Condoleezza Rice began her speech five minutes before prime time. Ooops. But we who are giving the Republicans an hour each evening saw and heard enough to get her message.
Dr. Rice gave an "up by your bootstraps" speech. She said, "It doesn't matter where you come from, it matters where you are going". She went far from her start in segregated Birmingham, Alabama. She was an only child. Her father was a Presbyterian minister, her mother a teacher. In other words, she had parenting, good parenting. What a difference that makes!
Dr. Rice talked about the "crisis in K-12 education {that} is a threat to the very fabric of who we are" as a nation. She talked about many kids, many of whom are minorities, "trapped in failing neighborhood schools", that this it the "civil rights issue of our era". Those neighborhoods are lacking a lot, that's for sure, but mostly they are lacking the kind of parenting Condoleezza had. So is the answer to cut education budgets?
Was it a good speech? Yes. Did it have any substantive answers to anything? No. It was a convention speech.
The second speech was that of Paul Ryan, the nominee for VP. Tom didn't think he could sit and listen to the whole thing, but I stuck it out. There were quite a few rather clever hits on President Obama. The crowd loved them. He said his "opponents are desperate to keep their power". Their ideas are gone, and " fear and division are all they have left". Hmmm. Pot calling the kettle black?
There were also a lot of fact check red flags. There were references to medicare: Obama "raided" it, Ryan and Romney would "protect it", (Ryan would turn it into a voucher program). It's interesting to note that the $700+Billion that Obama "raided" from Medicare in the form of reimbursement cuts to providers and the elimination of unnecessary services in order to help fund the Affordable Care Act is also the same amount Ryan's budget cuts from Medicare to help balance his plan, while making sure he doesn't raise taxes on the wealthy.
Ooops, my bias is showing.
But then, this is just another convention speech. It is all about bias. And it was substance free!
I admire your open mindedness, actually. I was intending to peek in on the convention last night, based on your example from the first day but my son came for supper and I got distracted by a good visit.
ReplyDeleteI didn't listen. I'm glad to know what happened, though, so thanks for being there and reporting on it. I appreciate it. My blood pressure won't take too much listening to political speeches.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I could not stand to watch it. I suppose we will get the highlights all day in news reports and internet. I am a Catholic and I am curious to see what the church will do with the issues of pro life and social justice for the poor and frail. As a progressive, my conscience tells me my vote is my own business and my body is my own as well. The Council of American Bishops declared Ryan's budget as immoral. Ryan is great at quoting Thomas Aquinas. Interestingly, Aquinas said there was no cause for great wealth but to give it to the poor. Maybe Ryan did not read that far.
ReplyDeleteI only watch parts of Condoleezza Rice's speech and agree with you that it had no substantive answers. No one has had any. Is it against the rules in this convention?
ReplyDeleteAs far as Ryan goes, well I stuck it out. I thought it was quite nasty in parts, the truth factor is just not there, and it was 'just another convention speech' for sure. They never give us any answers, do they? Rhetoric, and not even good rhetoric at that, is all that is filling up the air ways. I heard that they hope to just get a few sound bites out there for headlines on the internet since that is all folks read. Sad, but true. Political campaign have been taken down to sound bites, bumper sticker type status. No thought, and not even any good, stimulating discussion is going on. That is for sure.
Oh yes! It's all about bias and campaign rhetoric. Thanks for watching for us, Linda.
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