africa, because we have learned from bitter experience that the problems of the world will not pass us by if we simply ignore them…
We have done this…
We have done this…
We have done this…
Jul 27, 2004 - 8:14 pm 4. Homer:Well, I hate to admit this, but I fell asleep during Teds speech. Guess I didn’t miss much.
Jul 27, 2004 - 8:15 pm 5. Rick Ballard:C’mon, Roger, this is theater(at least in prime time) live thread it from 4-9 PDT and let us tack a whack. You blogged Ringling Brothers, there really is a certain amount of entertainment in blogging this circus, too.
If Obama was given free rein I think he could have given a decent oration. Both he and Dean just choked up bad after they turned to Not a Clue. Hell, even his own wife choked up on reflection about him. Kennedy didn’t throw up on stage and Ron is no more of an ass today than he was yesterday.
What I found really interesting was Obama’s and Dean’s true lack of fire in describing what Not a Clue’s America might look like. There will be a slightest of bounces from this (my bet is 4% or less), it’ll be gone by Aug. 10.
Kennedy seemed almost sober (no more than a pint, I’d guess). Coherent if you’re used to listening to drunks.
Jul 27, 2004 - 8:15 pm 6. Roger:Sorry, Rick, as theater I would give this a 4 at beat (and that’s being generous). Not that I expect the Republicans to do better, but let’s see. If they were smart, they’d be bringing liberated people from Iraq and Afghanistan right now.
Jul 27, 2004 - 8:36 pm 7. Eric Deamer:I don’t find it that interesting either, but most political blogging that goes on is about something that some political figure or journalist said in an interview or a speech or something. So, here we have all of the major Democrats giving speeches and having a week to define what the party stands for. That’s gotta be at least as important or newsworthy as whatever someone said on Meet the Press this Sunday. Interesting might be a different matter.
Jul 27, 2004 - 8:39 pm 8. mrp:What a strange, sad convention.
The Democrats are defensive, reactionary and utterly incapable of presenting coherent Kerry policy initiatives. It doesn’t help that John Kerry hasn’t provided any.
The convention’s program so far has been a study of error-reduction as opposed to a process that creates a building momentum for Kerry’s campaign during the next 98 days (thanks, GoofA!). The best they can do is whine that they’re also patriots? That they want to once again make America a ‘moral nation’? That John Kerry once served in Vietnam?
And announcing that the war in Iraq is a war for oil is Dem campaign plus? Michael Moore’s constant presence simply reinforces the perception that inchoate rage has replaced Clintonist pragmatism.
Evan Thomas of Newsweek stated recently that media support for Kerry is worth 15 points. I agree. Without the NYT, LA Times, and other media outlets, today George W. Bush would be polling 10 points higher than Kerry.
Jul 27, 2004 - 8:48 pm 9. Rick Ballard:OK, Roger, 4 may be what the reality is worth but as theater of the absurd it might do a bit better. I just noticed a bit of nuanced stiletto work by Dean and Barak. The words of their speeches will read much better than the contrast with hearing them. These were death knells and I found them interesting in that regard.
Back to prosecution of the WoT by serious minded folk.
Jul 27, 2004 - 9:04 pm 10. MeTooThen:Richard,
Wow.
Really.
I hope someone at the RNC was listening.
And yes, it is not only galling but alarming as to the goings on at the Bizarro Theater of the Absurd that has been on display in Boston.
James Earl Carter lecturing the current administration on the economy and national security? Radical Islam took shape and was realized on his watch vis-a-vis the revolution in Iran. And what of Arafat? The collapse of Oslo? The Intifadas? Nuclear proliferation in North Korea? Was anyone else aware of the years 1992-2000? Must I go on? And what of the “stagflation”, double digit inflation and little economic growth?
And no, there have been no efforts by this president with regard to human rights, as these rights do not apply if you’re Israeli, Sudanese, Afghani, or Iraqi.
William Jefferson Clinton giving truth to power?
Unilateral? Ever hear of Poland, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, South Korean, Spain, Portugal…?
Howard Dean still asking about the true causes of 9-11?
And when, if ever, will we here anything about the policies of John Forbes Kerry?
The clincher for me was seeing Michael Moore sitting next to the Carters. Michael Moore, a man so beneath contempt that Scott Simon ripped him a new one in the WSJ and compared him to McCarthy.
No, no one remembers Mary Jo, and they don’t care. The senior senator from Massachusets worries about getting John Forbes Kerry into a new house, I guess the other 5 weren’t enough.
I despair.
Jul 27, 2004 - 9:36 pm 11. Swopa:Is there any reason we should be watching this? Is there any reason I should be?
Apparently, the reason you’re watching is so you can whine about how boring it is.
Personally, I haven’t watched a minute. Maybe I’ll catch Kerry’s speech Thursday, if I remember to get home in time.
Jul 27, 2004 - 10:02 pm 12. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):charlie (Colorado) I set up our previous discussion for continuation on my blog, third article at the moment.
Otherwise…
It is amazing to watch the Democrats set up a position one nanometer from Bush’s on the war on terror, after months of blasting his prosecution of that war in every possible way. Is this flip-flop going to be noticed by the public? You can be sure the MSM won’t go out of their way to highlight it.
It’s also interesting to see them treat Michael Moore as somebody important. You are known by your friends, and and friend of Michael is either an idiot or a slimeball.
The Jimmy Carter speech was eerie. It was surreal. It was insane. As others have pointed out, Jimmy has done little good and huge amounts of harm. He arranged a truce between Israel and Egypt, which I guess was a good thing. But he also gave the Shah a heave-ho, leaving us with its successor - Islamofascism.
Having Slick Willie on the platform demonstrated the Democratic Party’s concern about women - they should be on their knees.
The sad thing is they appear to have gagged or drugged or hidden Mrs. Kerry. She, at least, would have provided activities more interesting than peeling paint.
Jul 27, 2004 - 10:08 pm 13. Fresh Air:Swopa–
Apparently, the reason you’re watching is so you can whine about how boring it is.
Nice drive-by comment. Apparently, the only reason you left your comment is because you couldn’t refute the fact that the convention is boring, insofar as you haven’t seen any of it.
Your spurious comment is an example of a logical fallacy known as a circumstantial ad hominem attack, (though if anyone ever uses one on you it would be called a circumstantial ad trollem).
Logic is a beautiful thing. You should read about it sometime, perhaps take a mail-order course.
Jul 27, 2004 - 10:55 pm 14. richard mcenroe:Roger, the reason no one has heard about these library raids is because Ashcroft’s black helicopter crews abduct everyone in the library who might be a witness and spirit them off to Gitmo and Abu Ghraib. That’s why we’ve had that rash of reports of people walking into libraries and finding the place empty except for a scatter of open books and personal possessions. Well, we would have had those reports if Ashcroft hadn’t had those witnesses abducted too… okay, and we would have heard about that if they weren’t abducting everyone who tried to w
Jul 27, 2004 - 10:59 pm 15. Fresh Air:Richard—
Thirty degrees OT. See today’s Powerline article about Abu Ghraib. There weren’t 94 cases of abuse as was widely reported. There were 94 accusations investigated.
Bring on Emily Litella for another encore…
Jul 27, 2004 - 11:14 pm 16. fadoop:I usually agree with you, Roger, but you’re wrong about Obama. He delivered a powerful speech, and Republicans will have to deal with him in the future.
Also, let’s be honest. Do you think the Republican Convention is going to be any more exciting? Aside from Arnold, the cast of characters they’ll trot out will likely bore anyone to death.
Jul 28, 2004 - 1:42 am 17. Erik:About Obama:
He said that we have a duty to stand up for the soldiers that we send, and that John Kerry understands this.
My immediate reaction was “so why did he vote against the $87 billion (for bullet proof wests, etc) after he voted for it?”.
Also, maybe it’s me being oversensitive for “unsaid arguments” (they are used a lot here):
After he described where he came from, he talked about how everyone should have the opportunity to get an education no matter where they come from. The unsaid argument seemed to be that he would not have been where he is if that was not so, and that only with democrats in charge will this be possible.
Obama graduated from Columbia U in 1983, and from Harvard in 1991…
Maybe it’s because I live where I do that I reacted to it, but that type of unsaid argument is very common among the left here.
Jul 28, 2004 - 2:56 am 18. tioedong:Thank God for “Animal Planet”.
(and I”m a Democrat)
Jul 28, 2004 - 4:41 am 19. asher813@aol.com:“Western movies, which by now, laid end to end, would reach somewhere north of Alpha Centauri”
Roger L. Simon, mystery/Western/sci-fi writer … I love it …
Jul 28, 2004 - 5:51 am 20. DennisThePeasant:I did actually try to watch some of the convention last night, but it became clear that the convention has devolved into the type of faux-’60s/Viet Nam Boomerfest that makes me physically ill. What can you say about morons who think the “good old days” were in 1972? Yuck!
But, in the spirit of the moment I was moved to revisit just about the only part of the ’60s that still resonates with me and watched a couple of hours of original Jonny Quest episodes I have on tape. Got to see both The Invisible Monster and The Curse of Annubis, personal favorites of mine, without even having to search the tape.
Why bother with The Elephant Man, Brak and Ketchup Girl when you can have Jonny, Haji and Bandit?
Jul 28, 2004 - 6:09 am 21. Knucklehead:I haven’t been able to force myself to watch more than a few minutes at a time. And it doeesn’t matter which bit one looks at or when. No matter who the speaker or what the topic, or how well constructed and well delivered the presentation there is only pissing and moaning - never an idea for trying anything different to deal with any problem.
It turns my stomach to watch a full-scale and completely open and approved demonstration of the worship of form over substance. It I were an insider looking at the Democratic Party I would be feeling ever more depressed while watching an organization I once cared about entering the final stage - the Beyond Recovery stage - of “Gaining Speed and Losing Altitude”.
Jul 28, 2004 - 6:38 am 22. Charlie (Colorado):John, re the porevious chain, I’ll get to it eventually; I just got a new pile of stuff on my Navy research, it pays rather better than talking about philosophical approches to abortion.
Jul 28, 2004 - 7:42 am 23. MeTooThen:DtP
I secretly wished I could be Haji’s friend.
He was so cool!
Sigh.
Jul 28, 2004 - 7:56 am 24. Dave Schuler:Unlike Roger I thought Obama’s speech was pretty strong. No doubt I’ll vote for him in the fall.
The Democrats need to be very careful about Obama, however. Does he believe he’s the beneficiary of affirmative action or not? If not, it puts the lie to claims that everything in America is about race. If so, do the children of Kenyans and white Kansans reared in Hawaii by white grandparents need affirmative action? More than the children of Mississippi sharecroppers—because that’s who he edged out.
I had a Hawaiian roommate in college and lots of Hawaiian friends. Not one had ever seen an African American before coming to the mainland to go to school. So Obama grew up almost completely isolated from African American society.
Don’t get me wrong—I like Obama and believe he’ll make a good senator for Illinois (certainly better than Carole Mosely Braun). But Obama’s achievements are his own and his success calls the conventional orthodoxies about racial politics in this country into question.
Jul 28, 2004 - 8:28 am 25. Fresh Air:Dave–
I would be careful about Obama. He may be a brilliant orator, but he said some black-helicopter stuff about “federal agents” in libraries and “families” being taken away and imprisoned without due process. Being ambivalent about affirmative action is one thing, but employing Michael Moore/Nancy Pelosi hackery is quite another.
Jul 28, 2004 - 9:35 am 26. David R. Block:The only thing mildly entertaining is hearing one of the local talk show hosts do voice over commentary as the speeches are given. I’ve also heard Michael Savage do the same thing. I don’t always agree with these guys, but boy oh boy there were some side-splitters!
Jul 28, 2004 - 9:49 pm