Democratic Convention - Day 2

Alrighty, folks...to keep you caught up, go here for my day 1 thoughts.

On day 2 of the convention, I watched for 3 speakers: Bob Casey, Mark Warner, and Hillary Clinton. Because of the limited schedule that was being broadcast by the networks, I changed over to CNN...and discovered that without exception, their pundits are pathetic. But let's get to the speeches.

Bob Casey
A fellow Scrantonian (we share an alma mater for our high school) and Roman Catholic, I generally consider Casey to be a pretty good guy. In fact, I like the whole family. But, of course, I have some issues with remarks made during tonight's speech. According to Casey:

• The current economy favors the powerful and leaves everyone else to fend for themselves. (Interesting. I thought the point of being a free nation was for everyone to fend for him or herself.)
• Jobs are going oversees and gas prices are skyrocketing. (Should the president tell major corporations not to lower their labor costs by offshoring? Or should he hop across the pond to visit the members of OPEC and ask them nicely to stop f'n with gas prices? Oh, wait. He's done that. They haven't.)
• PA is apparently a hard state to win. (Um, BS. Flag on the play. There are so many Dems in PA that they could cancel deer season and hunt for them instead. It's always been a blue state. Which, considering Casey's political heritage, he should damn well know!)

Mark Warner
This one-term governor of Virginia who is now attempting a run for the Senate was certainly passionate, but alternately lacked in substance or made blatantly false statements. Oh, and his face looks like a mask. A creepy one. *Shudder* From Gov. Warner:

• "No nation we can't out-hustle" (WTF does this mean? Hustle? That doesn't exactly have a positive connotation when used to describe politics.)
• After talking about how so many people struggle because of their leaders, he described his own success as an American...which mostly came during times of Republican presidencies. Did anyone else catch that?!?
• "Never tapped into the character and resolve of the American people." (So, when Bush called for unity after 9/11, that wasn't tapping into character and resolve? When Bush decided that to defend our interests domestically, we needed to remove dangers internationally, that didn't tap into character and resolve? What an idiotic comment to make.)
• Apparently, in Mr. Warner's world, we can completely get off foreign oil dependency in just 24 months by changing to all hybrid cars. Uh, so is the government going to buy new cars for all of us? Cause (a) I don't intend to buy a hybrid and (b) there's a lot of cars on the road and a lot of folks who can't afford new cars so (c) even if that many new hybrids are available, we'll still need oil!
• Barack Obama is going to rebuild the military. (Oh puh-leeze. When has a Dem president EVER done that? Instead, they look to decimate troop levels and ensure that a drunken French contingent could kick our asses if we ever came a-calling.)
• Universal healthcare will save money, bring down costs and cover everybody. (Ok...and it will be paid for how? Gee, there's a cost savings...jack my taxes by an extra 10% but then tell me what healthcare I can have. Great plan.)

Hillary Clinton
I think my cousin Nic said it best when her Twitter described Hillary's outfit choice as "ballsy." I found it hilarious that about 1/4 of the Hillary supporters were waving their Hillary signs upside-down. There's a great sign of their intellect! During her speech, watching Michelle Obama's face was a trip. Speaking of faces, Hillary's expressions are just so dang insincere. And then there was Bill...what a fraud he is. His face...like the cat who ate the canary. Honestly, this felt more like her farewell speech to supporters than a supportive speech to the man who will be the actual nominee. When she did talk about Obama, it was all catch phrases and, as per usual, nothing of substance.

Incidentally, there were a lot of kids at the Convention tonight. Isn't taking small children to a political arena somewhat on par with taking your wife to the strip club? Just not a good idea to expose them to that level of human behavior!

From Hillary's speech:

• Universal healthcare will provide high quality care at affordable prices. (Again, people should stop being sheep and seriously consider how this would be paid for. You think a lot gets "taken" from your paycheck now by the government? Just wait until there's social programs like this in place. The amount you "lose" will double. At least. I, for one, think that's an awful idea with very low return on value.)
• Minimum wage this, minimum wage that. Shut up. (Folks, minimum wage is currently double what it was when I started working. And let's assess this: minimum wage is paid for minimum jobs. Necessary jobs, yes. But not exactly on par with jobs that require degrees, training and experience. If we keep raising the minimum wage, we're going to put small businesses right out of business. And God forgive me for saying this, but no wonder some of them go hire illegals that they can pay less! We want cheap services and goods but high pay - basic economics would rule that an impossibility, folks. Democrats never have understood basic economics, however.)
• George Bush gave windfall profits to the oil companies. (Wasn't that nice of him. Now, did he use his American Express for this gift, or just write a check? You moron, these companies earned their profits. Sure, they seem obscene to us, but they weren't given to them! It's capitalism, fools, not communism!)
• Obama will do this great thing and that great thing and just be wonderful at the other. (How heartwarming. Apparently, he can rub his tummy AND pat his head at the same time. Unfortunately, running a country is a bit more complex than that, and I still haven't heard a cohesive plan for all these great changes he apparently is just going to wave his magic wand to make come about.)
• Under Republican presidents, gas prices have gone up, job creation has gone down, and debt levels have gone through the roof. (Ok, so again with the gas prices. See above. Moving along, since when is it the PRESIDENT'S responsibilty to create jobs? Again with the communist viewpoint. And debt levels? Who writes the budget for this country? Not the President! Try Congress! These people need a basic lesson in what a president actually can and cannot do. And Hillary's a great one to speak about debt levels, considering her campaign is STILL $24M in debt, including $3M she loaned to herself. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)

One of the interviews post-Hillary was with delegate Anne Price Mills, who was just so emotional over Hillary that she was finding it hard to speak. Lord help us from the irrationals. This woman is seriously considering not voting at all in November because she won't consider McCain and Obama hasn't convinced her yet and she'd rather have Hillary. There's a logical thought process - for a four year old! I don't get my way so I'm taking my toys and I'm going home. But I can guarantee you that if she doesn't vote and McCain wins, she'll spend the next 4 years bitching! What a twit.

That concludes my look at day 2 of the Democratic Convention. Your turn, readers! Have at it!