It was not pleasant in Philadelphia. It was damn hot in a nasty, humid East Coast kind of way. Unlike the GOP convention in Cleveland, where the ACLU sued to shrink the security perimeter so protesters’ voices “could be heard,” there were no such concern in Philly about protests being heard because they were kept far away.
That meant a half-mile walk from the Secret Service body cavity search to air conditioning. But the real problem in the “City of Brotherly Love,” as well as everything wrong with the Democratic National Convention, is exemplified by what it added to the slogan at Independence Hall.
“Welcome to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love…and Sisterly Affection,” the National Park Ranger said on the tour I attended. Yes, in the name of “inclusion,” the Park Service has added that extra level of meaningless pap at the end.
Apparently women had been standing outside the city limits yearning for a cheesesteak but unable to get a real one because they feared there was a urinal-use requirement to enter the city because of its slogan.
The Democratic National Convention was exactly that – meaningless pap designed to make people feel something so they wouldn’t think. Having spent four days among the trained barking seals serving as delegates, I can attest to the fact there was little risk of thought happening.
I’ve already recounted the speeches of the first two days, and it didn’t get any better after that. Yes, the speeches at least pretended to be more patriotic, more fond of the country. But that veneer was about as thin as Bernie Sanders’ hair is well groomed.
Wednesday had Vice President Joe Biden again repeating the lie that people other than him refer to him as “Middle Class Joe,” so he could pretend he’s just a normal guy and not a 73-year-old who was elected to the Senate at 29 and hasn’t come close to real work or the middle class since.
It also was the night the nation was introduced to the man who wants to replace creepy Uncle Joe as VP –goofy Uncle Tim. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a man as exciting as his name, rambled for a good 40 minutes in both English and Spanish, because he speaks Spanish and that qualifies as “outreach to minorities” in the Democratic world. He did a lame impersonation of Donald Trump and an even lamer impersonation of someone trying to convince the American people Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy.
The night ended with President Obama talking about himself and how great the last eight years have been. He tossed in how he couldn’t have done it without Hillary, then gave one example of how she helped. It was the bin Laden raid, which would have been political suicide – and probably grounds for impeachment – if he had not ordered it.
Advising Obama to go ahead with the raid was about as difficult as advising against a weekend at the beach in Maine on New Year’s Day. But when your resume is impressive titles with no results you take what you can get.
The final night started off as a typical Democratic Party event. The crowd booed a Medal Of Honor winner and shattered a moment of silence for police officers who died in the line of duty with shouts of “black lives matter.” They just can’t help themselves.
Later, Khizr Khan gave what the media labeled a moving speech about his son, who was killed in Iraq fighting terrorism. His ire was not directed at the people who actually killed his son or even the woman who voted for the war that claimed his son. No, using the “chickenhawk” defense couched in patriotism, Khan lashed out at someone who was completely uninvolved in the events that led to his son’s death. He shouted Trump “sacrificed nothing,” as if that were a prerequisite to be president.
Khan was there representing one of the 14 Muslim soldiers killed in the war on terror. I might’ve missed it, or maybe it was drowned out by the crowd booing, but I don’t remember the DNC paying tribute to the thousands of other soldiers killed, or even the other 13 Muslim soldiers killed. It’s a little weird to single out one person, to the exclusion of all others, based on religion and political beliefs. If I were a cynical person I’d think it was exploitative.
Democrats and the media ridiculed Republicans in Cleveland for family members of those killed in Benghazi and by illegal aliens speak, yet they cheered Khan as “moving” and “brave” for speaking out against someone who could not have had any impact on his son’s death to support a candidate who voted to send him there. Kate Steinle’s family would’ve been shouted off the stage, if the DNC crowd even knew who she was.
Humayun Khan died a hero, his parents’ and the Democratic Party can’t tarnish that fact, no matter how they tried.
Out next came Katy Perry to tell the world she’s dumb. Don’t take my word for it, take hers. “I didn’t finish high school,” the singer said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a formal education.” Katy, you married Russell Brand for 20 minutes, we all know you’re dumb. Or as Democrats call you, you’re their base. She served as a stark reminder of what liberals are – vapid jingoists who value popularity over brain cells and speak to each other in emojis because words require thought, and thought is hard.
Then it was Hillary’s time. In a speech delivered with all the emotion of Siri reading a text message, she confused volume for passion and promised to be an agent of change who will continue the failed policies of the last eight years. No one in the hall or media seemed to notice the disconnect.
Hillary recounted her accomplishments for the world to see (again, since they were repeated throughout the four days in the hope people would think they were actual accomplishments.
She married Bill.
She gave a speech in China in the mid-‘90s and risked absolutely nothing by saying “Women’s rights are human rights.”
She stayed married to Bill, which is kind of an accomplishment, I suppose.
She “fought” for money for New York City after 9/11 against … I don’t know. Maybe I missed the huge push in Congress to screw NYC out of any federal help after the worst terrorist attack in history, but I’m pretty sure that would’ve made the news.
The final biographical video of the convention had Hillary saying she and Chuck Schumer, then her fellow U.S. Senator from New York, asked President George W. Bush for $20 billion and he said yes. Not exactly heavy lifting to ask the second most profligate spender in the history of the White House to spend more, but when your resume needs padding you pad anyway you can.
That was it. Terrorism and ISIS were barely mentioned, Libya might as well not have existed. Same goes for the late ‘90s and the bulk of her Senate career. She could’ve made a better case for herself is she’d simply said she plans to take our tax money and invest it in cattle futures to pay off the national debt.
The takeaway for the unthinking was Hillary is a selfless public servant who has spent her life fighting for others. Never mind the fact that the people she’s been “fighting for her whole life” have seen their lives get worse and gotten poorer, and the person “fighting” for them has become one of the richest people in the country. Who knew there was so much money in helping the poor?
For four days the Democrats put on a show to distract from the fact that everywhere they’ve controlled for generations is armpit where murder is on the rise and the people they claim to be the champions of are worse off today than when they took up their cause. Government dependence has led to misery; big government has failed and harmed people, so the answer is bigger government. It doesn’t make any sense to the rational mind, which is why the rational mind was numbed with cries of racism/sexism/homophobia/Islamophobia and general stupidity from politicians to celebrities.
A little song, a little dance, and you can distract people who’ve been failed by government and convince them that it could’ve been worse if Democrats weren’t there to “help.” Not sure how, but it remains an unasked question between the ears of people who cheer a sexual predator like Bill Clinton or someone who violated her sister like Lena Dunham while booing the former Director of the CIA and will slavishly vote to reelect their would-be masters.
There was more, of course, but I’ve started the therapy to forget it already.
That was it, four days in hell. And the next four years…?
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