Platitudes

Ok, here is the actual post regarding the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Let me preface by saying that while I mostly hate politics, I truly enjoy watching debates and political speeches for the sheer entertainment. I love politicians' bold offensive statements regarding their opponents' personal flaws, their awe-inspiring "I've overcame tough stuff, I'm relate-able" stories, and of course their generic sayings to arouse an oh so patriotic feeling... which usually results in the audience repeatably chanting USA, or 4 MORE YEARS. Those funny and completly nonsensical chants always remind me of the scene from Arrested Development found here. What strikes me the most, however, is the fact that these men and women mostly come from a fairly prestigious academic background, yet they hardly demonstrate that knowledge in their speeches. They instead sound immature and often uneducated. I am going to highlight some of the speeches I heard and what resonated with me. I may not be able to name some of the speakers, however, I'm sure they were not very important if I can't remember their names.

We'll start with Mia Love (R), and how I wish I didn't remember her name (really the only reason I do is because she is from my lovely home state of Utah). Her speech was full of platitudes lacking very much substance or meaning for that matter. Here is a great example, "The America I know is grounded in the determination found... [in] every child who looks at the seemingly impossible and says, 'I can do that'." (and don't worry, I'm not taking it out of context, it was just a really long thought). This is where I have a really hard time with politics. The statements like this are made just to get an emotional rise out of people, specifically parents and blindly patriotic people. They have no substantive information which is why I think that is enough said on my homegurl.

Next was Ann Romney's quite dignified recollection of her past during a humble time in her family's life. She did a good job of portraying her husband as an extremely hard worker, which I do not doubt, and she brought the needed woman's touch to his image. Although I do question how "humble" their lives truly were, I am sure that having a husband attending Harvard Law and Harvard Business school at the same time while raising 5 boys would be very difficult.

Now Paul Ryan's speech did nothing for me; from what I remember it was full of attacks. I agree there have been numerous fubar decisions taken by the Obama administration, yet Ryan's approach was wrong, along with some of his facts. He was far too aggressive to seem likable and thank goodness he was followed by Clint Eastwood the next night....who even remembers any of the previous speeches now?? Did you know there is now such a verb called "Eastwooding" (you know, like Tebowing) which has numerous definitions. I thought I could never feel awkward or uncomfortable in my own home. Well, Clint Eastwood duped me on that. Oh, if you haven't seen the ramblings of an aging man, you should probably check it out. This was a bad decision by the Convention, period.

Let's talk now about Mitt Romney. He effectively displayed the need for a business man in office and took a jab at Obama for having no experience in that field. I agree with the idea that business experience matters and Romney is a business wiz. He also spoke of his upbringing and family, a consistent theme throughout the Convention. Contrary to what Obama and most of the Democrats stated, Romney did actually go through his plan for office. He had a 5 step plan, which I'm actually going to say is a 6 step plan. It is as follows:

1. Energy independence
2. Give citizens the skills they need today for the jobs tomorrow 
3. Make trade work for America (force new trade agreements/consequences) 
4. Balance the budget 
5. Champion small business and reduce the taxes on them
6. Repeal and replace 'Obama-care'

I do wish he would have gone into more depth on each of his steps. However, I'm pretty sure that is just too much to ask of a candidate. He ended by saying he will not raise taxes on the middle class, honor the institution of marriage and guarantee the freedom of religion. His promise is to "help you and your family."

Wow, this post is getting long.

Moving on to Clinton. Great speech eh? I really did enjoy his words, especially his argument on cooperation and compromise between all parties. Sadly, those are his ideas of how government should operate, and clearly not Obama's. What I did not fancy was his "the economy HAS grown, you just can't feel it yet." Which was also emphasized in both Biden's and Obama's speeches.

A couple of thoughts on Obama's speech. I"ll start with the best quote in the entire convention, "You didn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear, you elected me to tell you the truth". This is funny... does he not remember why he got elected in the first place? Did he accidentally say that backwards? His whole foundation is hope and change for the future. My observation is this, Obama entertains statements that tug at your heart strings to distract your rational thinking. He does this by examples of how he has changed the life of someone. For example, his stories of the little girl with the rare disease who can now be covered on insurance, or the soldier who had his leg amputated and is now running and having dinner with the Obama's. These stories left numerous people in the audience with tears. Simply said, he is an idealist. He has a very ideal vision for the future of the United States, but he lacks the needed "here and now" leadership to implement the needed action and follow through.

Well that's it folks. Those are my thoughts... what are yours?

Oh, quick P.S.   Is it just me or do all of the balloons falling from the convention ceilings make you think about people with a latex allergy? I was freaking out for them.