Division and Fear, for example, is what the GOP and its operatives do best. It is a brand identifier like the Marlboro cowboy. It also accounts for why the white bread crowd was the most compelling image of the evening.
Example #1: against its own principles of limited government, GOP elected officials imposed the greatest intrusion of government surveillance of citizenry in the history of the republic, using fear to galvanize its imperatives on Americans.
And so when Christie summons the verbal cues of the GOP being "uniters, not dividers" or how the GOP will lead the "Great Second Century", my attention first goes blank, then starts to wonder if there are safe havens left, anywhere, for truth or for historical fact. (When Gov. Christie started on "truth", I held up the reversible mirror to interpret.)
What was most alarming? The pan shots. You wouldn't find more homogeneity in a herd of Texas steer. Every now and again an African American showed up in the camera view, as though to highlight the gaping holes in "The Big Tent" Republicans were inviting a national audience to huddle under together, and you could almost hear the TV producer in the van outside muttering to the operator, keeping moving!
The election relies on a narrow slice of independents and the women vote. Soon, the Democrats will put on their own convention. I'm looking forward, indeed, to former Florida governor Charlie Crist.
None of the extremism that percolates and bubbles through the Republican brand was audible in the Christie speech. What about Republicans staying away from the polls in November: a silent protest? What about Republican voters in large numbers withholding their vote and saying to the extremists masquerading as the Tea Party, finally, "Enough is enough! We want our party back!"
8 comments:
Still blaming Bush? BHO had 2 years to fix everything in the economy with majorities in both chambers yet chose to tackle healthcare. All the Democrats must feel pretty gloomy after seeing and hearing the truth last night. Time for change indeed.
No name calling please.
Truth? You have got to be kidding. Last night's Republican convention was one big party line message. STAY ON MESSAGE REPUBLICANS, FEED YOUR BASE!
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave a speech tonight at the Republican National Convention about the Greatest Generation.
Let's talk about what really made the Greatest Generation so great.
Coming out of the Great Depression, America was at a crossroads. The future of our economy -- and our democracy -- was at stake.
We made a decision together as a country: To invest in ourselves, in our kids, and in our future. For nearly half a century, that's just what we did.
And it worked. For nearly 50 years, as our country got richer, our families got richer -- and as our families got richer, our country got richer.
And then about 30 years ago, our country moved in a different direction. New leadership attacked wages. They attacked pensions. They attacked health care. They attacked unions. And now we find ourselves in a very different world from the one our parents and grandparents built. We are now in a world in which the rich skim more off the top in taxes and special deals, and they leave less and less for our schools, for roads and bridges, for medical and scientific research -- less to build a future.
Tonight, Chris Christie and the Republicans told the American people that we're to blame for our broken economy. He told families to tighten their belts. He told seniors to live on less. He told teachers to stop fighting for fair pay.
He never, ever mentioned how much more the richest have taken, and he had no mention that those who broke our economy still haven't been held accountable.
The Republicans believe in an America that is rigged for the big guys -- giant corporations that can hire an army of lobbyists, ship jobs overseas, and take their profits to the Cayman Islands.
That's not who we are as a people -- and that's not the kind of country we want to be.
We built America together, and that's what makes America great.
Elizabeth Warren
The caption on the image of W really sums it up.
Incredible, isn't it, that the Republican Party of W's presidency seems almost moderate by comparison to the one on display today. And I considered them irresponsible and dangerous back then!
You're looking forward to the Charlie Crist speech? Really? What's the point - anything he says, he's likely to contradict by the time he leaves the convention floor.
"November: a silent protest? What about Republican voters in large numbers withholding their vote"
Don't count on it. In fact, I think the reverse may happen and the Dem's stay at home.
What was it Obama said when he first took office - something to the effect that if the economy doesn't improve in three years, yada yada yada.
I'm not happy with the extreme right, which is now the GOP, don't get me wrong. I don't see any silver lining with Obama either.
My wish is that these negative ads stop on both sides, both candidates focus on the economy and their plans to bring down this deficit.
My other wish is that Social Security & Medicare will not go broke, which is heading right now.
As a small business owner of a Sub S, most of my personal taxes are to Social Security & Medicare, so I'd also wish both sides stop calling them "entitlements" because I pay for these things and have for a very long time.
Okay, that's my vent for the day! I'm still undecided and will wait until after the DNC to see which way I'm going to go.
You are still blaming Bush?! You have GOT to be kidding me! Obama had four years to fix any mess he inherited-- something he said he would do.
All Obama did was make matters worse by adding $5 trillion dollars to our national debt. That's like pouring gasoline on a fire!
Even Obama said he would have four years to turn things around or he would be a "one term proposition."
This tires me. Politicians tire me. There was no magic way to stop the economic slide... The train was rolling downhill and it's momentum had to be spent before it could be restarted on the right track....
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