Watching the First Night
Posted on August 25, 2008
Democratic Convention Serves Its Unintended Purpose
Every four years, Democrats from around the country converge on a masochistic city that actually begged for the privilege of hosting the Democratic convention. And every four years, a motley collection of misfits, protesters, socialists, communists and anarchists converge inside the site to vote in another Presidential nominee who will inevitably lose a relatively sane Republican.
Sure, there are some nice people who are Democrats too. They tend to be the corporate lobbyists who pay for the parties that allow the misfits to party like it is 1999. They are the union members who are wondering what happened to their once great party. And they are party functionaries and the relatives of politicians who have to dress nice because, well, that is their job to look nice on television.
But most of the other Democrats that go to these conventions are so far to the left of the mainstream that they seem a bit odd to normal Americans. And that is why it is so great for the Democrats to have these conventions. They remind us of how liberal the Democratic Party has become.
1968 started this downward spiral for the Democrats. It was there that the radicals took over the party, despite Mayor Daley’s best efforts to pound the hippies into the ground. Reportedly, there was so much dope smoked in the 1972 convention in Miami, that you could get high just walking into the hall. And since then, the radicals have taken over most of the party machinery. If you don’t believe me, just watch Howard Dean for more than two minutes.
I haven’t made it to the Mile High city yet for this convention (I hope to make it later this week), but I venture to guess that the city won’t be the only thing that is a mile high this week. Most of the delegates will be too.
The highlight of this first day at the Democratic convention was the speech by Ted Kennedy. I will always have a soft in my heart for Senator Kennedy. I don’t agree with him on much, but boy, can he give a great speech? His speech today reminded me of the home run hit by an injured Kirk Gibson to win a World Series game for the Dodgers in 1988. To come off the bench like Kennedy did was an inspiration. Too bad he was hitting for the wrong team.
The rest of the first night has been completely forgettable. Nancy Pelosi was terrible, just terrible. She said nothing of substance, and nothing in any way memorable. No wonder she was buried at the very beginning of the program.
Pelosi’s performance was exceeded in its dullness by Jim Leach, a former Republican who has endorsed Obama, and was awarded for his treachery with a prime slot after the Kennedy speech. It quickly became apparent that there were a couple of things wrong with that strategy. First, Jim Leach is the greatest cure for insomnia ever invented. He is the dullest public speaker in the history of mankind. Second, nobody has ever heard of Jim Leach, unless of course you know about some of the bad laws he pushed when he was in Congress. (He was the brains behind a ban on Internet poker for you poker players out there.)
Michelle Obama’s speech about how hard she has worked was a bit too self-congratulatory in my mind. Yes, your family worked hard. So what? Most people’s families work hard. What of it?
And the video interplay between the Obama family was just a little too goofy for my taste. Obama’s kids are undeniably cute, but it is past their bedtime. They should go to sleep.
This is going to be a long week. I will try to keep watching, but it is very hard.