Turn on the Republican convention right now! Bush Sr.'s on!

I prefer watching both and getting both perspectives.

I'm just shocked at how religious it has been, don't like that at all.

Definitely. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

(Wonder who said that?)

I think that was Sun Tzu. It's certainly in keeping with his 'Art of War' philosophy.

I loved the choir.
Had to go to PBS to get it.
The networks simply had the bad talking hair heads examining the speakers for zits and pondering whether or not the world was in good shape or not good shape or maybe shipshape or landscape or moonscape or moonbats....
Sheeesh.
The choir was far preferable to listening to the head monkeys chattering about feeding time.

That religious stuff strikes me as silly, too, but those are votes he needs.

Could turn off the swing voters though, eh.

If he needs a choir to hang on to the fundies, then it's already over.

I'm not sure we were watching the same convention, then. The conservative movement has many strong, intelligent and articulate women. Not enough to be sure, but I'm proud and honored that Juliette Ocheng, Star Parker and LaShawn Barber are among us, having chosen it because it suits them and not to please anyone else. No doubt they've taken some flack for choosing to participate in the national debate, but it is a mark of their character and of our progress as a society.

On the male side, men like Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and entertainer Bill Cosby have honored us with their wit, wisdom and outspoken courage. They shine, yet require no affirmative action program to assure their place on the world stage. With talent that compelling, it's clear that character content is more important than skin color.

African Americans are, I think, recognizing that a free people is a people free to disagree and are moving more and more away from total ideological conformity, and moving away from destructive race politics.

My opinion only.

Thanks. If you're wrong, we'll no doubt hear about it shortly LOL.

AGREED! (Although I watched on C-Span.) They're repeating tonight's prime-time coverage as I type this and Arnold's speech is definitely worth hearing again :wink:

thank you!!! my wife is convinced that i am seeing things that aren't there.

first amendment? we don't need no stinking first amendment...

I'm a little behind on this since prime time in the US is the wee hours of the morning in Germany. So far I've seen Heather Wilson (R-NM), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain.

Wilson and Graham: Nauseatingly preachy, soul candy for the True Believers, not worth talking about. Giuliani and McCain, on the other hand, have an entirely different stature. I would prefer either of them over George Bush as president of the United States, and I might be up for grabs if the Republicans nominated McCain. (And if I could vote in the US of course). You know, Republicans, you don't have to nominate Bush, it's not too late, you still can do something about this -- so can you reconsider your choice of candidate, puleeze?

Guliani. Well first of all, if 9/11 really changed everything, that's a much better argument for putting him into a position of power than for giving Bush four more years. On 9/11 and 9/12, while Bush was hiding on military bases in undisclosed locations, Giuliani was the one who kept his cool, managed the rescue operations, kept morale from collapsing, who was a leader. Before 9/11, I disliked him because I found him too meddlesome. 9/11 didn't make me love him, but dramatically boosted my respect for him. How 9/11 boosted anyone's respect for George Bush is beyond me.

Anyway, about Giuliani's speech: I have rarely seen a braver and more clever salesman than him, especially given the poverty of the product he was selling. I think his heart wasn't really in it when he praised George Bush directly, but he found intelligent ways around this problem. For example, consider the story about the construction workers. (It's much better on video, where Giuliani almost turns the scene into a theatrical performance.)


Note what a marvelous job the story does to portray Bush as 'the man' even if his role in the episode is all passive. All the leadership, strength and decisiveness comes from the construction workers. Bush does nothing except to say "I agree" -- admittedly 'in a rather loud voice' -- and let himself be hugged by them. Very impressive speech. If Giuliani hadn't earned my respect already, he'd have it by now.

John McCain. So far he's my favorite candidate for the Republican nomination. Too bad he isn't running this time. As for his speech, my impression was that he loyally soldiered for the party and said his pro-Bush lines professionally and without even a hint of anti-Bush allusions. But when the audience caught on to these, sometimes erupting in chants of "four more years", he smiled this nervous, embarrassed smile. This seemed to signal to me that he, much more than Giuliani, is uncomfortable endorsing George Bush.

His rescue was that Michael Moore was in the hall when he delivered his line about the "disingenuous film maker". The audience erupted in thunderous applause for the speaker and against Michael Moore sitting on the press tribune waving. After a while, the applause morphed into "four more years" chants which lasted for what seemed like a minute to me.

The speech was saved. And John McCain smiled this nervous, slightly embarrassed smile again.

opiate for the masses and all.....

What is your beef with the Harlem Boys Choir?

I always enjoy seeing and hearing them no matter the venue they are performing in.

Thanks Thomas, great post, very instructive.

Thomas - very interesting insights from one so far away. I didn't see what you saw, but of course I wasn't looking for it. I hope you're wrong and both Giuliani and McCain spoke from their hearts and from deep conviction.

I'll look forward to your thoughts on Arnold's speech. The only person that I thought looked a bit uncomfortable was Maria Shriver.

Thank you -- I might be wrong on Giuliani. It's mostly a gut feeling with him, and I probably couldn't defend it convincingly in a debate. With McCain, I'm much more confident.


I'll try to watch it this evening my time. Hasta la vista baby, I'll be back.

Very interesting commentary Thomas. I too thought McCain wasn't quite thrilled with some of his words, but that's par for the course considering he's a moderate. You're more perceptive than I if you heard that in Giuliani... He's a better salesman... not Clinton, but better. I too will be looking forward to your assessment of the Governator.

Apparently (from what I've read; didn't hear it), McCain condemned Michael Moore's film, than later admitted he hadn't seen it.

Could this have been scripted?