The Republican National Convention hit the ground running last night after a one day delay in major speeches and events due to Hurricane Gustav, despite many liberal's wishes for a disaster in New Orleans to disrupt the convention schedule and draw attention to the perceived inadequacies of the Republican Administration in the face of such a disaster. With all due respect to those who are still enduring the hardship of the tragedy, the unfortunate event on the Gulf Coast actually provided a benefit for the Republican Convention: the association of John McCain tp George W. Bush was able to be downplayed by having Bush deliver his abbreviated speech delivered by satellite.

The highlight of the evening, without a doubt, was the speech by Fred Thompson, who deftly skewered H. (Obama) while accuratley painting a portrait of both John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin. Without mentioning H. by name for the first ten or so minutes, Thompson told the story of McCain's biography, punctuated every few minutes with a back-handed jab at his opponent. For example, there's no missing the contrast between the oppenents when he stated "He has been to Iraq eight times since 2003. He went seeking truth, not publicity. "
The barbs became more pointed during the second half of the speech, with Thompson directly addressing the weaknesses of H. and Biden, and highlighting the advantages of McCain and Palin. The overall message of "who can you trust with the Presidency" was well-communicated, and the weaknesses of H. were well highlighted.

Joe Lieberman's speech, while not as rousing or as pointed as Thompson's, was also well-received. There were a few bemused faces in the crowd as Lieberman made a passing reference to the successes of Bill Clinton's presidency, but other than that, the speech seemed effective. At the end, Liebermann made an impassioned plea for independents, Reagan Democrats and undecideds to vote for McCain and Palin.

One thing that was apparent between the two conventions, the DNC and the RNC, was the focus of the message. The main theme of the Republican Convention, as emblazoned on the many placards held by the crowd, was "Country First." This was echoed by a message that was decidedly patriotic, but more than that, uniquely American. The Republican message is a call to action for Americans to continue to be self-reliant, which had always been a prominent quality of Americans and American history.

The theme of the Democrats convention seemed to be that it's okay to act like a dependent child, the government will be there to help you. H. actually said, in his big speech the final night, "it's about you." As if a congregation of spoiled, self-absorbed liberals really needed to hear that... The "me, me, me" generation was highlighted in full force, and is being placated by a message that says that it's okay, don't worry about self-reliance, we'll take care of you. No need for bootstraps to pull yourself up by, the government is here for you. That's not the American tradition... that's socialism. Not surprising, when the liberals are trying to elect, as Fred Thompson said, "most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president."

The "second" night of the Republican national Convention was even better than the first, with four great speeches closing out the night. Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Rudy Guliani fired up the crowd and when Sarah Palin took the stage, the audience thundered in applause. All four speakers did a good job of skewering H. and Biden, but Palin also had the job of introducing herself to the country, and she did a magnificent job.

Particularly amusing throughout the evening were the chants of "Zero" while holding up the Obama closed fingered circle.

Some standout lines from Palin's speech:

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening."

"Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. "

"...there is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

"Among politicians, there is the idealism of high-flown speechmaking, in which crowds are stirringly summoned to support great things. And then there is the idealism of those leaders, like John McCain, who actually do great things."

"Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee. He said, quote, "I can't stand John McCain." Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we've chosen the right man."

Speaking of liberals, a quick breeze of Daily Kos shows them pouting and basically ignoring the content of the speech. Instead they're gloating over how the Democratic Convention got higher ratings than the Republican Convention, at least through Tuesday night. Well, people do tend to prefer bubble gum over actual politics.

Huffington Post looks like a scandal rag, and if it looks like a duck... well, you know the rest. They are trying to do everything they can to discredit the choice of Sarah Palin. Rather than mention glowing reviews of the speech, such as in The (UK) Sun or CNN's nearly perfect report card of the speech, they offer a "fact-checking" exercise by an AP reporter who tries to discredit the speech by taking things out of context and offering the usual liberal talking points in response. I'm just curious -- do they ever give a speech by H. the same kind of scrutiny, or claim he's "exaggerating?" I don't think so.

In addition Huffington Post features what I assume they believe is an unflattering image of Palin. Of course, I think it shows her grit and determination, so I used the image at the top of my post to recall the scene from Dirty Harry, where Clint Eastwood is pointing the gun at the criminal.

The liberals are flustered. And I don't think they're feeling too lucky. They are going to try to discredit this woman, using all the gestapo propaganda tactics we've come to recognize from them. But America saw last night that this is a woman who will not back down. She can field-dress a moose, and last night, she field dressed H.

Daily Kos was so quick to gloat over the Republican National Convention's low ratings for Monday and Tuesaday, but the ratings for Wednesday are in, and nearly as many people tuned in for Sarah Palin's speech as tuned in for the big speech by H. on the Democrats final night. Normally, I wouldn't consider this much of an issue, but as Markos was so quick to declare that no one wants to watch the GOP convention, it is with pleasure that we throw this latest ratings report back in his face....

It's official - both candidates have been formally nominated, and the campaigns are now officially underway.

McCain's speech on the final night of the RNC was pretty much along the lines of what was expected. He is no firebrand of a speaker, but he is an honest and forth-right candidate and his speech showed that. His speech also contained some specific details of his plans; the type of thing critics have been clamoring for. Of course, the details were not too specific, no more specific than anything H. offered in his speech the week before. But he did succeed in laying out the groundwork of what his presidency will be about - country first, non-partisanship, an economy bolstered by low taxes and governmental non-involvement, energy independence by looking at all the options available, and above all, the promise that Americans can be self-reliant because government will get out of their way rather than dictate bureaucratic solutions to personal problems.

The statement of self-reliance is the key to the Republicans' platform. The Democrats believe that government should manage and micro-manage all aspects of our lives. The Republicans believe the government should stay out of the way except where absolutely necessary. It is no secret that dependency on the government fosters more dependency. Mitt Romney was absolutely correct when he said "Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity. It is time to stop the spread of government dependency to fight it like the poison it is!" John McCain recognizes that, and John McCain will preserve and strengthen that ideal.

H. is under fire for one of his latest comments, the "lipstick on a pig" quip. Of course, he denies that he was referring to Sarah Palin when he said,""You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig." He further added, in reference to McCain, "you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years." The audience of Democrats laughed audibly when thy heard the word "lipstick," and took it as an obvious reference to Sarah Palin's line about lipstick being the difference between a hockey mom and a pit-bull.

You would have to be naive to think that H. didn't mean that to be an obvious reference to Sarah Palin. He swaggered a bit as he said it, and you can see the look of acknowledgment and satisfaction on his face when he hears the audience chuckle. Conversely, if he didn't mean to make the reference or draw a comparison to the two comments, then he must be pretty, uh, stupid not to know how that would be taken. I don't think he's stupid (if he is, that would be a good reason not to vote for him), so he meant it.

That's the guy the Democrats have put up; an audacious, petty and crass individual whose ego is bigger than his abilities. He does reflect a large part of his base: those liberals and Democrats who are mean-spirited and resort to dirty tricks to achieve their goals. He claimed to be a new kind of politician, but he is just as vile a mud-thrower as any that have come before him. And he has less class, and less grace than most that have come before him. These remarks, the latest in a long line pf petty and vulgar statements, show him to be a man not fit for the highest office in the land.

H. has been falling in the polls lately, and is under fire for the "lipstick" comment, as well as string of embarrassing associations. While McCain may be merely enjoying a typical post-convention bounce that could fade away over the next few weeks, at this time McCain is leading in the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll.

Some are stating that H. could have "Palin-proofed" himself had he chosen Hillary for Vice President instead of Joe Biden. I'm not sure about that, but one thing I suspect... somewhere today, Hillary has her eyes on 2012, and is laughing at the recent downturn of events for H.

7 years ago today, all of our lives were changed profoundly. To those who lost their lives and whose families were affected on that fateful day, we salute you.

The Accomplishments of H...

Many of us create photoshops for fun and parody, but some create photoshops for pure propaganda purposes. Photographer Jill Greenberg recently published some photoshopped photos of John McCain she took for the cover of the Atlantic Monthly, and it is no question that her images go beyond mere parody into the realm of hateful propaganda. She created photos of John McCain looking evil, one even showing him with fangs, and blood dripping from his lips, and a pointed tongue emerging, poised to lick the blood away. Truly a hateful image, and one that could be nothing but pure propaganda.

So, I thought, what's good for the gander is good for the goose! Since she's so fond of manipulating images for propaganda purposes, why not turn the tables on her and Photoshop images of her? Let's flood the Internet with Photoshops of photographer Jill Greenberg, and see how she likes the treatment she has dealt to others.

Here's mine. Send me yours and I'll link to them.

Ironically enough, it takes some digging to find an image of this photographer to work with. If you search for her, you get her photographs, not images of her. After much searching, I found a couple on these pages:
Page with Jill Greenberg Photo
Another page with Jill Greenberg Photo
If anyone finds any more, let me know.

H. is trying to ramp up his campaign by telling supporters to "argue with them and get in their face." Well, I've got a news flash for him: we're tired of liberals arguing and getting in our face. We've been putting up with that for years. Liberals are the loudest, angriest group out there already.

You already can't debate a liberal without them engaging in such childish tactics. Try to engage in a conversation with most of them, and instead of staying on point, they block out anything you try to say and talk over you. They won't address a valid criticism; instead they fall back on the same old talking points. If you quote a knowledgeable figure, instead of addressing the point, they try to demonize the person.

I've had liberals, when presented with a valid argument, just shout, "oh, blah, blah blah," at me. My favorite line is "but George Bush is the devil." Another classic, no matter what your point about Iraq is, "but what about the weapons of mass destruction?!"

So please, liberals, could you stop arguing with us and getting in our face? How about a nice civil debate? Oh wait - I'm sorry - you can't debate with children.