2012 Republican National Convention – Day 1 and/or 2

Exactly, so I’m going to try and muscle through this quickly because this is going to be a long week with all of this hot air coming out of Tampa and I refuse to give them all of my attention. Point blank they haven’t earned it. I know they’re “angry” and they want to “take their country back” from the socialist uppity black man who is currently in office. I know they think their policies are what’s best for the future of our country but I respectfully and wholeheartedly disagree. Also, keeping up with their deformed version of events and outright lies is becoming exhausting so let’s see what someone else had to say…

Elspeth Reeve’s Atlantic Wire article entitled: “The Best Parts of the GOP’s ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Night” provided regular updates that were informative and humorous. A few excerpts are below:

7:04p.m.: Obama was talking about infrastructure, not businesses, when he said “you didn’t build that,” but that will not ruin Republicans’ fun. Neither will the fact that Sher Valenzuela, a small business owner and candidate for lieutenant governor of Delaware who will be speaking tonight, got $17 million in federal loans for her company.

Bam! And Reeve is correct regarding the accuracy of Obama’s quote which in its entirety is as follows:

Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. (Slate)

And yet speaker after speaker after speaker kept returning to the very last line in his quote. Sigh. Seriously that’s the theme of your entire convention? Deliberately misinterpreting one sentence in an extended quote? And you still want to bemoan the bias of the “liberal media” when Democrats highlight legitimate bullshit commentary from YOUR side? Do me a favor, grow up and come correct.

Anyway, continuing on…

The Repubs have a new darling that I assume they are planning to trot out with a lot more frequency. She is African-American, attractive and mayor of a city in Utah. And yes, she is one of them.

7:46p.m.: Mia Love, mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah and a candidate for Congress, has a warm smile and is a much better speaker than Reince Priebus. Love says Obama divides the country by social class, and references Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. before saying, “This is the America we know, because we built it!” Expect to see more of her.

Sigh. I’m not going to ad hoc disparage another sister but I can tell you this, I am giving her the hard side eye.

8:00p.m.: Speaking now is Sher Valenzuela, who talks about starting a small business to make money after her son’s autism diagnosis. But as BuzzFeed reports, in April she gave a PowerPoint-presentation on getting government contracts to build your business.

Classic.

9:23p.m.: Santorum says of his immigrant grandfather: “In 1923 there were no benefits for immigrants except one: freedom.” We would politely note that the U.S. had passed a number of labor laws before that date.

Excellent point but why let FACTS get in the way of your agenda?

10:00p.m.: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says everyone’s trying so hard, but Obama is dragging us down. “The hardest part of my job continues to be dealing with this, this administration, and this president,” she says. “Unfortunately,  you can work hard, try to be as successful as possible, and play by the rules. And president Obama will do anything he can to stand in your way.” She explains that Obama sued the state over it’s “innovative” immigration law.

Funny that Gov Haley should talk about “standing in the way” because I would venture to say that President Obama might feel the same way about dealing with a Republican Congress for the last two years. It is truly difficult to get ish done when you have a Congress that stands fast in their refusal to cooperate with the White House time and time again EVEN with regard to ideas they have traditionally supported. #Disingenioushatinga*sbastards

10:15p.m.: Ann Romney takes the stage. “Tonight I want to talk to you from my heart about our hearts,” she says. “I want to talk not about what divides us, but what holds us together as an American family. I want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good, and the deepest solace in our dark hours. Tonight I want to talk to you about love.”

Okay sure, let’s talk about “love.” How about we would LOVE to see more of your tax returns? (Beat) Yeah, that’s what I thought.

10:33p.m.: “This man will not fail,” Ann Romney promises. When she closes her speech, Mitt meets her on stage. They kiss, but it is not Al and Tipper Gore territory.

Nor was it a cool Barack and Michelle “fist bump.”

Love this team!

10:45p.m.: “We are the United States  of America!” Christie says, to huge applause. The $2.5 million stage with its 13 screens reflects this point rather simply, with a photo of the Statue of Liberty.

They keep talking this “WE are the UNITED states of AMERICA” stuff and yet their version of a “United States” seems extremely divisive – no same-sex marriages, restrictions on women’s rights, no universal healthcare (i.e., poor people should just wander off and die), give more tax breaks to the wealthy so they have more money to hide overseas – yeeeeaaaah that platform doesn’t sound very inclusive to me.

And the kicker of course is the massive visual of the Statute of Liberty while pushing an aggressive anti-immigration platform. Gee you guys are stupid. #ToddAkin

11:06p.m.: Even when Christie gets into the inspiring part of his speech at the end — about how we need “a second American century” — he has angry eyebrows.

To quote Nelson:

Seriously, that “angry eyebrows” line accompanied with the photo was hiiiii-larious.

Also regarding Christie’s speech this excellent point was made by the New York Times:

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, in the keynote speech, angrily demanded that the American people learn the hard truths about the two parties, but like most of those at the microphone, he failed to supply any. He said his state needed his austere discipline of slashed budgets, canceled public projects and broken public unions, but did not mention that New Jersey now has a higher unemployment rate than when he took over, and never had the revenue boom he promised from tax cuts.

Honestly, this merry go round of half truths, no truths and repeated revising of recent history is making me seasick. And of course here’s another:

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio…boasted of the booming economy in his state, never mentioning that he and Mr. Romney opposed the auto bailout that has played an outsized role in the state’s recovery. (Apparently Mr. Obama’s destructive economic policies do not apply everywhere.) (NYT)

Its funny how you can lie to yourself over and over and over again until one morning you actually start to believe your own lunacy. Did I say “its funny”? I meant to say “its sad” and it becomes tragic when you deliberately spread your lies to other people. It is one thing to lie to yourself, it is downright evil to lie to others. #shame

Reeves recap from The Atlantic Wire:

11:23p.m: With the first night done, here’s what we learned: The emerging analysis: Ann Romney did a really good job — better than Chris Christie. She defended her husband’s business success and spoke from “my heart.” Christie talked about himself too much. They both remember their crappy first apartments as harrowing experiences. Rick Santorum tested everyone’s patience with his overuse of a hands metaphor. Bob McDonnell’s smile is so perfect he looks like a parody of a southern politician. Mitt Romney still gets uncomfortable when he’s the center of attention. Attendees swayed to “God Bless the U.S.A” sung by a reality show contestant. The GOP version of actress Janine Turner unexpectedly looks more Hollywood than the TV version of Janine Turner.

Initially I thought this was going to be a chore but I had fun with it thanks to the excellent work of The Atlantic Wire’s Elspeth Reeve and the helpful bullet point analysis of “half-truths” pointed out by The New York Times. Good looking out yo.