Random Thoughts from the Democratic National Convention Week
By Anthony Wade
Here are my random thoughts from convention week. Kerry has been presented, as he should be, as a war hero. Bush likes to present himself as a strong leader, but it was Kerry that actually went to war. The Democratic Party is being smart to present Kerry in this light. I'll address Kerry at the end.
Best Line of the Week: "Strength and wisdom are not opposing values" - Bill Clinton, discussing how John Kerry will lead on the war on terror.
Runner-up for the Best Line of the Week: "They know that parents have to parent, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white." - Barack Obama
Funniest, Most Down to Earth Speaker: Al Gore - who would have thought? Makes you wonder if all that talk about his being "stiff", was nothing more than the media. We need to start making our own determinations and stop feeding off what we are being told.
Most Deluded Person: Ralph Reed, Bush-Cheney '04 Southeast Regional Chairman - during a completely delusional interview with Chris Matthews was asked what voters would think about Cheney's relationship with Halliburton in light of the immense appearance of crony capitalism. Reed's response was "the voters don't care about Halliburton". Huh? I know that Bush-Cheney wished that they don't care but to suggest this is nothing short of delusional.
Worst Example of Poor Media: Believe it or not, this does not go to FOX, as I tried to not pay much attention to them because they were not providing extensive coverage (can't wait until we see how much coverage FOX gives the RNC). This award goes to MSNBC and Chris Matthews during the Al Sharpton speech. Let me start by saying I am not necessarily a fan of Reverend Al, but I understand that he is a prominent voice in the Democratic Party. His speech was certainly more grating than those before it. It was certainly not benign toward Bush. It was however a moving, racially stirring, civil-rights reaffirming, necessary message.
Matthews and MSNBC disagreed and cut the speech in mid-stream, sending me scrambling to the live Web Cast. Cutting the speech was not enough though as Matthews panel, lacking a single African American, proceeded to tear apart Sharpton. Their primary arguments were that he was not legitimate because his career was launched on a lie (Brawley) and that he was "off message" from what Kerry wanted this week. In other words that he was far too harsh, especially in his attacks on Bush. I want to make sure you got that. Matthews cut live coverage of a prime time speech to openly criticize and de-legitimize the speaker because he was not playing nice toward Bush. The fact of the matter is that Jimmy Cater was far more abrasive toward Bush, challenging Bush's war policies saying the nation's soul is at stake. Ron Reagan Jr. was critical of his policies on stem cell research. Al Gore ripped Bush from start to finish of his speech. The only difference with Sharpton was the race issue. Matthews, who was great in many other spots, including challenging some republicans he interviewed, obviously had his mind made up prior to Sharpton's speech. He asked why Sharpton was given the slot to speak, without acknowledging the obvious, which is that all of the challengers in the primaries spoke. No, it appears that Matthews ceased being a journalist because of a personal opinion, and unfortunately took the rest of his viewers with him. He should have allowed the speech to finish and then give his opinion. The following day, Matthews was still beating this drum, gushing to Ed Gillespie, Republican National Committee Chairman, if Sharpton's speech was a boon for the republicans. Even though Gillespie stated he had not seen Sharpton's speech, Matthews persisted, demanding that he admit that the republican's loved Sharpton's address. The truth is that this was Matthew's issue. It was a shame.
Thursday Update - Now Matthews is challenging Sharpton on Thursday about whether his speech was "approved" by Kerry and his handlers. Reverend Al fought back correctly that it is the pundits that have this problem, not the constituents, the party, or even the republicans. This is absolutely correct. This is a non-issue for everyone but Chris Matthews. Apparently, not satisfied with being corrected, Matthews again brings up Tawana Brawley as the "lie that launched your career". Sharpton correctly points out that Howard Beach was actually the first case he supported publicly, thus exposing Matthews premise as being false. Sharpton goes on to reassert many other cases he was on the right side of. Matthews then makes a ridiculous inference that police and firemen should not vote for Kerry, because Sharpton supports him. It was incredibly cheap, as this entire line of questioning was. I am not sure where the ax came from, but it is quite obvious that Chris Matthews wanted to grind it at the cost of his journalistic integrity.
Most Inspirational Speech: Al Sharpton. Not to beat this horse some more, but I was very impressed with Sharpton addressing the ridiculous challenge posed by Bush earlier in the month when he suggested that African Americans should consider voting republican because the democrats have taken them for granted. Sharpton weaved in humor from as far back as the mid-1800s to the stirring civil rights movement, to finally spelling it out for Bush, by saying their votes were soaked in the blood from Birmingham Alabama, and were not for sale.
Best "Americana" Moment: John Edwards's parents. Great shot, looked like anyone's parents, from anytown USA.
Best Jokes Heard During the Week:
"George Bush was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple to get there" - honestly, I don't remember where I saw this, but it was very appropriate. "You cannot compare Vietnam to the Iraq War. In Vietnam, George Bush had an exit strategy" - Bill Maher on the Tonight Show.
Smooth Operator of the Week: John Edwards, who else can speak to thousands as if he is in each of their kitchens at the same time. Solid, on point speech, well delivered.
The Can't Wait For it Event Yet to Come: The vice presidential debate. Just to see the trial lawyer go up against the evil corporation. Can't wait, just can't wait.
Up and Coming Prospect: Barack Obama - by far one of the top three speeches, with Clinton, and in my opinion, Gore. Obama showed why he is going to be a major player in this party.
Telling Media Moment: In an ad-lib moment, Chris Matthews asks the crowd on the streets of Boston, who has a question for Tom Brokaw. The question that came forth was "why don't you (Tom Brokaw), ask the hard questions when you are interviewing the republicans?" Matthews immediately laughs the question off, and quickly moves to break, and the question is never answered. Very telling, because the truth is that the media is still far from liberal and we need to make sure that they stay honest this time and do not distort the election, as they did in 2000. "Navy Seals Rock", should never be the extent of our journalistic questioning of a war. We need to hold our media accountable.
John Kerry: The convention build up to Kerry was quite moving. To see footage of Kerry as a skipper of a swift boat in Vietnam gives us a stark comparison to our current Commander and Chief, who cannot even prove if he finished his cushy gig in the National Guard. It is something we all need to keep in our mind as we head toward November. This current President likes to talk tough, but it was John Kerry who chose to go and fight for this country.
John Kerry is introduced by Max Cleeland, to the song "No Retreat, No Surrender", and it seems fitting. His speech was passionate, occasionally rushed, and drew a clear line in the sand separating him and candidate Bush. He touched on so many subjects that we can hash them out over the next few months. The notable quotes though are:
"My first pledge to you is to restore trust and credibility to the White House"
"This is our most important election in our lifetime."
"The future does not belong to fear, it belongs to freedom."
"It's time for those who like to talk about family values, to start valuing families"
"I don't ever want to say that God is on our side. I want to say, as Abraham Lincoln said, I humbly pray that we are on God's side."
Candidate Kerry made his points well. We can hear the spinmeisters in the GOP already tearing the speech apart. We will hear nonsense about flip-flopping and GW Bush's supposed leadership, even though at the end of the day all he had done is blow up two third world countries, over the next few weeks leading up to the RNC. We all need to be vigilant to hold the both campaigns to the truth and the media to their responsibility.
Overall, a very successful convention. Kerry finished up with the song; It's a Beautiful Day. Hopefully in November, it will be.
Anthony Wade is co-administrator of a website devoted to educating the populace to the ongoing lies of President George W. Bush and seeking his removal from office. He is a 36-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive, and professional counselor, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
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