The LuLac Edition #2175, August 29th, 2012

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CREATING THEIR OWN REALITY 

I always liked political conventions. Been watching them religiously since I was 10 years old. My first was the 1964 GOP Convention in San Francisco. One thing I know that I didn’t know then is that there are certain aspects of a convention that must contain a kernel of truth. I was struck by the fact that at this convention, the GOP has resorted to creating its own reality. A few examples: 
FROM ANNE ROMNEY: And I have seen and heard stories of how hard it is to get ahead now. You know what? I have heard your voices. They have said to me, I am running in place and we just cannot get ahead. Sometimes, I think that, late at night, if we were all silent for just a few moments and listened carefully, we could hear a collective sigh from the moms and dads across America who made it through another day, and know that they will make it through another one tomorrow. But in the end of that day moment, they are just aren't sure how. And if you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sighing a little bit more than the men. It's how it is, isn't it? It's the moms who have always had to work a little harder to make everything right. It's the mom's of this nation, single, married, widowed, who really hold the country together. We're the mothers. We're the wives. We're the grandmothers. We're the big sisters. We're the little sisters and we are the daughters. 
First off, I know this was a speech designed to appeal to women. But this country is made up of more than married couples and parents. There are single men and single women having as much of a struggle as the moms she spoke of. And do we really believe that she can truly understand what it is to try and buy or maintain one house when she has dozens of them? And that rags to riches story of her and Mitt not putting off marriage because they were two crazy kids is tough to swallow. She married into a family that had a patriarch who was Governor of the state. Struggle? Please. Plus she seemed like a way too enthusiastic cheerleader. If Amy Pohlan was still on “Saturday Night Live”, she’d have a field day with this one. 
THE GOP GOVERNORS John Kasick of Ohio, Bob McDonald of Virginia and Scott Walker talked about how well their economies are doing. Did they really turn their states around in just two years or did they get help from that big bad government of President Obama? These guys are in a quandary because under the National Democratic leadership, their states got better. But they can’t toot their own horn too loudly because then they’ll undermine their own nominee. 
CHRIS CHRISTIE Mitt Romney will tell us the hard truths we need to hear to end the debacle of putting the world's greatest care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting those bureaucrats between an American citizen and her doctor. 
What is he talking about here? The Affordable Care Act which he and Romney want to eliminate will not have government bureaucrats running it. Thanks to the President’s cave ins, we’ll have what we always had, insurance bureaucrats running it! And I wonder just who the “she” is that he is referring to regarding health care and a doctor. Has anyone not been able to see a Doctor since the Act became law? 
We are taking our country back because we are the great-grandchildren of the men and women who broke their backs in the name of American ingenuity, the grandchildren of the greatest generation, the sons and daughters of immigrants, the brothers and sisters of everyday heroes, the neighbors of entrepreneurs and firefighters, teachers and farmers, veterans and factory workers and everyone in between who shows up, not just on the big days, or the good days, but on the bad days, and the hard days. Each and every day. All 365 of them. 
Again, I have to ask the question, who are we taking the country back from? Who took it away? Was it sold while I wasn’t looking? Please, I would like just one Republican to tell me who the hell took our country. 
NO BUSH/CHENEY Throughout the entire night, there was the debt clock that hovered over the Convention Hall. But there was no mention of the Bush/Cheney administration that built up the debt. The GOP didn’t seem to mind putting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on a government credit card but now are blaming the President for running up the debt. Do they not remember that they started the debt run? There was no mention of the auto bailout which saved the car industry. And only Nicky Haley of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of Maine  mentioned the wars because their husband’s are serving. But this night in Tampa was a reality show, the GOP had their own reality and were clinging to it.