I've been trying to follow the RNC goings-on. So you don't have to. I've helpfully translated and annotated their claims:
Horsesh*t: Just about all of Laura Bush's speech. Touching anecdotes about a woman who owns a tow-truck company, a woman athlete from Afghanistan who can run with her head uncovered, a man who is learning how to do laundry while his wife is away at war, and very little of substance on anything else. She's trying to push that "W stands for Women" nonsense.
The straight-shooting sh*t: "Consider the following: Recent census data indicate that over the last three years, more and more women have fallen into poverty with job losses and decreases in wages. The wage gap for men and women widened in 2003, with women 15 and older in 2003 marking the first annual decline in real median earnings since 1995. Health insurance coverage also declined more sharply among women than men. The number of uninsured women and girls rose to 21.2 million in 2003, up 4% from the previous year. The Bush-approved party platform denies women in the U.S. the right to choose an abortion, even if the pregnancy poses extreme danger to the mother's life or is the result of rape or incest." (New York Daily News)
Horsesh*t: "We are winning and we will win" the war on terrorism! Everything's just peachy and getting better! The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!
The straight-shooting sh*t: "I think we're losing. We're losing by almost any measure. If you look at the number of terrorist attacks that have happened in the 36 months since 9/11, it's double the number of terrorists attacks compared to the three years prior to 9/11. If you look at the number of people around the world supporting the jihadist movement, most people think it's up significantly in the last two years. So I know of no real measure that suggests to me that we are doing well. The President of the United States says that we have captured or killed two-thirds of the Al Qaeda managers and by that he means two-thirds of the Al Qaeda Shura council as of September 11, 2001.What he overlooks is that all of those people have been replaced and Al Qaeda is alive and well... I mean, it's clear from Jane's intelligence review, the Britain security and intelligence coordinator, Sir David Omand and many others are saying that the base of Al Qaeda supporters and the base of their ideology is expanding." (Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism advisor. Also, see "U.S. raises figures for 2003 terrorist attacks: 'Significant attacks' at 21-year high, revised data show' from CNN... or the front page of today's Chronicle, with reports of terrorist attacks in Israel, Russia, and Iraq.)
Horsesh*t: "To those critics who are so pessimistic about our country, I say: 'Don't be economic girlie men!''' (Ahnold's Convention speech)
The straight-shooting sh*t: One in eight Americans has lost a job in the past three years (Scrips Howard).
Also: "The U.S. Census Bureau announced Thursday that the number of citizens living in poverty and without health insurance rose in 2003. The government agency says the poverty rate rose from 12.1 percent of the population, or 34.5 million, in 2002, to 12.5 percent, or 35.8 million last year. The poverty rate for children under the age of 18 also increased from 16.7 percent, or 12.1 million in 2002, to 17.6 percent in 2003, or 12.9 million. The number of citizens without health insurance coverage rose by 1.4 million last year for a total of 45 million people. The percentage of uncovered citizens rose from 15.2 percent in 2002 to 15.6 percent in 2003." (Voice of America)
Horsesh*t: We're a tolerant party! See! We have women speaking! We have immigrants speaking! We even have a woman from Iraq saying that she's grateful to the United States for liberating her country! The whole damn thing. Look it up.
The straight-shooting sh*t: "We affirm that homosexuality is incompatible with military service." (RNC Party Platform) The RNC rejects a unity plank, moving away from a more tolerant stance in 2000. (Nuke Free Zone) "The problem is that too many Republican officeholders still believe it’s important to keep the GOP a congenial home for all manner of unreconstructed yahoos and even downright racists." (The Hill) "Kerry yard signs destroyed", (Las Alamos Monitor) “I left God’s country... They could use a bunch of people from Iowa to come here to show New Yorkers what life is all about, what being patriotic is all about and what country is all about. I’m as confident about Bush being re-elected as I am that eggs are going to be in New York tomorrow morning.” (Republican delegate Leon Mosley of Waterloo, IA)
And finally, Edward Brooke, the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote:
I spent much of my political career unsuccessfully trying to bring black voters into the Republican Party. It was a difficult task, and it remains so. Understandably, black voters still see domestic policies that do little to advance their hopes for a better life for themselves and their children. They see black unemployment rates more than double those for whites. They also see too many young black men in jail and too few in college.
Moreover, I fear that, as in 1964, they will see far too few black delegates at our convention. One reason Barry Goldwater failed so totally was that he and his advisers hoped that by opposing the civil rights movement - or, less gently put, supporting racism - they would sweep to victory both in the South and elsewhere in America. This strategy failed because it underestimated the decency of the American people. If our party writes off black votes in a cynical appeal to votes based on prejudice, it too will fail, both politically and morally.
The same is true with the issue of same-sex marriage. A great many Americans oppose a constitutional ban on such marriages, and if our party ignores their opinion and caters to homophobia, it will once again be wrong - morally and politically. There is a great need, too, for more tolerance on the difficult issue of abortion and more respect for those on both sides of the debate.
