The Democratic National Convention, Part IV

*Written by Rob Rimes.

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

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

So, after all this, what’s left to cover? Well, there is still the most important part: the speech of United States President Barack Hussein Obama!

Well, it’s a good thing that I am pounding some Bulleit bourbon and Miller High Life while sitting through this man’s speech for the second time, as I need to write this article and my drunken notes from the other night are damn near illegible. The first time I sat through it, I was bored out of my everliving mind! I wouldn’t call this speech a classic by any means, it lacked the energy and charisma of Obama’s earlier performances and it was full of heinous amounts of bullshit. Obama has become similar to a broadway star that finally won a Tony Award and then stopped caring about his performance because he knew he had made it to the top. Then again, I am biased, I can admit that and frankly, four-to-five years of hearing this dude constantly lying through his fucking shitcock teeth has left a really bad taste in my mouth. Maybe the charisma just doesn’t hit its mark anymore because the rhetoric is garbage and the promises are empty. I mean, that’s about all I can take away from three and a half years of this guy running the show. However, I need to maintain civility and keep an open mind. So, let me attempt to be objective, as my brain’s whiskey marinade is keeping me at ease just enough to try and attempt to sit through this speech one more time.

The President walked out on stage and the place went crazy. It wasn’t as crazy as it was back in 2008 but he still got a huge reception. Obama stepped up to the podium, looked towards his wife and daughters and said:

Michelle, I love you. The other night, I think the entire country saw just how lucky I am. Malia and Sasha, you make me so proud…but don’t get any ideas, you’re still going to class tomorrow.  And Joe Biden, thank you for being the best Vice President I could ever hope for. Madam Chairwoman, delegates, I accept your nomination for President of the United States.

And we’re off!

So King Barry reminded us of his infamous speech at the 2004 DNC; the speech that made him a political superstar. Well, it was the start of his superstardom anyway. He said that his 2004 speech was about hope for the future and then he fast-forwarded to today: 2012. He continued:

Eight years later, that hope has been tested – by the cost of war; by one of the worst economic crises in history; and by political gridlock that’s left us wondering whether it’s still possible to tackle the challenges of our time. I know that campaigns can seem small, and even silly.  Trivial things become big distractions.  Serious issues become sound bites.  And the truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising.  If you’re sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me – so am I.

Yeah man, we’re certainly tired of hearing you “approve this message”. If you’re so sick of it too, you can step the fuck away and go play golf without having to worry about the American media giving you shit about it. But nope, Obama added that the people have a choice come November and that the decision Americans make with their vote on the issues of “jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace” will define this generation.

Jesus dude, don’t even get me started again on your shitty fucking war record, not to mention your kill list, the 16-year-old American teen you murdered and the fact that you use torture and protect the torturers. As far as jobs and the economy go, you haven’t got a damn clue. Taxes and deficits? How about learning to compromise and look for solutions that are actually serious solutions not just partisan pandering bullshit that continues to fuck our economy. On energy, how about not stifling the oil companies until you actually have an alternative energy source that works and is affordable? How about something that makes fucking sense and doesn’t just rape our wallets in order to appease the environmental fascists for fifteen minutes.

And Education? Yeah, let’s talk about education sir. Let’s talk about how just today, as I am writing this, teachers in Chicago went on strike leaving more than 350,000 students out of school. And why are these teachers striking in Obama’s “hometown”, where one of his best buddies and former White House Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel is mayor? These greedy union thugs who are constantly coddled by the progressive liberal Democrats turned down a $400 million deal that would give them a 16% pay raise over the next four years. These Chicago teachers have the highest average salary in the nation – averaging $76,000 per year and that’s before benefits! But that’s not good enough. These teachers want a 30% raise! That’s a lot to ask for when 79% of Chicagoan 8th graders are not proficient in reading and 80% are not grade-level proficient in math – according to the U.S. Department of Education. And with this happening just days after the DNC, Obama has refused to comment while everyone else in the political world has chimed in. So don’t give me your talk on education Mr. President when this is how things are in your own backyard and you don’t have a comment! I guess it’s a good thing that Obama’s kids aren’t in Chicago schools anymore.

Obama went on to describe his version of America and then how it was better than the America the Romney-Ryan squad wants to give us. He took a stiff shot at the GOP:

Now, our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right.  They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan.  And that’s because all they have to offer is the same prescription they’ve had for the last thirty years:

“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut.”

“Deficit too high? Try another.”

“Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”

What’s Keynesian Obama’s solution? Wait for a hurricane to level a city and create jobs? He went on to say:

Now, I’ve cut taxes for those who need it – middle-class families and small businesses.  But I don’t believe that another round of tax breaks for millionaires will bring good jobs to our shores, or pay down our deficit.

Of course you don’t believe that you fucking cockmuffin! You can’t wrap your head around the common sense concept that wealth creates more wealth and by forcibly taking the wealth away from the wealthy, you are pulling money out of their pot – money that can be used to hire more employees and grow their business to where it expands and benefits more people. Sure, there are those who make a fuckload of money and hoard it and are the quintessential stereotypes of rich corporatist pigs but the bad apples are greatly outnumbered by the innovators and business men who use their immense profit to work for them in a way that creates profit and prosperity for everyone under their large umbrella. I get it though, fighting the greedy evil ones is much cooler than sitting back and letting the system run its course in a free market sort of way. The truth is, this is an argument that can’t be won on either side of the debate because one side uses their brains and the other uses their hearts. It’s like the science versus religion argument, as you can show proof that science is right and the religious folk just blow it off because they have faith and God and what they can see with their own eyes has to be a devilish trick: testing their faith.

As the speech went on Obama also had this to say:

I won’t pretend the path I’m offering is quick or easy.  I never have.  You didn’t elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear.  You elected me to tell you the truth.  And the truth is, it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades.  It will require common effort, shared responsibility, and the kind of bold, persistent experimentation that Franklin Roosevelt pursued during the only crisis worse than this one.  And by the way – those of us who carry on his party’s legacy should remember that not every problem can be remedied with another government program or dictate from Washington.

Lets look at the first few sentences. Obama stated that people didn’t elect him to hear what they wanted to hear. Bullshit! He says that people elected him to get the truth. Even bigger bullshit! Obama hasn’t told the truth about almost everything. Obama promised us transparency and that is a major reason why I voted for him in 2008. Well, he has ran one of the most opaque administrations since the days of Richard Milhous Nixon. His military and torture actions have been completely shrouded, as has his administration’s handling of most of its legislative activities. Remember in 2008, when Barack Obama said that he was going to publish every bill – that he was going to pass – up on the Internet for several days so that the people could read it before it officially became law? Well, ObamaCare was pushed through Congress before the politicians voting on it could even read it! Remember Nancy Pelosi’s infamous words, “We have to pass it to see what’s in it.” What the fuck?! That shit still sets me off and is quite possibly the dumbest fucking thing that any politician has ever said.. ever! Obama also passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the middle of the night on New Year’s Eve! And these are just two examples!

Obama said that he “won’t pretend that the path” he is offering is “quick or easy”. Really? Because I recall Obama saying that if he couldn’t turn things around in his first term, that he wasn’t going to run for a second. Yet, here he is trying to get re-elected to the Oval Office. Then again, when you continue to lie to the people pathologically about your successes, I guess that means that you refuse to accept the fact that you have failed and by “failed” I mean failed immensely.

Still looking at that quoted paragraph above, Obama called for “common effort” and “shared responsibility”. Get off it Stalin! If that ain’t some Marxist dogmatic bullshit, I don’t know what is but he should keep using it because people are waking up to the real meaning behind these overused guilt-ridden taglines. More people today understand the real meaning of “personal responsibility” and “self-reliance”. Considering all this, Obama closed out that paragraph by admitting that every problem cannot be “remedied with another government program”. Shit, if only he actually believed that but this is just a shitty attempt at him trying to pull in support from independents and conservatives not voting for Romney. It’s actually incredibly insincere and insulting. How fucking stupid does he think we are? Oh yeah.. silly me, he only surrounds himself with zombies, sheep, yes men and sycophants.

Obama went on to talk about boosting manufacturing and how we need to stop outsourcing jobs and importing goods. He promised to bring jobs back to America and to get our exports booming again. Shit, is he reading Mitt Romney’s playbook now? Both parties don’t understand the real meaning behind free markets and free trade. They just understand borders and nationalism and get all fussy when they can’t figure out the simple fact that free trade, free markets and open business with the world creates allies and friendships. Then again, these are the same two parties that send tanks to the front door of any country they decide they don’t like, usually for petty reasons.

The next topic Obama brought up was energy. After the Solyndra debacle and his handling of the BP oil spill, his opinions on energy and the environment should be stuffed into a crack pipe and smoked because only those high on this guy’s fumes would actually take him seriously on such matters. The only thing truly green about Obama is his lack of experience. Funny how that still applies even after almost a full term in the White House.

Obama then ranted about education. Well, I already ranted a rebuttal to his education stance several paragraphs back and I don’t feel the need to have to rehash it. He then brought up the military but I also don’t need to rehash his military strategy as I have said a lot about it in just the passed week. You can read my thoughts about it in the article “Too Cool to Be Wrong: Obama’s War & Torture Dance“.

Everything else that Obama said was a combination of anti-Romney rhetoric and a pile of the same old regurgitated talking points he always throws out there. Well there was this awesome gem, which – coming from this man – is completely laughable:

As Americans, we believe we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights – rights that no man or government can take away.  We insist on personal responsibility and we celebrate individual initiative.  We’re not entitled to success.  We have to earn it.  We honor the strivers, the dreamers, the risk-takers who have always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system – the greatest engine of growth and prosperity the world has ever known.

Christ, how do you even respond to that? I can’t, so fuck it.

The end.

9. Conclusion:

So here we are. It’s been a long two weeks sitting through the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Several long nights and eight articles later, I’m glad it’s now behind me. I mean, I probably need a short hiatus from drinking and now that the madness is over, at least until the debates next month, I won’t find myself randomly downing shots of anything 80 proof and above that I have within arm’s reach. I need this break, I need to start working on a novel I’ve had in the back of my mind and I need to sleep more than anything else. But before I move on, I have to give my final thoughts on both of these freak shows.

I mean what I said when I typed that the Democrats should’ve ended the DNC after Bill Clinton’s speech on Day Two. Biden was entertaining to a degree but couldn’t wear Clinton’s shoes if he tried and Obama’s speech was mind-numbingly awful. The man completely lacked the fire that he had four years ago. Hell senatorial candidate Obama in 2004 could have run circles around his 2012 self. However, considering that Mitt Romney’s speech was better, that still isn’t saying much and typically the guy who speaks last has the advantage, even if he seemingly fell flat to the sane observers. What I and other sane people think doesn’t really matter though, as the people in the crowd and many of the progressive liberals at home were on their feet cheering Obama after every line of his weak speech.

Overall, the Republicans offered a lot more in substance, despite their overabundance of anti-Obama rhetoric. However, the Democrats were more entertaining, generated more energy and had the advantage of going last. I think that the Democrats, even after Obama’s underwhelming speech, have the edge over the Republicans following these conventions. Unfortunately, these things aren’t about who presents the best argument, they’re about who can cater to their supporters better. The Republicans were able to cater to the people in that arena but this is after disrespecting Ron Paul and his supporters with dirty shenanigans. The Republicans loaded a shotgun, cocked it, aimed it at their foot and fired. The Democrats remained cohesive and not just in the arena but across the country. I don’t think any of this really means a thing though – I’ll explain.

These conventions weren’t that widely watched. Hell, Bill Clinton, who was the best speaker overall, lost out in ratings to an NFL game and ended up tying with child pageant star turned reality television superstar Honey Boo Boo! Yes, Honey Boo Boo attracted as many viewers as Bill Clinton! What a country we live in! We’ve got our priorities straight for sure! And it just isn’t the ratings thing and people’s lack of interest in what should be one of the most important presidential elections in my lifetime that makes this whole effort by both parties a waste of time. All this is senseless because of the fact that the majority of Americans have their mind made up regardless of what happened at either of these events and for those that don’t yet know, there are the debates next month which are much more important. Hell, any one of those debates could completely turn the tide of this thing far more than two weeks of conventions and a plethora of speeches.

We’ve still got a lot of time left for anything to happen. Obama is back up in the polls again but just slightly. Romney needs to up the ante if he really wants to win this thing. His strategy of playing it cool and running on his record while exposing Obama’s bad record is not a strategy that is working effectively. I hate dirty politics but when someone is throwing mud in your face, you can’t just stand there and keep taking it. No, sometimes you have to reach down, grab yourself a handful, and sling that shit back! That’s what people want to see Romney do and this game that the Republicans play where they try and take the high road is why they get their asses handed to them by ruthless dickbags. I mean shit, the GOP can play dirty with their own people – Ron Paul and his supporters for example – but then they try and keep their hands clean when facing Obama?! Are you fucking kidding me? Get dirty Mitt or GTFO! It’s time! And I’m not even going to vote for Romney but I can’t stand to see him stand idly around while being attacked without throwing some punches himself. A bully will continue to push you down again and again, until you knuckle up and break his fucking nose.

The presidential race continues to march on but it seems as if the gains that the Republicans were generating are now slipping away. Obama has the edge and if the Romney-Ryan camp can’t pull their shit together, the Democrats could easily run away with this thing. Then again, this could all be good for third party candidate Gary Johnson – the only guy worth a shit that is left in this race.