Convention take-aways
I feel it's my duty as a citizen to watch the Republican Convention, even though I don't expect anything they say to change my vote. I had trouble listening to the first night. Here are my take-aways from the second:
Overall, the speakers said many things I agree with, and made many strong arguments. Though they might find it surprising that I thought most of their arguments worked to support a vote for Kerry, rather than for Bush. At other times, I really began to wonder whether Republicans actually listen to the words coming out of their own mouths.
Senator Dole:
"You have restored honor and dignity to the White House."
He has? I think he's lying and deceitful, not honorable. And his "Mr. Casual, jus' folks" demeanor is just NOT dignified. Sorry.
"Your burden has not been light. Yet you have displayed the peace that surpasses all understanding."
Surpasses all understanding? What? He's not Jesus Christ, lady. And frankly, I don't think "peace" is the word for a self-declared "War President."
Or maybe he is supposed to be J.C. The rest of the speech was certainly coded for the Christian right. Though it's clear that they are afraid to say it in plain language, the clear content of the speech was "We are Anti-Choice, Anti-Gay, but Any Religion (as long as it's Christian and in the schools and courthouses). Republicans are the Sacred Party of God." (Funny co-incidence: in Arabic, "Party of God" translates into "Hizballah".)
Senator Brownback:
"From the man held in a foreign prison for practicing his faith to the Sudanese refugee attacked for the color of her skin, this nation and this president will fight for you."
Considering our government's tame response to the Darfur tragedy, this really insults my intelligence.
Secretary Rod Paige
"Only one candidate has created an education system worthy of a great nation: President George W. Bush."
Wow! I must have missed that news. We already fixed the enormous problems with our education system? And W. was single-handedly responsible? Awesome. So we didn't actually need to fully fund "No Child Left Behind" after all? Golly, it almost makes you forget that the Republican Party used to stand for dismantling the Department of Education.
Lt. Governor Steele:
"Now, at the Democratic convention, we heard one word over and over again: hope. But there's a problem, my friends. Hope is not a strategy."
Which is why they never said it was their strategy. Why do the Republicans need to misquote Democrats in order to make straw men to knock down? Don't they have any real arguments to make? By the way "Determination" is not a strategy, either.
"Senator Kerry's leadership is illustrated best by the Senator himself when he said, "I actually voted for the 87 billion dollars before I voted against it."
Will they never get tired of this distortion? It's getting to be my favorite reason to vote FOR Kerry.
"He also recently said that he doesn't want to use the word "war" to describe our efforts to fight terrorism."
Oh, you mean, like President Bush has been explaining that what he meant when he said he didn't think we could win this war was that it wasn't a war in the conventional sense?
"And today, more Americans own homes than ever before and for the first time ever, more than half of all minority families in America are home owners."
Um, isn't this just the result of historical accumulation and population growth, along with phenomenally low interest rates intended to keep our failing economy alive? Just how does W. deserve credit for this?
Senator Frist
The Bush Health Care Vision? It is to laugh. As a cancer patient, I really got P.O.'d by Frist's speech.
"this Medicare prescription drug discount card is providing 4 million seniors with immediate relief from the high cost of their medicines."
I noticed he got tepid applause on this. Guess those delegates aren't all excited about their candidate flogging a huge increase to a bureaucratic government program, especially when he lied about what it would cost. (Don't worry, folks, the program is so confusing and also temporary that seniors are avoiding it.)
Health Savings Accounts and tax credits for buying insurance. OK, but that's nowhere near enough to deal with the problems we're facing.
Let me point out that our opponents talked about doing this for eight years. While seniors suffered, they talked and talked and talked. George Bush and the Republican Congress delivered. We acted. Not just talk, action.
Let me point out that it took the opportunity for a Republican to take credit for the Republican Congress, led in part by this very speaker, to do something. And it was such a half-assed program, despite the huge giveaway to the drug companies, that even the Republican administration had to lie about the costs for it to pass.
Let's be clear: You can no longer be both pro-patient and pro-trial lawyer. John Kerry has made his choice. He put a trial lawyer on his ticket.
Folks, let's just get clear about this. Trial lawyers and rising payouts for malpractice aren't the cause of insane insurance premium boosts. Go. Read. Over the last 30 years, medical malpractice payouts, including jury awards, have tracked medical inflation while premiums have gyrated up and down in sync with the economy, interest rates and investment income. It's the INSURANCE COMPANIES that are the problem. It isn't the trial lawyers, it's all about the profits and policies of the insurance companies. All those heart-wrenching stories about those poor Florida doctors leaving the profession AREN'T the lawyers fault. Sorry, Bill. No sale.
Bush is NOT the candidate for anyone who is worried about our crumbling health-care system.
Governor Schwarzenegger:
Great speech! 90 percent of it applies for Democrats! America really is great! What a country! OK, it was a little odd hearing people applaud after the mention of Richard M. "I am not a crook" Nixon. Heartwarming, but also odd, how Arnold chose his political affiliation based on a speech he couldn't even understand. Still, what a country!
"We are the America that sends out the Peace Corps volunteers to teach our village children."
Wait, wasn't that a Democratic initiative? Isn't this the Administration that sends out bombers and troops? I'm confused now.
Plus, I admit it's a cheap shot, but it was a little weird to see a crowd rhythmically chanting in front of a man with an Austrian accent.
All those great things about America have very little to do with this Administration, and I think they are undermining quite a few of them.
The Bush Daughters:
The LA Times got it right when it said they "carry themselves with an implied raunch." An embarrassing comparison with the Kerry daughters. Odd that they should choose to make us recall their father's dissembling response about his own drug use. Lame jokes, and inappropriate giggles. And, to sum it up, their hamster died. (So, girls, you mean that not only didn't your father save someone's life in Viet Nam, he couldn't even save a damn hamster?)
First Lady Laura Bush
What was that weird background? It helps confirm my theory that some people vote Republican just because they like red more than blue.
"His friends don't change and neither do his values."
That's what I'm afraid of.
Overall, the speakers said many things I agree with, and made many strong arguments. Though they might find it surprising that I thought most of their arguments worked to support a vote for Kerry, rather than for Bush. At other times, I really began to wonder whether Republicans actually listen to the words coming out of their own mouths.
Senator Dole:
"You have restored honor and dignity to the White House."
He has? I think he's lying and deceitful, not honorable. And his "Mr. Casual, jus' folks" demeanor is just NOT dignified. Sorry.
"Your burden has not been light. Yet you have displayed the peace that surpasses all understanding."
Surpasses all understanding? What? He's not Jesus Christ, lady. And frankly, I don't think "peace" is the word for a self-declared "War President."
Or maybe he is supposed to be J.C. The rest of the speech was certainly coded for the Christian right. Though it's clear that they are afraid to say it in plain language, the clear content of the speech was "We are Anti-Choice, Anti-Gay, but Any Religion (as long as it's Christian and in the schools and courthouses). Republicans are the Sacred Party of God." (Funny co-incidence: in Arabic, "Party of God" translates into "Hizballah".)
Senator Brownback:
"From the man held in a foreign prison for practicing his faith to the Sudanese refugee attacked for the color of her skin, this nation and this president will fight for you."
Considering our government's tame response to the Darfur tragedy, this really insults my intelligence.
Secretary Rod Paige
"Only one candidate has created an education system worthy of a great nation: President George W. Bush."
Wow! I must have missed that news. We already fixed the enormous problems with our education system? And W. was single-handedly responsible? Awesome. So we didn't actually need to fully fund "No Child Left Behind" after all? Golly, it almost makes you forget that the Republican Party used to stand for dismantling the Department of Education.
Lt. Governor Steele:
"Now, at the Democratic convention, we heard one word over and over again: hope. But there's a problem, my friends. Hope is not a strategy."
Which is why they never said it was their strategy. Why do the Republicans need to misquote Democrats in order to make straw men to knock down? Don't they have any real arguments to make? By the way "Determination" is not a strategy, either.
"Senator Kerry's leadership is illustrated best by the Senator himself when he said, "I actually voted for the 87 billion dollars before I voted against it."
Will they never get tired of this distortion? It's getting to be my favorite reason to vote FOR Kerry.
"He also recently said that he doesn't want to use the word "war" to describe our efforts to fight terrorism."
Oh, you mean, like President Bush has been explaining that what he meant when he said he didn't think we could win this war was that it wasn't a war in the conventional sense?
"And today, more Americans own homes than ever before and for the first time ever, more than half of all minority families in America are home owners."
Um, isn't this just the result of historical accumulation and population growth, along with phenomenally low interest rates intended to keep our failing economy alive? Just how does W. deserve credit for this?
Senator Frist
The Bush Health Care Vision? It is to laugh. As a cancer patient, I really got P.O.'d by Frist's speech.
"this Medicare prescription drug discount card is providing 4 million seniors with immediate relief from the high cost of their medicines."
I noticed he got tepid applause on this. Guess those delegates aren't all excited about their candidate flogging a huge increase to a bureaucratic government program, especially when he lied about what it would cost. (Don't worry, folks, the program is so confusing and also temporary that seniors are avoiding it.)
Health Savings Accounts and tax credits for buying insurance. OK, but that's nowhere near enough to deal with the problems we're facing.
Let me point out that our opponents talked about doing this for eight years. While seniors suffered, they talked and talked and talked. George Bush and the Republican Congress delivered. We acted. Not just talk, action.
Let me point out that it took the opportunity for a Republican to take credit for the Republican Congress, led in part by this very speaker, to do something. And it was such a half-assed program, despite the huge giveaway to the drug companies, that even the Republican administration had to lie about the costs for it to pass.
Let's be clear: You can no longer be both pro-patient and pro-trial lawyer. John Kerry has made his choice. He put a trial lawyer on his ticket.
Folks, let's just get clear about this. Trial lawyers and rising payouts for malpractice aren't the cause of insane insurance premium boosts. Go. Read. Over the last 30 years, medical malpractice payouts, including jury awards, have tracked medical inflation while premiums have gyrated up and down in sync with the economy, interest rates and investment income. It's the INSURANCE COMPANIES that are the problem. It isn't the trial lawyers, it's all about the profits and policies of the insurance companies. All those heart-wrenching stories about those poor Florida doctors leaving the profession AREN'T the lawyers fault. Sorry, Bill. No sale.
Bush is NOT the candidate for anyone who is worried about our crumbling health-care system.
Governor Schwarzenegger:
Great speech! 90 percent of it applies for Democrats! America really is great! What a country! OK, it was a little odd hearing people applaud after the mention of Richard M. "I am not a crook" Nixon. Heartwarming, but also odd, how Arnold chose his political affiliation based on a speech he couldn't even understand. Still, what a country!
"We are the America that sends out the Peace Corps volunteers to teach our village children."
Wait, wasn't that a Democratic initiative? Isn't this the Administration that sends out bombers and troops? I'm confused now.
Plus, I admit it's a cheap shot, but it was a little weird to see a crowd rhythmically chanting in front of a man with an Austrian accent.
All those great things about America have very little to do with this Administration, and I think they are undermining quite a few of them.
The Bush Daughters:
The LA Times got it right when it said they "carry themselves with an implied raunch." An embarrassing comparison with the Kerry daughters. Odd that they should choose to make us recall their father's dissembling response about his own drug use. Lame jokes, and inappropriate giggles. And, to sum it up, their hamster died. (So, girls, you mean that not only didn't your father save someone's life in Viet Nam, he couldn't even save a damn hamster?)
First Lady Laura Bush
What was that weird background? It helps confirm my theory that some people vote Republican just because they like red more than blue.
"His friends don't change and neither do his values."
That's what I'm afraid of.
posted by Paul at 1:31 PM |
|
email this
