Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Marianne Williamson
It's Official: Mitt Romney Nominated by the GOP
Reflections on the GOP National Convention Day 1
I did not watch wall-to-wall coverage; in fact, I didn't even watch the historic roll call vote of the states (see above). I see that Reason has a typical "hypocritical GOP" video on one of the convention's gimmicks: a focus on the debt clock. I am definitely empathetic to the point of view that Romney seems to have put 80% of the budget off-limits (entitlements and Defense spending); the only way the budget gap closes significantly is with robust growth that we've seen little of over the past 3 Presidential terms and significant budgetary reforms (easier said than done, because cutting federal spending brings special interests out of the woodwork). But I would remind Reason that Obama didn't even need a full term to pile on more debt than Bush did over 2 terms bookended by recessions, and a GOP House was the only one to deliver on a balanced federal budget over decades.
The GOP is really harpooning Obama's Roanoke moment with a "we built it" theme and a variation of Clinton's "I feel your pain" with respect to the unemployed and various politicians discussing their lower middle class roots. In fact, I've done a number of segments on the Roanoke moment; I think that there's a very thin line here: it's important that the GOP stay away from any self-congratulatory behavior or defensiveness.
Most people don't own their own businesses; you need to broaden your message. And it's even tougher to start a new business with economic uncertainty, overregulation at all levels of government, and government coercing taxes from people and businesses that would otherwise be spent or invested in the private sector and competing with the private sector for resources, driving up the costs of doing business, i.e., opportunity costs for Obama recklessly spending money he didn't make from the current and future economy on ineffectual, inefficient government programs from a sense of entitlement. What the Romney and the rest of the GOP need to do to reach out to the middle class focusing on shared traditional values: virtues such as hard work, initiative, honesty, responsibility and thrift; these are common to business owners and working people. They don't want government playing favorites or giving out handouts; they want government to get out of the way, not engage in perverse incentives, e.g., for a father to abandon his family so they will be eligible for more government handouts.
There are ways to parody Obama, e.g., take the act of chauffeuring Obama: he has to master a 2000-page driver's manual and present his union card; Obama questions him about fuel efficiency and then has him stop the car and has him go out and double-check the tire pressure; Obama notes that the chauffeur is driving on a different route than the one recommended by his GPS mapping software and demands an explanation; Obama has him stop the car because he has been driving too long between breaks; the chauffeur needs to fill up the car, but the nearest station bears the BP brand; Obama tells the driver to ignore the rules of the road because they don't apply to him; Obama reminds the driver if he doesn't get him to the destination in 30 minutes or less, the ride is for free, etc.
I wouldn't be opposed to a conservative PAC turning the table on Dem nasty attack ads: e.g., an Obama or Pelosi dumping a kid in a wheelchair over a mountain cliff of national debt...
Let me comment on something I've intended to point out in recent posts: Mitt Romney's attacks on Obama's all-too-frequent, predictable use of executive orders (realizing that he can't pass reforms through the Congress), in particular, modifications to welfare program administration. He needed to take on broader themes, not take the bait that Obama is deliberately setting (just like in the case of his "DREAM Act" executive order): the last thing Romney needs is to look like he's balancing the budget on the backs of or going after families desperately trying to make ends meet in a very difficult economy with tens of millions of people out of work or underemployed. (One could argue that Obama's anti-growth economic policies and morally-hazardous domestic policies perpetuate a permanent underclass dependent on Democratic political largess.) In this case, Romney also needs to address a related issue--dealing with liberalization of federal strings on funds. We could argue why is the federal government involved in the first place in dealing with state/local spending. Romney should note that a significant portion of any government social program does not trickle down to needy families but goes to feed the government beast of overpriced, ineffective, essentially lifetime appointed bureaucrats with gold-plated benefits at taxpayer expense. Romney would be well-served by focusing on that passage on Grover Cleveland's veto of the Texas seed bill (see Sunday's post), where Cleveland explicitly addressed how government gets in the way of more efficient, effective local charity relief.
I was really intrigued by Mia Love's appearance. The Brooklyn-born daughter of Haitian immigrants, Mia, a Mormon convert wife and mother of three, has been a city council member and multi-term mayor of rapidly-growing Saratoga Springs. She is running in the newly created fourth district; she is facing Blue Dog Second District Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson, whom felt his home district was in jeopardy after redistricting. (Matheson has an ACU rating of 38%, even less than retiring Senator Ben "Cornhusker Kickback" Nelson.) Take a wild guess whom I support in this race? Ms. Love is an articulate pro-life libertarian-conservative whom quotes Frédérick Bastiat (sound familiar?)
Pajamasmedia lists their video interview (the middle video below) with her under the title "Mia Love: Could She Be The Smartest Congressional Tea Party Candidate?" (Nick Gillespie of Reason writes a blurb under the title "You Just Might Fall in Love with Mia Love.") Here are the video liner notes:
Mia Love is running for Utah's Fourth Congressional District on a platform of "fiscal discipline, limited government, and personal responsibility." She is also one of the smartest congressional candidates, and can quote Frederick Bastiat with the ease of an economics professor. Is the Tea Party focusing too hard on the presidential race, and what should the President be doing to lower gas prices? Find out what Mia Love has to say and see why she just might be the next star of the Tea Party movement.One of my favorite moments of the evening is noted by Time's blog feed:
7:31 p.m. The next act is Neal Boyd, the 2008 winner of America’s Got Talent. He sits on a stool and sings Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” People stand. Hands go into the air. Everyone sings the chorus together. As he gets to the chorus for the last time—“I gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today”—Boyd stands from his stool. Everyone is going crazy. Boyd rocks. America does have talent. The crowd is awake.I mustn't have watched AGT back in 2008, but with all due respect to Lee Greenwood, the original artist, Neal Boyd does to this song what Whitney Houston did to Dolly Parton's signature hit "I Will Always Love You": they just took someone else's hit to a whole new level. I'm absolutely stunned; I like to think I have a decent singing voice, and I'm not good enough to sing backup to this fellow big man. For some reason I couldn't find a video clip on the GOP convention website or on Youtube (yet), but I did find an earlier, similar performance on Youtube embedded below.
I liked the keynote address of my favorite direct, blunt governor, Chris Christie, but to be honest, I thought he would go in a different direction: focusing more on the issues he has dealt with in terms of a spendthrift Obama Administration, the lessons from managing a state government to the federal government, a comparison and contrast of how he has dealt with an opposition legislature versus Obama, etc. He did try to rally the troops, but I think I would have preferred seeing some of that directness we've seen in dealing with self-entitled school teachers, Obama's disingenuous attempts to hijack terms like "shared sacrifice" and "fair and balanced" as code words for divisive class warfare, etc.
As for Ann Romney, with all due respect to Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and other reasonably articulate first ladies, Ann may be the best prospective First Lady speaker I've heard. I don't want to seem overly critical here, and I'm sure that Mitt will cover some things in his speech. I thought she did a good job of explaining why Mitt doesn't want to use past charitable acts as political hype, but I would have liked to hear more anecdotes about Mitt as husband, father and grandfather; it's hard to say without context, but for example, "that Democratic ad about Mitt singing 'God Bless America'? You should hear him singing in the shower... " Maybe examples of things he's done over the years, without being too specific: maybe it was picking up someone's medical bill, helping a deserving student get into a better school, mentoring a young consultant whom later started his own successful business, etc.
I've read stories about how Mitt adored his mother and was her biggest supporter when she unsuccessfully ran for the Senate during Nixon's first term. (Maybe Ann heard some amusing anecdote about Mitt from her in-laws...) And how how Mitt would curl up next to her when she was in bed dealing with serious health issues. I think Ann could have provided more of a picture for middle America, especially since the Democrats have been trying to paint him as this heartless outsourcing job killer, spending his wealth on frivolous things like car elevators: to some extent, Ann did address that by noting when they were first married, she had to live on a budget in a basement apartment, eating off plates on an ironing board, etc.
Overall, a very good speech, but I would still have loved to hear how he got out of a business meeting so he could attend his son's Little League game or some school play.
Republican National Convention Moment:
Congressman Tim Scott's (SC) Song Dedication
to President Barack Obama
Remind Me: Why Are We Still in Afghanistan?
As a libertarian-conservative, I wouldn't say that I have a litmus test for those also claiming to be libertarian; after all, I'm pro-life and for sustaining the traditional definition of marriage. (My views are based on considerations of positive rights; I oppose government micromanagement of the lives of pregnant women or intervention into consensual adult relationships.) Still, I'm confused by some libertarian Republicans whom don't seem to see the same convoluted, overbuilt, nice-to-have but unaffordable, morally hazardous state of affairs in our military and foreign policy infrastructure, operations and commitments that we see in domestic government infrastructure, operations and commitments.
I recently wrote a commentary on the Gray Lady's coverage of the 2000 American fatality milestone in Afghanistan. This embedded story disheartens me. This, of course, describes a crime against humanity by a rogue movement that lacks any moral authority to govern; unfortunately, the United States is not the world's policeman, and brutal crimes occur all too often, particularly outside the world's democratic republics. Still, I think one Administration critic's comments are spot on:
According to the Obama administration, such incidents will not be allowed to "derail the progress that is being made." Rather than deal with increasing violence against American troops in Afghanistan and Afghan civilians, the President has been taking time out of his busy schedule of fundraising, faux interviews and campaigning against the real extremists threatening the world (you know, the Republicans).Ah, yes: such is the "progress" delivered by progressives: the Democrats argued that we were fighting the "wrong war": why, the Democrats would deliver a lesson on the "right way" to nation build....
Mr. President, fish or cut bait.
Political Humor
The world's oldest person turned 116. She said she lived a long life because she minded her own business.
[In other words, she didn't work for the government...]
Herman Cain was in Tampa. When a reporter asked him if Isaac reminded him of Katrina, he said, “
[Cain said, "Does it look like I'm walking on sunshine?".... When the reporter asked Clinton the same question, Clinton denied ever talking to Isaac and added that "I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Katrina."]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Toto, "I'll Be Over You"
