convention Coverage: Reporter's Notebook
Obama’s Acceptance Speech - Catharsis for Desperate Dems
By Jill Kuraitis, 8-29-08
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By now, billions of words have been written about Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance of his party’s presidential nomination at Invesco Field in Denver, and TV news people will pick apart the performance and call it show business and Republicans will express their disdain.
Of course it was show business. The Republican convention will be, too. For the past twenty years both parties have held essentially pro forma conventions designed simply to bolster the faithful and hype their candidates. They are what they are.
Whichever convention comes first gets the brunt of the criticism, but it generally dies after the second convention.
But no matter how it looked on television tonight, I am here to tell you that being here on the floor of this huge stadium to feel the wildly inspired throng of 70,000 fired-up Democrats stomp and stamp and whistle and cheer and clap themselves into a near frenzy of hope and shared inspiration was profoundly sincere.
It didn’t feel like show business. It felt like catharsis, especially when Obama said, “It’s time for them to own their failure” – a line that made the Idaho delegation roar with approval.
Millions of us are desperately angry at the Bush/Cheney administration and the prospect of more of the same from Sen. McCain. The ruination of the American economy, the dishonesty of blaming Saddam for 9/11, the outrage of the Bush/Cheney adminstration’s failure to cope with Katrina, the war profiteering, the outrageous claim and insulting cartoon antics of “mission accomplished,” the indignity of being lied to and “handled” through public relations programs designed to hold the illusion that everything is okay, the Republican claim that Democrats are the ‘tax-and-spenders’ when in fact the Republicans have spent us into this mess, the wipeout of civil liberties and the frightening changes to the Constitution – better stop now, because the list is too long to go on – burned like shared fury in the hearts of Democrats at the speech tonight.
But Obama took the fury and turned its power into an affirmation that we will find the lost American dream. We will stop the election of another president who actually thinks America is on the right track, and we will elect a man with high morals, an impressive intellect, inspiring leadership skills and beautiful family values.
The march of twenty military commanders who support Obama, the stories from ordinary Americans about their struggles and troubles under Bush, the music, the singing, the fireworks – go ahead, call it show business if you want. But the sight of the dozens of people I could see around me crying with both anger and hope – men in expensive suits breaking into streaming-tears sobs, the hold-tight hugs of strangers and friends and the repeated words among the delegates - “We HAVE to elect him, we HAVE to” as Obama ended his soaring speech – it wasn’t show. It wasn’t. It was the most real political occasion I’ve ever known, and may have been the greatest in American history.
Go ahead, Senator McCain. Just try telling us that the policies of the treacherous Bush administration is the fallen gauntlet you will pick up. We will be busy at campaign work with our neighbors, helping to elect Obama, and we’ll only stop long enough to knock it right out of your hands.
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Comments
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A welcome surprise on economic news front
The government said that the economy grew much faster in the second quarter than thought. Wall Street pounced on the news.
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM, New York Times
The economy expanded faster from April through June than originally thought, the government said Thursday, catching many economists off guard and cheering investors on Wall Street.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a 3.3 percent clip in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said, a significant jump over the original estimate of 1.9 percent growth. The broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, GDP is considered a good barometer of the country's economic health.
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Of course that is not to say there hasn't been trouble. But I don't think the NYT has been bought by the RNC.
(-;
But alas, the president has bigger responsibilities than giving speeches. And I'll be continuing to seriously consider both of the major-party candidates, as well as Bob Barr, the Libertarian (I lean that way - I'm disgusted with BOTH of the major parties. Any objective person will realize that Bush isn't singlehandedly responsible for the situation, either good or bad. His approval numbers are sky-high compared with those of Congress - the Congress that both Obama and McCain are party to.)
The Democrats should pray for a really big Hurricane Gus, for partisan political purposes. It would look really bad if N'Awleans is getting blasted away again, while the Elephant People are partying up north. (In Larry Craig's favorite stopover.)
It's hard to believe that huge spectacle last night (and it was spectacular!) was "carbon neutral." But just the same, we know those Democrats are very concerned about that kind of stuff.
God bless the United States of America.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080829/economy.html
Personal incomes fell by 0.7% last month. What have people been saying about the Bush-McSame economic theory?
Any growth and increases in productivity were/are not passed on in the form of wages or benefits, but were/are taken by the fat cats and used to buy so many houses that they lose count.
So there was an increase in GDP. The American people were rewarded for it by getting a pay cut. Seems to be the McSame old, McSame old.
Please take take a fact-based reality check. Over the last 10 years median family income adjusted for inflation has declined by $300 while productivity has risen by 19%. 1.8 million of our fellow citizens go bankrupt every year, probably more this year, -- half driven to bankruptcy by health care costs. In two years the final count on foreclosures will come in ... over 5 million estimated.
The figures of in your cited article were driven by exports and the stimulus package. Exports (2.1% of the increase) means mostly a lot of planes from Boeing. The stimulus package effect is over. In the meantime, inflation is rising, jobs are vanishing, and more people have dropped into poverty. The middle class is squeezed more than ever while the top 5%'s wealth increases beyond even their dreams. Fact: The 400 wealthiest US families, all billionaires, have more wealth than the entire lowest 50%.
In the meantime let's discuss the housing meltdown/credit crisis in Canada. OHHH, there isn't one. Some crazy government regulation there.
Recognize it for what it is: Runaway Capitalism.
Despite the mildly hopeful economic news from last quarter, American families remain well behind where we were when Bush and Cheney took office. For BikeBoy and others on the fence, ask yourselves: Which of the two major tickets has its sights fixed firmly on the future, especially the huge energy challenges that await?
We'll all give the GOP its due this week, but the Democrats are clearly committed to green jobs and cleaner energy, which will make more prosperous, healthy, and secure. I'm voting our energy future on November 4, so I'll be voting for Obama-Biden.
Besides, we know the facts are on our side. Trickle-down economics have been roundly discredited, and Idahoans are tired of divisive wedge politics and an ineffective statehouse dominated by one party. It's just a matter of Idaho catching up to the rest of the Mountain West and giving Democrats a chance to lead, just as the citizens of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico have done.
As to charges of racism see: http://www.voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/08/the_case_against_joe_biden.html
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In the summer of 2006, as he was publicly mulling the race, Biden set off a controversy over comments he made about Indian Americans.
"I've had a great relationship [with Indian Americans]," Biden said. "In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."
On the day he formally announced his candidacy, a New York Observer story that quoted Biden as calling Obama "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" came out, and the resultant uproar effectively undercut any momentum Biden was hoping to build.
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But I will continue to say that you are a coward as you hide behide your mask with your libelous remarks about others who have the courage to use their own names.
In fact, wasn't the operative code-named "Rose Mary" the one that always writes the songs you like to praise? Since "Barack banana" also wrote a song, perhaps "Rose Mary", who might be hiding from the secret service, is now disguising their identity by using the name "Barack banana"? Both are lyrical racists, so who knows?
Besides, I know what Republicans like to do when they find out people's names. Republican leaders like Michelle Malkin start advertising their home addresses and phone numbers, and the death threats and harrassment from the "moral majority" dead-enders start rolling in. How do I know secret op "Rose Mary" wouldn't show up at my house with a "sawed off shotgun" if I used my real name? Rose Mary threatens presidential candidates, so I wouldn't put it past him/her.
http://www.americablog.com/2006/04/top-republican-blogger-posts-phone.html
I don't blame you for your frustrations and attempts at distraction, you are part of an empty and message-less syndicate, and you are grasping at straws.
That being said you reveal you have absolutely nothing of substance to repair Biden's and Obama's troubles. The distraction and smokescreen are entirely yours.