But the baloons came down without a hitch.

Go check out Talking Points Memo. Nobody really knew what the building was in the backdrop. Apparently, it's Walter Reed Middle School, which seems kind of weird to have for a backdrop. Josh thinks that maybe, just maybe, they screwed up and meant to have Walter Reed medical center instead. That would be too funny!

Was there any substance to Sarah Palin's speech, either? Neither offered anything that addressed the problems facing the nation and the public. Both retread the failed concepts that are the foudation of our problems. He was dull and meandering, she was venomous and hyper negative. Going forward that's not an attractive ticket.

McCain's speech lacked as much substance as it was overly self-referential. McCain tried to make it sound as if history had been thrust upon him and he (only he), the self-declared, obstinate maverick, would respond to yet another call to duty.

All those jingoistic white people shouting "USA, USA" while waving "Country First" flags completed the picture of a GOP devoted to nationalism and leader adulation, with a gun totin' babe thrown in to get the juices flowing.

It's almost as if the GOP has become the political incarnation of all those guns-n-babes web sites.

That 9/11 video is unforgiveable. Bet that turned some people off.

I would rather lose an election than lose sleep over giving a lousy speech. Mission accomplished!

At least he made Olbermann cry.
Posted by: Orwell

By showing lurid footage of the World Trade Center's destruction. Nice to know you're not only stupid, but cruel, dunce.

Orwell: How come he didn't say he would make us oil free in 10 years?

Because he lacks vision.

How come he didn't promise to give everyone a tax cut?

Because he's a POW, dammit! And because HIS kind of tax cuts don't apply to everyone.

And, as I recall, Obama didn't promise tax cuts for everyone. Just people who could, you know, use them.

look, could we get better trolls here? the one we've got is really really dumb........

Well, they've already said they're running on personality, not issues, so don't look for any problem-solving ideas. That's also clear by the way they pretend to be running against Obama personally, not the Democratic party and its platform. Except for the times when they seem to be running against those screw-ups who are running Washington -- you know, the Republicans.

P.J. in Jesusland @ 8:18: "It's almost as if the GOP has become the political incarnation of all those guns-n-babes web sites."

Oh yes, yes, yes! The whole "chicks with guns" fetish underground occurred to me this morning - I first thought about it when I saw the clip of Palin shooting the automatic rifle a few days ago, but it really crystallized this morning.

Here's the youtube clip - bonus relevance when you read the hilarious (disturbing) comments to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa_0YgSVu7s

It would be a great marketing strategy if all those neck-breathin' brain stems who love the babes in bandoliers with bayonets were "swing voters"!

I know it's early, but I think Obama has this election in "check", even if too early to say "mate".

Outside of McInsane's talk of his experiences as a POW, which I found moving and somewhat passionate, his speech was borderline embarrassing. The speech itself sucked, which didn't help him, but his delivery was abysmal. His speech boils down to, "Elect me, I'm a POW."

So, maybe instead of GRAMPY and THE SHRILL...it should be the other way around????

The thug's pat defense of this stinker will consist of a shrug and 'We all know he isn't a great public speaker', thereby ignoring the stale, vacuous content and emphasizing poor delivery.

I agree it wasn't a good speech. He should never say POW again. But then I'm getting sick of change,change,change,change,change,change,change,
change,change,change,change,change,change,
change,change,

Wednesday night Rudi and Palin threw red meat to the crowd to build party unity. They were feeding the Republican Party anger, not a difficult task. There was real chemistry between the speakers and the audience.

Last night had to be the night to reach out to moderates, independents and perhaps the (mythical) disaffected Democrat. Feeding anger wasn't possible last night, and McCain is not a natural speaker anyway. The Republicans simply do not want to reach out to moderates, independents and (God forbid) Democrats.

Other than reacting to the story of his POW experience four decades ago, there was no chemistry between McCain and his audience. There's no surprise there. The audience has no interest is what he had to offer beyond the story that represents his personal character, and he is not a good enough speaker to find an element of chemistry with that audience and build on it.

As in the Republican Primaries, the various Republican factions are turning inward towards their separate bases. That what energizes them. Not reaching out the expand the party.

FWIW a Republican friend at work said he feel asleep during the speech.

My #1 issue is healthcare. I am self-employed and if anyone in my family gets a long-term malady like cancer, we are hosed. Did healthcare even get mentioned at the Republican convention?

I didn't catch the speech (but did catch a viscerally hilarious Jon Stewart last night)

however, judging from the clips I've seen and the reviews that have poured in all I can think is:

"Remember Alice? This is a song about Alice"

;)

Yet, at the same time, Chris Matthews said immediately after the speech , while masturbating himself under the table, that the speech showed how much McEvil had divorced himself from Bush, and how 'great' the speech was as a result, and that by next week McEvil will be ahead in the polls because 'AMERICAN LOVES A WINNER' .. yes, that is what the used repiglican cunt actually said ..'america loves a winner' .. Matthews might as well put on that old, used, 'blue stained' dress and march himself right into that men's bathroom at the St.Paul airport , find Larry Craig's stall, and wait for McEvil, who is in Chris's heart, to show up ...

"Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson on MSNBC: 'The policy in the speech was rather typical for a Republican. Pretty disappointing.'"

Couldn't have said it better myself.

It doesn't matter how boring, substance-free, or unseemly McCain's speech was, because Sarah Palin is a sexy Joan of Arc.

That's what the GOP's message boils down to: Look over there, Christian soldiers! Cleavage!

Didn't see the speech itself, but apparently David Gergen's remarks on CNN were:

"It was mostly a rerun, retread of a lot of old Republican ideas that have brought us to where we are now. I think the country is looking for fresh answers."

Yet, at CNN.com, check out the Republican Convention Report Card where Gergen sez:

"Overall, I came away believing that the McCain-Palin ticket will be very formidable this fall. And even thought the speech was long, I thought it had a strong political impact." Grade A

So, which was it, Dave?

Like "stormsklies" I couldn't believe my ears when Chris Matthews started gushing about the historic aspects of McCain's speech. Every time I think Matthews is finally reining in all those man-crushes that seem to overwhelm him from time to time, he goes off the deep end again.

Too bad none of the commentators I listened to had the balls to point out that McCain promising to reach out to the Dems was nothing short of ludicrous since every speaker for the last 3 days had done nothing but bash, demean, insult and belittle Democrats non-stop.

Oh well, at least McGrampy tipped his hat to Barack Obama and his supporters, saying that they were Americans too. (Of course, he then went on to refer to us as the "me first, country second" crowd.) Way to keep us divided, Gramps ... straight out of Karl Rove's playbook.

I can't believe he spent even one moment in front of a green screen! He's just asking for it... apparently he has no aids who watch the Cobert Report.

Not exactly a home run, you say. That would be forgetting the duplicity of the media!

Case in point, Carla Marinucci of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Upside: "They have done such an effective job of branding Obama as an out-of-touch celebrity, that his superior speaking skills are actually a detriment...

Conversely, being a poor speaker -- not good, not polished -- is a plus."

You just can't make this sh*t up.

Good reads, I'd rather have paper cuts across my corneas than have to watch another Re-pubic blithering idiot. Somebody else said it, switch the ticket around to Harpy and the Troll instead the Troll and the Harpy. Good, John McSame appears to have even fizzled out the power of his rather new dynamically global social conservative negative dynamo, Sarah Palin. Ha-ha, you guys suck!

Pretty much down to a Lucy this time, the Republicans. Ironically, they even have a Lucy to hold the ball and hector gullible Charlie Brown to go for it one more time.

But what can you say when all you stand for is gutting the government so the rich can get much, much richer? Just let us walk all over you some more, and we'll feed you some hate talk in return to slake your anger and resentment.

And the American people might just do that. Again.

Drat. I missed the balloon drop. Went to sleep about 2/3 of the way through the "speech".

Did anyone else notice McCain smiling at different times in his speech? It was as if he found himself amusing or proud of the line he just delivered, I don't know what it was but it was creepy at times. Kinda reminded me of George Bush and his self assure smirks. Not the "I work for you" kind of gesture I would expect.

It wasn't supposed to be a rousing success. It was supposed to distance McCain from the previous nights' proceedings, which would not have been out of place in Michael Vick's basement.

My only real critique was: Insufficient use of Trig.

That's Just What I Said

I watched as much of the Republican convention as I could stomach, which means about half of it. I came away more appalled at all things Republican than I thought would be possible. For me, the worst were Rudy Giuliani and Cindy McCain. Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, distortion, lie, lie, half-truth, distortion, truth, lie, lie, lie. Cindy's intro for her husband painted him as a saint among men, family values, great dad, blah, blah, blah, all sorts of wonderful stuff, but all this was in support of a guy who walked out on his first wife after having affairs, and after taking out a new marriage license before the old marriage was ended. I don't care overmuch about those sorts of details (they're fascinatingly sordid, and they don't say anything good about McCain, but love and relationships are nothing if not complicated and messy), but for Cindy to stand there and sell a complete load of horse manure to the nation was too much. Palin was almost as untruthful, and McCain was also polishing rabbit turds and trying to pass them off as raisinettes. The Republican strategy of lying about their opponents, attacking their opponents' strengths, charging their opponents with their own failings and weaknesses, and their whole general waterboarding-is-not-torture, clean-skies-healthy-forests, up-is-down, day-is-night approach is just loathsome. As someone who essentially never donated prior to 2006, I've been giving money to Obama fairly steadily, but I think it's past time I also started looking for other Democrats who need contributions in order to try to wipe Washington as clean as possible of the Republican stench.