Republican National Convention Part I

Ken — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:08:51 +0000

Just a couple of quick thoughts on the Republican convention.

First, it irks me that the crowd chants "U.S.A." so much. They might as well be chanting, "We're More Patriotic".

Second, I'm confused by the message. Is John McCain is a maverick that bucks is own party, or is he a standard-bearer for Republican values? Is Sarah Palin a "breath of fresh air", or is experience the most important issue in this election? Do we need to "shake up Washington", or are we supposed to rely on McCain's decades of Washington experience? Are we supposed to vote based on primarily on personal traits (i.e. vote for McCain because he's an honorable guy), or ignore them (i.e. don't vote for Obama just because of his intelligence)?

Third, the Republican view of world relations is staggering. Not only do they don't think it's important that the world has respect for us and our President, they actually see that as a negative quality. It's as if to say, "if the Germans like Obama, he can't be good for our country."

Don't get me wrong. I found many of the Democratic speeches to be equally irritating for the amount of pandering. But with the Republicans, it's hard to believe that anyone actually falls for it.