Conventions, and stuff like that.

So I watched a few of the speeches from the Democratic National Convention last night.  I also watched some of the speeches from the Republican National Convention when it was going on.  From this, I observe a few things.  This is all totally in random order.

1) The entire mood of the RNC felt very stale, and even a little negative.  The fact that Ron Paul delegates had enough signatures, and enough delegates, from enough states, to nominate him, and the GOP leadership changed the rules on the spot, to require more states, shows that they're not even trying to hide how corrupt they are.  The entire convention, right down to the speeches, seemed to convey the message, "We're rich. We're white.  We do what we want.  Fuck you."

2) Ann Romney's speech may be the worst 20 minutes I have ever suffered through. Literally, birthing a 10 pound baby with shoulder dystocia, completely unmedicated, in my bed at home, was more tolerable than Ann Romney's speech.  I watched it twice, and read the transcript.  I was looking for anything of substance, and I found nothing.  Now, realistically, I understand that a potential First Lady is not really required to have excellent public speaking skills.  I get that when you marry someone, you have no idea that one day, they're going to run for president, and you will have to stand at a podium and address the world.  For that, I forgive Ann Romney's absolutely awful stage presence.  What I can't overlook is the fact that she just plain seems mean.  That brings me to my next point.

3) Michelle Obama said in her speech last night, that when making the really hard decisions, despite all the advisers and all the data you get to help you, in the end, it comes down to who you are, and your moral compass.  This is why it's important to elect people who genuinely get what it's like for most people who live in this country.  They are equipped to make decisions that best represent what the people would actually want, or what they actually need.  Romney, who thinks people who need money should just borrow it from their parents (because their parents have money?) doesn't get it.  It's like Julian Castro said in his speech last night, it's not necessarily that Mitt Romney is a bad guy.  He just plain doesn't get it. That's really what this comes down to.  It is important to elect someone who gets it.  So basically, vote anyone but Romney.

4) I'm placing this bet right now because anyone willing to bet against me will owe me money.  Julian Castro will be the Democrat presidential nominee in 2016.  There is a lot there that reminds me of Barack Obama a few years ago.  He's young and successful in his elected office (Mayor of San Antonio).  He's very real, from a working class family. He gave the key note address at the DNC (oh, hi, America, meet this guy the party leadership thinks is outstanding!)  Oh, and here's another major thing.  I think next election, one party, or maybe both, will try to get a Hispanic candidate nominated, just because they'll be assured a huge share of the Hispanic vote, which has been a really big thing in recent years. The Republicans don't have many, but I think we need to keep an eye on this Julian Castro from the Democrat side of the house, and also his identical twin brother, Joaquin, also a Democrat, who is running for congress.  These Castro twins are very interesting, and I don't think we've seen the last of them.

5) People are hateful.  After Michelle Obama's speech, the internet was buzzing about it, as always.  I have a diverse group of friends (hence the joke, "Ah, Facebook... Where my Army buddies and my hippie friends come to duke it out.") and the ones who are more liberal, or even centrist, were saying how awesome her speech was.  I mean, even if you don't agree with a thing her husband has done in office, you've got to give Michelle credit.  She's an amazing public speaker. Then there were the neo-cons.  They couldn't say enough about how she's stupid, and "unemployed, living off our tax dollars" (Um, her husband is president.  You really think she's going to work at some law firm AND do all the first lady stuff?  Gee, did Nancy Regan? Laura Bush? Barbara Bush?  No? Well, then what's the difference?), and how her husband has time to read all these letters from people, but signs the letters to families of fallen soldiers with autopen.  Um, I'm not sure how much truth there is to that last part, but if that's what you got out of Michelle's speech, then I feel sorry for you, and that's what the neo-cons got out of it.  As for the anarchists, they had no comment. Shocker.

6) Looking at the crowd at the RNC vs the crowd at the DNC, I think it's very obvious who represents whom.  The RNC was a bunch of white people, mostly old, some kids who texted through the whole thing, and oh, Clint Eastwood talking to a fucking chair.  That was special.  There was no focus on actual issues, or anything particularly relevant to the majority of the nation.  The energy was so dead.  I honestly wonder if most of those people even believe their own line of crap.  The DNC was different.  It felt more honest, more real, and oh yeah, the crowd actually looked like our country.  It wasn't a bunch of old rich white guys.  It was people of every race, every age, every orientation.  There were Texans in hats and boots, VFW members in their garrison caps, union members with their local numbers on their shirts, lesbians with rainbow flags, and everything in between.  Everyone was excited to be there, and the energy was electric.   It is so odd that anyone, who looks like the DNC crowd, would vote with the RNC crowd.  It makes no sense to me.


In summation, I really liked watching both conventions this year.  It gave me a very clear view of what I had suspected all along.  I am glad that I took the time to do that. FYI, for anyone who, like myself, does not have a TV, or even just missed some of the speeches, all the speeches are available on YouTube in their entirety.