I watched Biden's entire speech, and had to admit it was impressive. Especially as compared to the stereotypes about him, and even as compared to the average politician, he did a very good job. I'm not sure I've ever seen him quite like that actually, and I guess time will tell whether it was something he mustered up that becomes his 'peak', versus an indicator of a "new man" who actually takes charge and becomes known for
something.
I like that they gave AOC sixty seconds and that they still gave Bloomberg a platform. It shows the party may be sending a message that No, we will not necessarily be pulled far left - we will try to achieve reasonable compromises. That means that if Democrats win in November, my emotional recovery time can be lessened. It will be interesting to see what the RNC does. Hopefully, they put forth their absolute best speakers most of the time, and give Trump something expertly scripted (as I'm sure Biden's was, too) on the last night, but I fear that may not be the case.
Admittedly, the feeling of eloquence and beauty has always been more difficult to achieve in conservative speeches, because they are the party that represents fiscal restraint, less government & personal responsibility. It takes a certain kind of person to appreciate that & be inspired by it
more than the natural and arguably short-sighted feelings of elation that occur when extravagant promises are lavishly given. Between me and my wife, if I am able to position myself as the parent of shiny new toys and promises of ice cream, while she is the parent of reminders, discipline and delayed gratification, then it will always be easier for me to frame my ideas as exciting and happy. The difference in that analogy is that I pay for the ice cream with my own money rather than another family's.
As far as the photo of Biden and the woman, and despite my wishes for Republican success, I came out
early on in defense of him, as I personally don't feel his actions come from a place of evil as much as just ignorance of how it comes across ... But of course, I'm not sure.
@moke123 I actually appreciate, believe it or not, the link you provided, as I hadn't read that before. Having said that, it is exceedingly common for people who are the object of another person's sexually inappropriate
or violent behavior to, in various forms and fashions, defend that person. It seems difficult to interpret her defense/explanation of what he did as something that could account for the entire collection of
clips such as the one Tera originally posted, but ... I'm willing to consider that maybe, just maybe, at least on this one occasion, the lady's defense of him was the true explanation. All the other ones do indeed seem a bit harder to excuse ... But I still give him the benefit of the doubt, as they're all somewhere around the "border" between a little weird vs. overtly wrong, and not solidly on either side IMO.
I try to see "people" rather than "party" as much as I can .. and to that end, I'll note that I was very impressed with Michelle Obama's speech, too. Call it instinct, gut, or radar, but she comes across to me as a truly genuinely good person. (Despite disagreeing with many of her conclusions). I can't say that for Kamala Harris. Listening to her gushing and gushing her phony verbal diarrhea was nauseating. If only the election was all about Joe, I would look on it at least somewhat differently. Nonetheless, it was a matter of some fascination to me to finally see what happens when you literally raise a child inside Berkeley, CA. I've always known the word "Berkeley" was synonymous with most of what I disagree with. I guess Harris is that personified. Not that I think everyone is nothing but a product of where they are from. Just, in this case they are.
I guess that explains a lot of Rachael Maddow's commentary.
www.pastemagazine.com
