Given this is such a politically charged year, I would encourage you, if you have access, to check out the Democratic Convention. I've been watching the last two nights - and I have to say, I've seen some of the best speeches of my life. On Monday night was a fired-up Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Bill lightened his speech a bit talking about the Republican tax cuts: "When I was in office, the Republicans were pretty mean to me. When I left and made money, I became part of the most important group in the world to them. At first I thought I should send them a thank you note—until I realized they were sending you the bill" And later, he talked about the ideological division, which I thought was really insightful, "They think the role of government is to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of those who embrace their political, economic, and social views, leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves on matters like health care and retirement security. Since most Americans are not that far to the right, they have to portray us Democrats as unacceptable, lacking in strength and values. In other words, they need a divided America. But Americans long to be united." Last night was Barack Obama - merely a state senator in Illinois, who is running for the Senator of Illinois(currently unopposed). He was simply amazing. One of the commentators said it is probably the best convention speech in the last quarter century and I think they were right. You can read a copy of his speech at the democratic convention website: http://www.dems2004.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=luI2LaPYG&b=125925&ct=159637 and here is one of the many great soundbites in his speech: "For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief—I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper—that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. “E pluribus unum.” Out of many, one. Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America." Teresa Heinz Kerry also gave her speech last night. My favorite quote of hers was as follows: "I have a very personal feeling about how special America is, and I know how precious freedom is. It is a sacred gift, sanctified by those who have lived it and those who have died defending it. My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called “opinionated,” is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish. My only hope is that, one day soon, women —who have all earned the right to their opinions— instead of being labeled opinionated, will be called smart or well-informed, just as men are." So, in short, it has been a very moving and exciting time. There is a hope and optimism that I haven't seen for a while and hope that it carries into the elections in November. Tonight is John Edwards, the VP pick for the Democratic ticket - tomorrow night is John Kerry, the candidate himself. I only hope their speeches will be as heartfelt and inspiring as they have been for the past two days.
hey mushroomdreams, I've been watching too and have found most of the speeches to be very inspiring, especially Obama and Teresa Heinz-Kerry. In my view, Obama epitomizes the American dream - work hard, have a vision, and you can become whatever it is you put your mind to....in his case, a Harvard educated lawyer, working for civil rights in his community. I've seen alot of positive energy come out of this convention the last few days. I see hope in the eyes of the people and the delegates on the convention floor and I see a true love for our country and a burning desire to take our country back from Bush and his cronies. Glad to know someone else is watching too, mushdreams. Peace.
I can't stomach that garbage. Nevertheless, I have been watching it for the past three nights. Watching it is akin to the sensation of salt on a raw nerve, but in a rather perverse way it feels sort of good. Frankly, I can't see how anyone who views anything with at least some degree of objectivity can tolerate such bologna. It's nothing but an oversized horse and pony show. The last thing I want to do is watch a bunch of multi-millionaires tell ME how they know what it's like to be an average, working-class citizen. How can you people buy into such drivel? These guys are nothing more than a bunch of empty, corporate suits who USE people - such as minorities and people who live in poverty - to get to the high positions of power and wealth which they occupy. All I can say is fuck the Democrats and fuck the Republicans. Fuck them both, and fuck the corporate entities that fund them. I hate to sound so vitriolic, but we don't have a choice in this country and that fucking blows! Once again it's Tweedledee vs. Tweedledum. Keep those blinders on, guys!
I'm going to have to agree with Rat here. Although I'm sure there are some genuinely good democrats who really do want to help, they are far eclipsed by the number of dirtbag politicians who only view people as voters with dollar signs imprinted on their foreheads. I doubt Theresa "Heinz" Kerry ever worked a day of her life to inherit those billions, and John Kerry is a millionaire from midtown Manhattan born into a wealthy family as well. Although they may differ (somewhat) on the issues, thinking that Kerry and co. are somehow better or more inspiring than Bush and co. is far from reality.
Matt, practice what you preach and try and be a little bit objective yourself!!! I'll preface my thoughts here by stating I admire your intelligence and the degree in which you appear to be informed, but having said this - you need to check yourself a bit. It's funny how you even make the statement "Frankly, I can't see how anyone who views anything with at least some degree of objectivity can toleratre such bologna, " when you yourself are sometimes completely incapable of being objective in the slightest. You can't fathom the thought of someone with wealth relating to poor people and the plights of working class americans. "The last thing I want to do is watch a bunch of multi-millionaires tell ME how they know what it's like to be an average, working-class citizen." Some of these people actually have been working class americans and through hard work became wealthy and haven't forgotten their roots. John Kerry isn't one of them, but some of those people participating in the DNC are such people. This country needs to crawl before it walks Matt. Most things that are mainstream in not just politics, but in culture in general you completely write off and start some diatrabe about how society is so robotic and is completely ignorant to the real truths out there. I certainly feel the same way to an extent, but what's the point in bitching about it? One thing that I find remarkable is that you have the ability to criticize someone like Micheal Moore yet you're often guilty of the things he does, the only differnce being he has a fat wallet. Like Mike you have a tendancy to be an antagonist and put such a huge focus on how shitty and corrupt things are instead of directing your energy towards how to better things. Is much of the convention and this race a dog and pony show? Sure it is!! But why just take the complete cynical stance and spout off blah, blah, tweedledee vs tweedledum, keep those blinder on etc. Like yourself it is very hard for me to look at mainstream politics and be completely enamored with a candidate right now. I certainly don't think Kerry is a godsend. I was born in Mass, have been familiar with him my whole life. The thing is though, the political idealism you so stongly hope for really cannot be succesful in the here and now in this nation. I hate to say that, but it is true. Recognizing this truth and accepting where perhaps a slight difference can be made is not selling out though. I support Kerry for just a few things 1. His stance on stem cell research 2. Equal rights for same sex partners 3. Letting the Patriot Act expire 4. Reversal of the Bush tax cut plan Matt, he is a rich plastic man as you've said many times. (almost all politicians are). But those few things are SOMETHING. The one thing that I can see (and I had to take my blinders off for this) is slight measures of progress over time. Minorities continue to have greater rights, women can vote, same-sex couples are recognized by law in certain parts of the country now, white collar criminals are being exposed and punished......these are little things but they are beginning to add up. Shit, you would never see a male worker in the Post Office ten years ago wearing earings and now you do. I look at the 90's as a time of tremendous progress in accepting change and individualism. The economy was great then, but the true excitement in that decade for me was that there was a genuine feeling of growth and acceptance of personal freedom. The current administration to me appears to be trying their damnedest to take life back to the 80's in terms of individual freedom and cold war scare tactics. Small steps of progress - just think about it. After a couple of years of posting here and reading about your beliefs, I feel I can relate most of the time, but the fact is - the Swampthing isn't coming out of a poor neighborhood in Rochester to take on the Marvel Comic All Stars and bring immediate change to the world. Frankly, perhaps the biggest catalyst for change in society are generations passing on - people dying. Trust me, I don't view the current campaign season as bliss, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit back and bitch about its pitfalls, blind myself of the possible good in it and pray for an agenda this country just isn't ready for. The time for such agendas will come, but only by taking small steps. Sitting around, spinning your feet in the sand and waiting for that time to come is not helping the situation. Ok - again, not an attack on you Matt as I do respect you, just some things i felt like saying and maybe you might choose to think about them.
Ok, ok... fair enough. What I said is how I feel, though. I am just frustrated with the way things are going in this country at the moment. But I guess that's just the way it is.
I am super frustrated too for the very same reasons. I am left with what I see as three choices though: A. Stick to my guns, express my frustrations and place my energy in supporting an agenda this country isn't ready for B. Try and find a glimmer of hope in the better of two evils and support that so progress continues to have a chance of inching along a bit more C. Leave the country Post Scriptum - while I'm here I feel the best that I can do is focus my energy on B, yet my beliefs in A are furthering me along towards an ultimate decision of C, if only for a little while and that's not to say I don't love my country - I've just seen some pictures of the women in Australia and they look pretty fine
Al Sharpton was magnificent last night. Referring to a question that Bush has asked the black voters, Sharpton said, “Our votes are not for sale!” He also talked about how the Democratic party delivered the voting rights act, the civil rights act and basically everything but the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately he aired at 6PM MST and the networks didn’t even cover his speech.
I watched the '88 convention on CSPAN2 last night.... Dan Quale was speaking. It was awesome...haha... He went on for like ten minutes about how much his life was like the movie Hoosiers. Then he said, "I'm a happy Hoosier!" It was funny how he always had this dumb Al Gore expression, but he talked like W. Good times.... I love insomnia.
What i've seen i have enjoyed. I hope you americans do you nieghbours and the rest of the world a favor. And get Bush out of there with his modern day crusade. A leader that says he is led by God and goes to war scare the fuck out of me.
And just what are you doing to create positive change in our country, Rat? Spouting your venom and chastizing others who are hoping to rid this country of its current vermin in the White House, is not a very positive way to express your own ideas for change. It kills me when some of you scream and cry about only having TWO real choices for President in November, when some countries don't even have a choice, or are able to vote! Some potential voters in developing countries are gunned down and murdered for trying to cast a ballot. You little cry baby! Get off your fucking soap box Rat, and try to create some positive change for this country then.
