Bagels, coffee and Bush

Just a running commentary as I spend my morning watching the Chimp's acceptance speech.

First off, he can't even say 'Chairman'.

It seemed like whenever CSPAN showed the crowd at the DNC, it was an ocean of colours.... So much white at the RNC!

Oh, enough with the Reagan hijacking already.

Catch phrase of the speech seem to be 'Nothing will hold us back.'

Yay! Reduce regulation and cut taxes further! It didn't work all the other times we've tried it, so let's try it again!

A few times now, he's talked about reducing frivolous law suits. All well and good. In talking about health care, he says that he's met too many doctors, OB/GYN's in particular, who are being pulled into frivolous law suits. In other words, the women are getting uppity and demanding good service and proper service from their doctors.

Oh, now we're aiming for an 'ownership society' so that people can own their homes, their health care plan and a part of their retirement. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Accountability in education. A good thing. (Ooooh! A black face in the crowd!) However, don't deny funding to those who under-perform. Standardised testing in education. Not sure about that. But, again, don't deny funding to those who under-perform. Heh. Doing anything to get kids across the finish line. That's why there was a school in Massachusetts that helped its kids cheat on the state tests so they could get more funding, right?

He just said, 'We will leave no child behind,' in Spanish. Clever monkey.

Health care for poor children. A good thing. But why not health care for everyone else? And segue to a plug for his website. What the fuck?

Now he's criticising Kerry for his proposed government spending and his proposal to pay for it by raising taxes. Hm. Somehow this is worse than spending and cutting taxes so we can't pay for it. But, apparently this is the 'path to the future. And we're not turning back!' Cue the 'Four more years!' chant.

Yay for religious charities and the Federal Marriage Amendment! Yay for (lack of) separation of Church and State!

Excellent: 'I support the protection of marriage against activist judges, and I will continue to appoint federal judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law.' Bye-bye Roe v. Wade! Bye-bye gay marriage! Bye-bye social progress!

Cue 9-11.

This use of 'homeland' bothers me beyond end. It always has. It just feels so wrong. So...totalitarian in a way.

He just grins that stupid monkey grin of his as the crowd goes wild as he talks about his wars. Disgusting.

He's talking about his 'careful diplomacy' in dealing with terrorism. Um.... Not much I can say about that.

It's no longer East/West, but Civilised/Uncivilised it seems. Good/Evil. Right/Wrong. Us/Them. I love non-limiting definitions, don't you? Pluralism is so over-rated.

Heh. He can't say 'harbour' either. As in 'to harbour terrorists'.

He talks of bringing the troops home with the honour that they have earned. Does he have any kind of viable exit strategy for Iraq or Afghanistan? If they're calling up soldiers near retirement back to active duty, that would seem like a no to me.

'Because of you, people in Iraq no longer fear being executed and left in mass graves.' No, they just have to worry about being sexually humiliated when imprisoned by you.

'Because of you the world is more peaceful.' No comment.

Someone just held up a pair of flip-flops in the crowd, as Bush was criticising Kerry. Cute. I have to give the woman credit for that.

Hm. The signs in the crowd say 'We salute our troops.' not 'We support...'.

Also, America apparently is still the strongest force for good in the world. Which is why the majority of the world thinks otherwise.

Oooh. He's admitting that he can't speak. 'I knew I had a problem when Arnold...started [correcting my English].'

It's odd (well, probably not): when the Democrats spoke about the courage and honour of the troops and the sacrifices that they were making, I actually felt something. When Bush talks about it, it feel nothing.

'Here buildings fell. Here a nation rose.' Hm. Catchy. Maybe. Still, when half your speech is about the military, I don't trust you.

There's just no energy on the floor. None. They're clapping and all. But no real energy.

Ooh! He's co-opting Edwards's hope theme. 'This is a time for hope.'

This is to be Liberty's century. So, stop restricting out civil liberties.

I can't trust his smile.

As bad a speaker as Kerry is, there was so much MORE energy on the floor. This speech and the reaction from the floor just seems so terribly scripted.

In all, I have to admit, that it wasn't quite as bad as I expected it to be. It was fairly politically astute, not too horribly evil. Which isn't to say that I agreed with anything he said. But, I'm trying to be fair an objective here.

So, the race is on, then. Officially. The debates will be interesting. Now I need to find the video--or at least the transcript--of Kerry's midnight speech in Ohio. Though I should really do my reading for my conference later on. Which means that I should get my ass to the library.