The Democratic National Convention, Part III

*Written by Rob Rimes.

CONTINUED from “The Democratic National Convention, Part II“.

6. Day Three, Part I – Welcome to Prime-time:

Day Three of the Democratic National Convention was the most important. The reason being is that this was the night where Barack Obama was going to speak and offer up his counter-argument to Mitt Romney and the dozens of Republicans that were out for his blood at last week’s Republican National Convention. We also got to hear from Vice President Joe Biden, who was eager to show why he is a better second-in-command than GOP VP nominee Paul Ryan.

Now the third day was supposed to be in Charlotte, North Carolina’s massive Bank of America Stadium. However, the Democrats cited potential weather problems and moved the big speeches indoors where the rest of the DNC was held. Now according to the weather experts, there was a zero percent chance of rain on Obama’s big day, so were the Democrats just fearful that they couldn’t fill a large stadium? Signs and evidence point to yes but ultimately, we will never know for sure and it really isn’t even that important but the conservative media has been in a frenzy about it, so I thought it worth mentioning.

Before we get into Obama and Biden however, we have to look at the speech by the nobody-made-rock star Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law School graduate and women’s rights activist. For those who don’t know who she is, I will give you a quick rundown.

This past February, she drew the ire of Republicans and especially the religious right when she was going to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee regarding what she felt was a need for insurance companies to cover birth control. House Republicans refused to allow Ms. Fluke to testify so she went on to only speak to the Democratic members of the House of Representatives.

This drew even more ire from the righties. Hell, radio talk show superstar Rush Limbaugh went on a ridiculous and unfounded tirade about the woman and called her a “slut”, a “prostitute”, as well as other disparaging remarks. The conservatives were going nuts and in their little spats of insanity, the Democrats clung onto this women and turned her into their new mouthpiece for women’s rights. And not only was she just their mouthpiece but she was allowed to speak just before Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama! This woman went from unknown activist to Democratic Party superstar in half a year! Kudos to her for that and shame on the conservatives for not realizing that they created this nightmare.. well “nightmare” from their point-of-view.

So what did this woman have to say after she had been maliciously attacked by the Republican Party, conservatives, the religious right and most of their top media dogs? Well, she made the best out of her six and a half minute speech – beginning with her journey and how she got to speak at the DNC. She started by saying that what happened to her, happens all the time and it could have easily been any other woman in her position. She said that her situation just happened to draw a lot of attention because it happened in Congress. She added that she got to the DNC and became a household name because she spoke out and she implored everyone else to speak out. Fluke continued with this portion of the speech that I feel the need to post – unedited and uninterrupted:

During this campaign, we’ve heard about the two profoundly different futures that could await women—and how one of those futures looks like an offensive, obsolete relic of our past. Warnings of that future are not distractions. They’re not imagined. That future could be real. In that America, your new president could be a man who stands by when a public figure tries to silence a private citizen with hateful slurs. Who won’t stand up to the slurs, or to any of the extreme, bigoted voices in his own party. It would be an America in which you have a new vice president who co-sponsored a bill that would allow pregnant women to die preventable deaths in our emergency rooms. An America in which states humiliate women by forcing us to endure invasive ultrasounds we don’t want and our doctors say we don’t need. An America in which access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it; in which politicians redefine rape so survivors are victimized all over again; in which someone decides which domestic violence victims deserve help, and which don’t. We know what this America would look like. In a few short months, it’s the America we could be. But it’s not the America we should be. It’s not who we are.

Ms. Fluke made some great points and it is hard to argue against what she said unless you are coming from a relgious point-of-view, which holds no weight as far as I and many others are concerned. She followed these points up by describing an America under Obama and finished by saying that we are going to end up with either one type of government or another. Essentially, she stated that women will be better off, freer and more respected under the Obama Administration. I don’t necessarily disagree with that but I would make the argument that women would be much free under Gary Johnson than Barack Obama.

Sandra Fluke gave a good speech. I don’t know if it will be memorable in the long-run but she solidly hit her points and presented an argument that is hard to deny – unless of course you go the religious route, which is all the Republicans can and will do. I have to give Sandra Fluke props for going through what she did with the media and rising above the ruthless and tasteless attacks just to transform that situation into an opportunity that allowed her to speak her mind to all Americans just moments before the Vice President took the stage.

Now how do I feel about the government mandating that insurance companies have to cover birth control? Well, I am against it. Not because I don’t think that insurance companies covering birth control is a bad idea but because I don’t think that the government needs to be involved and force insurance companies to alter their business plan and comply with new regulations. Such actions do not represent a free market. I feel that insurance companies should offer the service, as it would be beneficial to them, as it would cost a lot less than providing all the medical services that an expecting mother would need. I think if insurance companies started doing this, the free market would dictate the trends, as they always do, and the customers would choose their insurance companies based off of their individual needs. The insurance companies not providing the services people want, will cease to exist. That is how the free market works.

7. Day Three, Part II – Uncle Joe Brings the Thunder:

Now it’s time for everyone’s favorite comedian! Uncle! Joe! Biden! Woot! Woot!

Vice President Joe Biden came out to a loud pop like Richard Pryor hitting the stage in his prime. Joey B’s speech was about as long as Bill Clinton’s and he was almost as entertaining. Biden is a great speaker and he pulls you in. People constantly talk about how charismatic Obama is but I think Joe’s got more. Now while he might be considered the King of the Gaffe by many, he is still one hell of a ringmaster for the political freak show.

The Ringmaster looked at his family, as soon as he hit the podium, and thanked them for being by his side. He talked to his family for a few moments and then acknowledged the rest of the crowd – saying that he and Obama began this journey four years ago and that there is still a lot of hard work that they have to do. Joe, like the rest of the Democrats at this function, pimped out Obama to the audience and the people watching at home. He talked about how working side-by-side with the President, he was able to see the man’s hard work first hand and that he truly understood why Barack was the man to lead this nation. He mentioned job losses, the crumbling economy and spoke about how the Obama Administration has worked to get America back on track. Biden added:

Folks, I’ve watched him. He never wavers.  He steps up. He asks the same thing over and over again: How is this going to work for ordinary families? Will it help them? And because of the decisions he’s made, and the strength the American people have demonstrated every day, America has turned the corner.  After the worst job loss since the Great Depression, we’ve created 4.5 million private sector jobs in the past 29 months.

Joe Biden then clued us into the direction of the remainder of his speech:

President Obama and Governor Romney are both loving husbands and devoted fathers. But they bring vastly different values and visions to the job.  Tonight I’d like to focus on two crises—that show the character of the leadership each man will bring to the job.  The first is the rescue of the automobile industry.

Biden described the liberal version of the auto bailout stance and said that General Motors and Chrysler were in trouble and that if the government didn’t act and bail them out, that the American auto industry would’ve been destroyed. Liberals always seem to forget about the Ford Motor Company and the fact that many auto manufacturers have major facilities in the United States that provide jobs for millions. Biden however, had to tout that the Obama Administration saved millions of other jobs with the bailout. Biden sold the bailout as a success!

The auto industry bailout was not a success however. First of all, what caused the crash of the industry? It is seated in Detroit, Michigan for one and that city’s mismanagement and horrible Democrat dominated leadership for decades has created a culture of regulation, welfare and a plethora of industries conquered by union thugs. I mean, this is why the State of Michigan, as a whole, has suffered for so long economically. One could write a book about it and some have.

So all the bailout was really, was a big government band-aid placed over a gunshot wound that big government created. The bailout was just a shitty attempt at the government trying to take responsibility for its own bullshit while placing the blame not on themselves. Regardless of that, people claim that the bailout boost has been paid back by the automakers but this is a complete fabrication if not an outright lie. Hell, even GM CEO Ed Whitacre said that they paid back their loan “in full and ahead of schedule”.  The automakers haven’t actually paid back the loan. Well, they did but not really. I’ll explain.

To start, General Motors were given $50 billion in TARP funds! That’s $50 billion in our tax dollars! $7 billion of that was in the form of a normal low-interest loan. $13 billion of the free handout was in the form of an escrow account. So how did they pay back this debt? Well, General Motors took money from the escrow account to pay back the $7 billion low-interest loan. So what happened to the other $43 billion? Aha! They don’t talk about that, they just talk about how they paid off the “loan”. Yes, the “loan” that was just $7 billion of the $50 billion that was paid off with money taken out of that same $50 billion thus leaving GM still with $50 billion to pay back! You seeing how this works? They aren’t lying but they are lying. Nick Gillespie of Reason Magazine stated it best when he said:

Do you remember when you were a kid and your parents gave you $20 to buy them a Christmas present? You bought them something worth $3 and pocketed the rest? That’s what GM has just done.

Now with GM promoting this bullshit and the Democratic side of the government colluding to perpetuate this illusion, are those people you can trust? Are they people with our best interests at heart? Now I’m not saying that the Republicans are the answer, they aren’t.

So Biden moved passed the auto bailout lie and talked about how the Obama Administration are heroes for killing Osama bin Laden. Biden talked about how Obama was the Commander-In-Chief that killed America’s greatest enemy. There he goes, taking credit for what the Navy SEALs, our military and our intelligence were able to achieve. Joe Biden failed to mention George W. Bush for starting the War on Terror, leading the charge and laying the groundwork to catch bin Laden. Nope, it was all Obama! Obama, who ran on an anti-war platform, has now caught the bad guy but has yet to bring our troops home. The job we set out to do was accomplished 18 months ago but we are still prancing around. I recently wrote more about Obama’s military and war hypocrisy in “Too Cool to Be Wrong: Obama’s War & Torture Dance“.

Uncle Joe went on to bash Romney and Ryan as well as the Ryan Plan. He talked about how they were going to destroy MediCare. He said that Romney would bankrupt MediCare by 2016 and called both Romney and Ryan dishonest. Really Joe? Are you not espousing your own examples of dishonesty in your speech?

Joe Biden is like that hunter that sticks the beast with his knife but finds pleasure in twisting and stabbing the monster – torturing it, unaware that he himself is also a beast. But hey, at least the guy delivers his words with serious panache!

8. Day Three, Part III – The President Steps into the Spotlight: