Month: August 2008

Thank God for that. A bit of show-boating; a bit of invective; a couple of jokes; a good line or two; and a great sense of fun and passion. And it’s so good to hear a political speech in America that finally names the "petro-dictators" as the enemy they are, and puts the question of energy as a critical part of national security. This is one of the most critical questions we face.

Michael Flynn on Bob Casey’s chant:

In four months it will be December 26th. The next President is sworn in on January 20, 2009. So, in "four more months", we’ll have about one month left for the Bush Administration.

And these people want to set my tax rates?

A reader writes:

To second your reaction, I will just say YAWN. Up until Mark Warner, I thought I was watching rehearsals.  I kept thinking:  this is it? This is the Obama Convention? Thank the Obama campaign for their now apparent genius in deciding to have Obama accept the nomination in front of 75,000 people; the excitement involved will be necessary to wipe away the memories of these horrendously boring and sub-mediocre speakers.

This is 2004 redux, where Kerry’s convention bored in comparison to the excitement and unexpectedly partisan tone of the Bush convention. I just hope things get better.

I know I’m not a Democrat, but so far this convention – apart from Michelle – has helped me remember why.

I’m not judging their accomplishments, merely noting that Mark Warner and Bob Casey were terribly mediocre speakers, their speeches unfocused, their themes muddled, and their style close to non-existent. I guess none of this matters much until the networks move in at 10 pm. But what’s been broadcast tonight has been a meandering, tedious mess. I always associated the Obama campaign with crisp, clear messaging. Not tonight.

It was for real. Will has updated.

Get used to more of this:

Moscow "is seriously concerned about a new case of mass death of civilians in Afghanistan and expresses sincere condolences to the families of those killed". The ministry "urges the command of the foreign military contingents deployed in Afghanistan to take all measures to prevent such ‘indiscriminate’ strikes that lead to the loss of human life among civilians".

From the people who brought you the Chechnya war.

A reader writes:

The letter you ran from that father identifies a distinct universal feeling that Michelle’s speech captured.  But, beyond speaking to mothers and fathers of various ages, the line about driving home from the hospital also spoke to another audience — sons and daughters of various ages who, like Obama, felt an obligation to "to give [to their children] everything he’d struggled so hard for himself, determined to give [their children] what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father’s love."  This is the flip side of the Father’s Day speech Obama gave earlier this year.

Obama clicked with people, like myself, who grew up for two-thirds of my life without my father around — and still deals, even now, with a man who has remained completely selfish and distant his entire life. Obama is an inspiration to the many in the post-Boomer generation — regardless of color — who grew up without a responsible male role model.

Obama can say to them: "Yes, you are able to overcome these circumstances and succeed — not merely professionally — but personally as well. You can create the better family life that was denied you. Are you able to overcome the emotional wounds inflicted upon you by a father’s absence (or recklessness)? Yes, you can."

I’m a Republican. But the Obamas said and showed a better statement of family values Monday than anything the GOP has tried to force down America’s collective throat for the last two decades.

That’s the death toll from a US air-strike in Afghanistan. It was obviously a tragic accident, although the details of this horrifying mass casualty have yet to be determined:

How the military came to call in air strikes on a civilian gathering still remains unclear. Two parliamentarians, Mr. Safi and Maulavi Gul Ahmad, who is from the area, said the villagers blamed tribal enemies for giving the military false intelligence.

“According to the villagers their enemies give false report to Americans that foreign fighters were gathering in the village,” Mr. Safi said.

But sometimes, it seems to me the US needs to better understand the psychological impact of an event like this on populations Americans are trying to win over. Imagine if an airstrike from a foreign power killed 60 American children – even in an accident. It would be an historic event that would be seared into the Western consciousness for ever. And yet, US bombs just killed exactly that number and the odds are: this is the first time you heard about it. Oh, and one more thing:

Russia, at odds with the United States and much of the West over its recognition of two breakaway regions in the Central Asian country of Georgia, said it would raise the issue on Tuesday afternoon at the Security Council.

Yes, they’re back.

Mitt Romney is a bad thug, which is why he’d be a fatal choice for McCain. And so it was rather bizarre to hear him say that John McCain deserves all his houses/mansions/compounds because of the "hard work" of McCain and his wife. McCain, to my knowledge, has never had a private sector job – unless you count working for his father-in-law – and his wife is a largely absentee heiress to her father’s beer fortune. They inherited their fabulous life-style, and did nothing to earn it, unlike Mitt. For good measure, Romney, McCain and Bush were all products of the affirmative action called rich-and/or-powerful daddy. Obama did it all with no father and no inheritance. But he’s the elitist. Their chutzpah is enough to drive you up the wall.