BLOGGING THE CONVENTION

Best part-- the music, oh yeah!!! "Georgia, Georgia... on my mind..." And much more. "Johnny B. Good." I'm lovin' it...

The bad part... well, that will take longer.

"BUSH LIED"
No, I don't think Carter ever said those words. But he did everything but. This is just plain untenable. Every investigaton says the same thing. The CIA thought he had WMDs. So did the French, the British, everybody. It is extremely sinister that this is a major theme of the Democrats' campaign. There should be some honor in politics. A certain chivalry, a certain willingness to give public servants the benefits of the doubt. When I heard this wicked calumny coming out of Carter's mouth... I swear I wish I could challenge him to a duel. Fifty paces, pistols ready, may the best man win.

He talked about "human rights," too. The nerve! In Afghanistan and Iraq, millions of people now have freedom of speech and freedom of the press, thanks to Bush. People can celebrate their beliefs after decades of repression. This is what human rights means, Carter. Carter is one to talk: he undermined the shah's regime and paved the way for the Iranian Revolution, which violated human rights far worse than the shah ever did. I salute Carter's work on hunger in Africa, but this mindless sanctimony would wreak terrible damage in the world if it gained the White House.

THE AMERICA FIRST PARTY
Bush has taken to talking in terms of universal ideals. He believes that even Muslims deserve and desire freedom. Why does he do that? Doesn't he know that it's Americans who vote in elections? The Democrats do. "America, we're listening." "That's not the American way." And whose interests are Americans' interests opposed to. "We don't want to lose one more American job overseas." "If we can provide health care for all Iraqis, we can provide health care for all Americans."

"WAR OF CHOICE"
Every war is a war of choice. There is no such thing as a "necessary war," full stop. There is only a war necessary to... where the "to" is followed by a phrasal verb describing the war's goals. To prevent a country from being conquered. To prevent a genocide. To preserve the independence of our ally. And so forth. The question is always, are we willing to tolerate the alternative to war. World War II was not a necessary war. Yes, Japan attacked us. Hitler didn't. We could have ignored Hitler's declaration of war. We could have sued for peace; the Japanese would have probably even have let us keep Hawaii. We weren't willing to do that. We made that choice. Choice. Choice. I wasn't willing to tolerate the starvation of Iraqi children because of sanctions as the price of our security. I was disgusted, ashamed that this was going on. I didn't want to run our foreign policy because Iraqis are our fellow human beings, our brethren in the community of mankind, with desires for freedom, freedom for oppression, freedom from fear. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Some people disagree with that; fine, state you would have left Saddam Hussein in power and be done with. But can we get rid of this nonsense about "necessary wars" and "wars of choice?"

MARXISM
It's legitimate for corporations to make profits. But it's hard for people to understand this. Politicians chronically demonize corporations that make profits. There's a lot of this at the convention, particularly on the health care issue. I would be very afraid if I were working for a pharmaceutical company right now. It is also considered illegitimate now to export jobs overseas, even though studies show this benefits the US economy. Wake up, America. Clinton is gone. The old left is back.

Will America see through the Democrats now? Please please please please please please please please...