No Speech! No Speech!

I didn't watch Sara Palin's speech last night. In fact, I haven't watched more than five minutes of the whole Republican convention, and I certainly am not going to waste time on McCain's speech tonight. Yes, I must hate all Republicans.

Then again, I watched even less of the Democratic Convention last week, so I must hate them too. Or perhaps it's this: I don't like to watch politicians making speeches.

This aversion developed in the mid-nineties when I watched one of Clinton's State of the Union addresses. I couldn't get through it without thinking, "you're not addressing the question! You're glossing over the subject!" And I liked Clinton. Once Bush took office, of course it was even worse: all the evasion and trickery, accompanied by a lack of ability to actually speak in public.

A character in Lawrence of Arabia tells Omar Sharif: "You answered without saying anything. That's politics." That's also convention speeches, only without the question first.

So given that you won't get any actual information from these spectacles, you're left with judging politicians by their charisma. Or in other words, you can try to determine whether the rubes will vote for this person because they don't know any better. I'm tired of playing that game. The rubes will vote for who they like. I'm trying to determine who I will vote for. I'd suggest you do the same.

My Greatest Fear Realized

Hey... have I become a concern troll?

Be Careful What You Wish For

Warner Todd Huston is enraged at the liberal media bias again. This time, he notes that Jesse Ventura and D.L. Hughley were on Larry King last night, and they called Republicans "nazis," and there's not a word about it in the liberal media!

My response as follows: When the Press ignores this stuff it means that the accusation "Republicans are Nazis" doesn't get repeated over and over again. If you think your side would benefit from hearing "Republicans are Nazis" repeatedly maybe you could write to CNN and demand that they repeat the clip where Ventura and Hughley insist that Republicans are Nazis. Personally I don't think Republicans are Nazis myself, and I'm sure you don't believe Republicans are Nazis either. If these two think Republicans are Nazis, maybe it's better to not repeat the slur. The slur that Republicans are Nazis.

Later on Huston also cheers McCain for snubbing the press, which I think is a great strategy in the last month before an election. That'll show 'em!

Too Delirious to Keep On Message

Today's spam email from Townhall.com, the morning after the triumphant speech by President-elect Palin:

From:  TownHallmessage@townhallmail.com

Subject:  The shocking truth about blood sugar

Date:  September 4, 2008 7:09:58 AM PDT

It goes on to try to sell me a blood sugar monitoring system. Or book. Or something. You have to click on a link to find out, and my blood sugar is just fine.

But why does Townhall hate Sarah Palin?

Palin By Comparison

Just a few minutes ago I read a post on Where Are My Keys that started "here's the reason why the left is terrified of Sarah Palin...". I gotta tell you, I was a lot more terrified on Saturday than I am now.

As much as I'd like the national discussion to not be about Palin's personal life, that's just not the way the game is played nowadays. So predictably the press is focusing on stuff that has nothing do with her ability to fulfill the role of Vice President, which by the way is cheifly agreeing with the President and showing up at funerals for other country's Vice Presidents. In fact, we've just recently learned that the office isn't even part of the executive branch!

She seems likable enough.

So who's terrifed? John McCain cancelled an interview with Larry King because:

Campbell Brown had been caught in the commission of journalism on CNN the night before, asking McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds what decisions Sarah Palin had made as commander-in-chief of the Alaska national guard.

As Joe Klein points out, there was actually a pretty good answer (she deployed them to fight fires) but the McCain camp are furious that someone would dare ask the question! In fact, with the exception of the bloggers and worse, the people who comment on the blogs, the treatment of Sarah Palin has been pretty weak sauce. Nobody is demonizing Sarah Palin, just asking tough questions. I've yet to see someone suggest Sarah Palin is the anti-christ. She lived closer to Russia than most of us, but I haven't seen anyone insist she must be a communist.

Over at Where Are My Keys there have been eleven posts since Aug 31st defending Sarah Palin. It's growing exponentially as the days go on. I'd say the problem isn't Sarah Palin OR the press. The problem is the Republicans always are ready to bring a machine gun to a knife fight. It's worked for them in the past, but America is tired of listening to machine gun fire. I listen to the commentary now and it sounds like backfiring and ricochets to me.

His Terrible Swift Sword

Last night's Republican National Convention, they say, was classy. It's an extrordinary thing to set aside an entire quarter of your infomercial and devote it to non-partisan efforts. I'm not going to watch this one much either, but the talk in the streets is the RNC got it right. And since Gustav has apparently shed much of its strength and fury, it is safe to return to a more conventional Convention.

I'm just wondering though, for consistancy's sake, about the role of God in all this.

The evangelical community was quite fond of pointing out that Katrina was God's way of punishing New Orleans for its sinful ways. So presumably the storm this time around is God's way of saying, "You're cleaning up there, New Orleans. Good on ya." However, Gustav forced Republicans into giving up all that free TV time - isn't that God's way of saying that they're on notice?

And though some were saying that the party dodged a bullet in that they were able to credibly cancel the President's and Vice President's appearance on Monday. But Bush will speak, via satellite, tonight. So his appearance is separated from Palin's speech and McCain's (he's also running) speech by one less day. Surely, if God uses storms as a way of administering justice and engineering the big picture, this demonstrates that he wants the Republicans to lose, right?

As a matter of fact, there was a movement several weeks ago. A pastor implored people to pray for rain during Obama's stadium speech. And the Democrats were spared rain while Republicans were flooded out of an entire convention night. I don't claim to speak for Mr. Big there, but there's no mistaking which team he's rooting for right now.

Addendum: Here's the class keepin' on goin' - President Bush this morning.

President Bush said Tuesday that while it’s too early to assess Hurricane Gustav’s damage to U.S. oil infrastructure off the Gulf Coast, the storm should prompt Congress to OK more domestic oil production.

“One thing is for certain, when Congress comes back, they’ve got to understand that we need more domestic energy, not less,” Bush said in the Roosevelt Room. “One place to find it is offshore America lands that have been taken off the books, so to speak, by congressional law and now they need to give us a chance to find more oil and gas here at home.”

It takes a guy who doesn't do nuance to use a massive gulf storm to argue that offshore drilling is a great idea.

Corrections and Addenda

Thanks to Madeline's Dad for aid in proving my point!

Attention Chick Voters: Sara Palin

A little more material about Sara Palin. 

My favorite YouTube comment so far:

"This is seriously insulting to American Women and not helping your case."

Chicks! Am I right?

Partisanship Aside

This short piece by Mike Murphy at Swampland is a good jumping off point.

The Sarah Palin balance sheet. Pros; most impressive young conservative Governor is the country. The base will love her, grass-roots side of convention floor will be happy. She has charisma and can give a great speech. Middle class Mom with family. Obama now not only contender who can make a 3 point shot. She has been an impressive Governor, with reform instincts. She can certainly deliver the vital swing state of... Alaska. Former full Colonel in Pat Buchanan brigades.

Cons: McCain's mighty and oft-swung Obama swatting hammer of experience has been instantly changed from steel to rubber. VP examination stakes are a little higher for McCain, will she pass the ready on Day One test with less than two years in a (small) statehouse? Former full Colonel in the Pat Buchanan brigades.

Bottom line: A base choice. Which hints at a base-centered election strategy. Got it Boy, good thing it is 1994. What? It's not? Hmmm.

My own feeling remains this: she's a better choice than I saw coming, but she's a moot point. James Dobson aside, will the far-right overcome their revulsion of McCain (whose name has unfortunate biblical resonances) enough to vote for the ticket? Or more importantly, are they hoping that someone with even less experience than Obama will get the office through misadventure?

Ultimately it's still a choice for Republicans between the man they hate and the man they despise.

Congratulations Sarah Palin

If there are any lefties who read this (it seems to be almost entirely derisive righties) you may find this link helpful. It's ThinkProgress.org postings about the Republican candidate that Republicans don't hate, with headlines such as:

Palin: A Champion for Big Oil

Palin Has Never Been to Iraq (they amend it to note that she's been there once, but that's still once less than Obama)

Palin's War On Polar Bears

Doocy: Palin knows about foreign policy because Alaska is ‘right next door to Russia’

I hear she is popular in Alaska right now because she pushed for higher oil taxes and since the price went up, Alaska is running a budget surplus. So she's in favor of both higher taxes on business and bloating government coffers.

And she is both charming AND inexperienced, unlike the hated Democratic candidate.

Bill Kristol Makes Correct Prediction!

On June 30th he said McCain would pick Sara Palin!

Okay, he actually predicted this: When McCain picks Palin as VP, gas prices will plummet.



So, since I'm out of the business of predicting stuff, I'm going to sit back this weekend and watch the gas prices plummet. What a shame he didn't pick her in July, when the prices were at their peak. WHY DOES JOHN MCCAIN HATE AMERICA?

John McWho?

The following is from an email I received this morning from Townhall.com. It was titled EMPEROR OBAMA HAS SPOKEN.

In a manner fit for an Emperor, Obama descended upon the more than 80,000 gathered in Denver to receive his message last night.

I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the spectacle and the man himself. While the Roman columns looked the part, Invesco field was no more a Roman Coliseum then Barack Obama is qualified to be President of the United States.

Even with Joe Biden by his side, Roman pillars surrounding him and Bill and Hillary behind him, the Barack Obama last night at Mile High was the same inexperienced, liberal radical we have always known him to be. No amount of rock concert lighting, Broadway stagecraft, lofty rhetoric -- or even fireworks -- will change that. The media networks in attendance may trust him to lead them to the Promised Land, but we certainly do not.

Americans need to stand up now and show our opposition to the radical left agenda that a President Obama would impose on us. Now is the time for us to stand up to the New York Times and their liberal media cronies and show our opposition to Obama. Join the NObama revolution.

Can you spot the fascinating omission? Hint: our ballots don't actually have a spot for a NO vote for President.

(PS - the talking points are nonsense, but for a change they're respectable nonsense. In other words, defensible arguments instead of crazy Muslim/terrorist/criminal accusations. So good on ya, Townhall.)

McCain Wants Out

How do I know? I've looked into his eyes and seen his soul. You might want more proof than that. So I'll give you some.

The Dayton Daily News is reporting that the big rally McCain is holding on Friday in a 10,000 seat stadium is still not sold out, and helpfully gives the phone numbers of a few places where you can get free tickets. They add:

There has been speculation that McCain would use the Dayton visit to announce his running mate but McCain said he's not reached a decision yet, so he's not sure if there will be an announcement here.

Seeing as the 75000 seat auditorium that Obama is accepting the nomination at tonight has been "sold out" for weeks (not literally - despite some blog reports, he didn't charge a thousand a ticket; most of the seats are free) perhaps McCain could knuckle down and choose that running mate today, just to get a few more people to come to the rally. Free publicity tip, Johnnie!

(How popular are those Obama tickets anyway? This popular.)

The clearest indication that McCain is close to doing a Thompson here is from this Time Magazine interview.

There's a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?

Read it in my books.

I've read your books.

No, I'm not going to define it.

But honor in politics?

I defined it in five books. Read my books.

...In 2000, after the primaries, you went back to South Carolina to talk about what you felt was a mistake you had made on the Confederate flag. Is there anything so far about this campaign that you wish you could take back or you might revisit when it's over?

[Does not answer.]

Do I know you? [Says with a laugh.]

[Long pause.] I'm very happy with the way our campaign has been conducted, and I am very pleased and humbled to have the nomination of the Republican Party.

You do acknowledge there was a change in the campaign, in the way you had run the campaign?

[Shakes his head.]

...A lot of people know about your service from your books, but most people don't know that you have two sons currently in the military. Can you describe what it means to have Jack and Jimmy in uniform?

We don't discuss our sons.

Is it my imagination, or is McCain refusing to even answer the softballs here? I suppose they might have caught him on a bad day, and it's not like he didn't answer ANY questions, but geez!

By the way, please please please let it be Leiberman. He's an independant! Everybody LOVES Joe Lieberman! Pleeeeeeeeeease!

The Pro-Monopoly Candidate

Hat tip Bedazzled.

A Response To That Video In The Last Post

Sure, Make It Easy For Me

The Democratic Convention has been on for three days now... and I haven't watched a SINGLE MINUTE OF IT!

That's a lie. I actually saw most of Ted Kennedy's speech but I didn't hear it. I was reading the CC titles while on a treadmill at the gym. It looked effective enough. But I'm getting all my info about the infomercial from blogs and news. It's quicker, more efficient and even more entertaining.

So far the convention has been kind of a disappointment - to Republicans. Sure Fox News was able to whip this up:

They'll say it proves that liberals are all angry and hate America, but if you listen closely they're not chanting "Fuck America!" Earlier this week ace cub reporter Griff Jenkins met with this chant while asking the protestors to explain themselves, and was reduced to shouting "Why do you hate free speech!" Apparently the Fox definition of the term is "talking to Fox News." It doesn't occur to them that not talking to Fox is a freedom all its own.

Then there are the PUMAs. Republicans were so looking forward to the Party Unity My Ass people disrupting the flow of the convention by refusing to accept Obama as the nominee and demanding Hillary instead. Unfortunately, Hillary put the Kibosh on that last night with her speech, and Bill Clinton didn't do the PUMAs any favors tonight. And it's becoming increasingly obvious that while there may have been some disenfranchised Democrat members, the organization is run by Republicans.

So tomorrow Obama will accept the nomination that was entered a few hours ago, and he'll make a speech that Republicans will insist proves that he hates America, and the Democratic National Convention will be over.

And then, the real fun begins.

The Republican National Convention starts Labor day. You want proof that Karl Rove isn't running things nowadays? They're starting on a holiday that was sponsored by UNIONS. Further proof? It's a few hours after the end of the Muscular Dystrophy telethon, another informercial, associated with a disease that causes gradual and irreversible weakness.

I'm not done. Opening night speakers include the President and Vice President. This isn't so bad, I mean, they had to put them somewhere and why not the furthest point from the night that McCain is speaking? But it also happens to be the anniversary of the President's biggest Achilles' heel, the LANDFALL OF HURRICANE KATRINA. They scheduled the Convention to run at exactly the time of year that we remember the worst footage of the disaster from.

Perhaps it's a strategy, distract people on the anniversary with an event. Oh yeah, they're holding the whole party in New Orleans. * If these parallels don't get play from the press every single night of the convention, I think we can finally write off the myth of a liberal media.

And weirdly, they could have held it a week later and had McCain accept the nomination on 9/11.

What the hell has happened to these people?

* I misread something. The whole party is in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Who can turn the world on with a smile? John McCain!

Addendum: From Wonkette:

Talking about the possibility of Hurricane Gustav making landfall during the Republican convention, Karl Rove tells Fox News, “The Republicans can’t seem to get a break when it comes to August and when it comes to the weather.” Right in the middle of the president’s vacation, frequently! Stupid asshole weather, poor Republicans.

Attention CruxLux Bot - 9a818edd0b022457aab5b1afb097bada04e96d54

All others please ignore.

Not Unlike Journalism

Over at Boxoffice Weekly, my podcast, I'm running with a story about the controversy about Richard Cheese and his appearance at the Coverville 500 concert, which I attended. I've been able to get find quotes by Cheese, the guy who ran the concert, and the guy whose cellphone Cheese snatched up while he was in the act of recording Cheese. I cannot make that last part any clearer and believe me, I just tried five times.

I almost feel, for a change, like a real reporter. Usually I simply regurgitate wire stories about celebrities... but then again, in showbiz news that's what the real reporters do too. Perhaps the only difference between me and a showbiz reporter in the Mainstream Media (TM) is I'm making no money at all, while the other guy is making less and less every year. We'll eventually meet for coffee, to interview each other. And afterwards we'll sneak out without paying.

Leave The Kid Alone

Okay, this has gone far enough. John McCain will pull out his POW experiences at the drop of a hat. Criticize him for not knowing how many houses he has?

I spent five-and-a-half years in a prison cell,” McCain said. “I didn’t have a house. I didn’t have a kitchen table. I didn’t have a table. I didn’t have a chair. And I didn’t spend those five-and-a-half years because, not because I wanted to get a house when I got out.”

Accuse him of knowing Obama's answers at the Saddleback conference, you get this from Nicole Wallace, his campaign aide:

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

You know something, there's something to this. Maybe we need to lay off McCain with these criticisms. After all, he spent over five years in a brutal POW camp.

He was tortured.

He was mentally traumatized.

He is just a human being, after all, and surely he bears the scars of this awful experience.

We need to lay off this man, to stop pressuring him, to stop doing the kinds of things that might hurt someone who is already so fragile.

We need, in short, to absolutely not make him the leader of the free world.

Conventional Wisdom

Though the opinion is as predictable as the conventions it decries, I still call your attention to this column in today's Los Angeles Times by Gregory Rodriguez, entitled Big Mac Politics.

Don't do it. Don't tune in to this year's political conventions.

For two decades, Americans have been wising up and increasingly tuning out those quadrennial made-for-television pageants that pass for participatory democracy. In 1976, roughly 22 million people watched Jimmy Carter receive his party's nomination. By contrast, four years ago, only 16 million viewers enjoyed the high jinks at the GOP convention. Over the years, declining interest has persuaded broadcast networks to scale back their coverage, and I think a lot of us suspect we didn't miss much.

But this year, thanks to heightened interest in the presidential campaign, both broadcast and cable news networks are bumping up their coverage. And starting today, it's going to be extra hard to resist the allure of all that elaborately conceived stagecraft.

My revulsion for the conventions doesn't stem simply from disdain for partisan politics. Nor am I suggesting that Americans ignore the substance of politics. But to my mind, conventions are emblematic of everything that's wrong with American culture. For all our belief in freedom, which by definition breeds unpredictability, and our pride in our cultural dynamism, U.S. culture is becoming ever more self-conscious and scripted.

I couldn't agree more, and I'm only grateful that I watch as little TV as I do lately so I don't have to be annoyed that it's going to be pre-empted by these informercials. Feel free to read the rest of it.