Thursday, August 30, 2012

Republican National Convention, Part Deux

Forgive the sparsity of posts of late. As I've mentioned before, I have a persistent sinus headache, that is either made worse by the RNC, or simply makes it more excruciating. I mean I've got to watch this crap, even though I'd rather be doing most anything else. I've got to keep attuned to my Twitter feed, otherwise it would all be truly unbearable. And that makes the headache worse!

Damn. Anyway, the lead-in to the big Paul Ryan speech was mostly a bunch of speculated about potential VP picks, before Ryan got the nod. I watched the coverage on MSNBC because dammit, I needed some sanity sprinkled in, but they did tend to gloss over some of the lesser lights who were speaking. So, no T-Paw, no Portman from Ohio. Just as well, really. [Story continues below]


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I did catch  John McCain. He was so thrilling, convention attendees were wandering around during his speech. It was a chore to stay awake. Mike Huckabee followed, and bugged me as much as any other time I've heard him speak. Huck is charming to people who go for his schtick, but nasty to those of us who are clued in to his poison. If there's one thing I despise, it's a person who smiles at you while leveling an insult. That's Huckabee in a nutshell. Anyway, though some in the hall were into Huck's rap, it was far from a barnburner. [Story continues below]


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Condoleezza Rice, on the other hand, was received warmly. Though Romney/Ryan has taken great pains to avoid talking about the Bush years, somehow, Condi has managed to brush off some of the Bush era barnacles. Her speech was well done. I didn't agree with much of it, but it didn't inspire a defensive posture, and a desire to through something through the big screen, as Huckabee did. The chatter on Twitter and MSNBC was that she was the "Ann Romney" of the night.

Ah, but they hadn't heard Paul Ryan yet. Ryan came out looking good in an expertly tailored suit. I don't know if they tamed the Eddie Munster widow's peak, but he looked really nice. His speech was initially boilerplate, rather underwhelming. The crowd was into him, but not into him. Halfway in or so, though, he got his sea legs. He got less awkward, and started getting his timing down with the crowd reactions. I didn't agree with anything he had to say, mind you, but I can recognize a speech that connects with a crowd. [Story continues below.]


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Ryan's speech was riddled with lies and distortions, but they were delivered well. The one lie that received the most attention was Ryan's charge that a GM plant closed under Obama, even though in reality it closed in 2008 (Bush era, don'tcha know?). But there were several things that had me barking back at the TV and rolling my eyes. Much of it was just the repeating of the lame, out of context, "you didn't build that," and the distortion of Obama "raiding" Medicare. Worst of all, was Ryan selling his raiding of Medicare as though he's saving and protecting it. 

Fortunately, President Obama and the Democrats have ample chance of rebuttal, and--I'm nearly certain--a more consistently enthusiastic crowd. And I seriously doubt that Obama's convention is going to be so devoid of Obama as the RNC has been devoid of Mitt Romney. Oh, he's there, but sometimes you barely notice.

[Excerpt]

The 5 Biggest Lies in Paul Ryan’s RNC Acceptance Speech

Paul Ryan took the stage in Tampa and peppered his speech with lies, falsehoods distortions and exaggerations. There were many to choose from, but here are the five biggest lies. . .

Read more at: PoliticusUSA

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