More Notes on the Conventions

The Republican Convention of 2012 is history, and this week it’s the Democrats turn in the limelight of the political arena. Both affairs have the trappings of a circus, what with balloons and confetti thrown about. Amidst all of this pundit hoopla, I can’t help but reflect back on a few points from both meetings.

Am I the only one to interpret Ann Romney’s speech at the Republican National Convention as her way to come out as gay? (Yes, yes, I know. No one will believe I went there! So let’s it get out of our systems now! God will get you for that, Arteejee! You’ll burn in hell now, Arteejee. Blah, blah, blah, Arteejee! Now let’s move on!)

Half-seriously, folks, how else am I supposed to interpret that moment in her speech when she raised her arms high and shouted, “I love women!” Granted, it wasn’t subtle like when Ellen DeGeneres came out, milking the suspicions for an entire television season, and then finally coming out on the season finale of her sitcom, by which time the general population should have been by all rights sick and tired of the whole idea. No, it must be my imagination. After all, Ann Romney is the classic stay-at-home mom, raising five rambunctious boys, doing household chores, cooking meals, gathering load after load of dirty laundry, washing the car after every family vacation they took with the family dog, Seamus, and contemplating the rigors of training a champion show horse. Sure, all American housewives did these things…NOT!

For those of you who are troubled that you can’t tell the difference between the two conventions, here is one clue: the Democrat National Convention is the one that invited a former American President to make a major speech. That’s right, Bill Clinton, whose administration oversaw unbridled prosperity even with higher income tax rates than now, came to Charlotte to fire up the party’s base. Keep in mind, Clinton was impeached but acquitted of high crimes in office. Despite all this baggage in his past, he appears now to be the imperial rock and roll star of the Democratic Party. Bubba has rehabilitated himself in the public’s mind.

The Republican National Convention, on the other hand, couldn’t muster the cojones to invite their most recent successful occupant of the Oval Office, George W. Bush, to their bash in Tampa. Honestly, it’s like they’re treating him like he single-handedly passed Constitutional amendments allowing abortion for all circumstances and gay marriage. Okay, so he started two wars with no way to pay for them, complicating the country’s money woes further by cutting taxes for the wealthy, and creating a huge deficit from the surplus Clinton left him. How can the Republican Party treat him like a leper now?

Another difference between the two conventions: the Democrat meeting features people talking to people about the issues. Unlike the Republican convention which featured a senile old fool yelling at furniture. Perhaps that incident made many of the tea party Republicans feel at home; after all, many of them may spend their days shouting at their televisions while they watch Fox and Friends. Oh, I’ll admit, that I’ve shouted at my television for the few minutes each week I peek into Fox and Friends, but I’ll bet my language is more colorful when I shout at my set.

Tonight, the grand finale to the convention will be capped by President Obama accepting his party’s nomination for a second term. I have no doubt that the President’s words will be praised by the liberal pundits and damned by the conservatives. No doubt extremists on both sides have already written their reviews without hearing a word of his speech. So, keeping that in mind, let me throw my two cents in here.

Barack Obama’s speech will be highly persuasive with high-minded calls for unity once the dust from the actual election clears. He will debunk his opponents arguments against him, and his words will be debated endlessly by commentators and denizens of the 24/7 news cycle for weeks to come. At least they will be talked about until the first debate between Obama and Romney takes place. At that point, we’ll have something new to talk about.

We should all celebrate soon, no matter what the outcome. The 2012 election is only eight weeks away! Hurray! The end is in sight! There is light at the end of this tunnel that was started by some way back in 2008. Either that, or the light will show us the entrance to another tunnel.

(Thank you for reading. Happy Birthday, Anne Marie!)